The POS Screen
How the selling screen is laid out, how to find a product, and how the cart works.
8 min read · Updated 10 Sep 2026
On this page
The POS screen is where you ring up sales. It runs on the Kassly app on an Android or iOS device — a phone, or a tablet at the counter. Everything on this page is the app.
There is no selling screen in the browser. The website is for setting things up and reading reports; the counter runs on the app. See Installing the app.
Before the screen opens
Two things stand between you and the POS.
The device must be linked to a terminal. An unlinked device shows Terminal not linked — "This device isn't paired to a terminal yet. Sales can't be processed until an owner or manager links it." An owner or manager taps Link Terminal; a cashier sees "Ask the store owner to sign in and pair this device." See Terminal management.
A shift must be open. If your store has shift tracking, the POS is replaced by an Open Shift form: your name, an Opening Cash Amount field, and Start Shift. Confirm that the shift is yours — "This shift and every sale in it will be recorded under {your name}. If this isn't you, tap Switch cashier and sign in with your own PIN." See Opening a shift.
On the Free plan there is no shift form. Kassly opens a ₱0 shift for you silently, so you go straight to selling. Shift tracking and the cash drawer come with the Cash Drawer & Expenses add-on (₱300 per branch each month).
The layout
The top bar says POS with your branch name underneath, your cashier badge, and the sync indicator.
Below that the screen splits differently by device size:
| Tablet | Phone | |
|---|---|---|
| Products | Left, most of the screen | The whole screen |
| Cart | Always visible on the right | A green bar at the bottom — tap View Cart |
| Categories | A sidebar down the left | A scrolling strip across the top |
| Product columns | 4 | 2 |
| Side actions | Chips in the top bar | A scrolling chip strip under the top bar |
The side-action chips are the jobs that sit alongside selling: Staff, Scan Member, Job Order, Receivables, Cash In, Cash Out. Only the ones your store has appear.
Rotating the device does not change the layout.
Finding a product
There are four ways, and most counters end up using two of them.
Tap it
Products show as tiles with an image, the name and the price. Without an image you get a plain tile with a package icon. A tile can also carry:
- OUT or Out — no stock. The tile is greyed, the price is struck through, and it cannot be tapped.
- Low — running low, or "3 left" when the count is an estimate from a recipe.
- WS: ₱x — the wholesale price, when the product has one.
- 2 variants — tapping opens Select Variant first.
- 45 min for services, or a duration badge for membership plans.
Tiles are listed alphabetically: products, then services, then membership plans. The button beside the search box switches between the card grid and a compact list, and your choice is remembered on that device.
The grid shows up to 200 items. There is no "load more". If your catalogue is bigger than that, search or scan rather than scroll — and consider turning on scan-first mode below.
Search
The box at the top says Search products... — or "Search menu items..." / "Search services...", depending on your business type. It matches the product name, the SKU and the barcode. Services match on name and SKU.
Results narrow as you type; there is no Search button.
When nothing matches, the product area just goes blank. There is no "no results" message, so an empty screen means "nothing matched", not "something broke".
Categories and collections
The first chip is All. After it come your POS collections (starred), then Memberships if you sell membership plans, then your categories.
POS collections are your own groupings — a bestsellers shelf, a promo set, whatever you set up in the back office. They hold products only, so choosing one hides services and membership plans. Collections appear once the app has synced its catalogue.
Scan
Each device chooses its own scanning method in Settings → Barcode Scanner:
| Mode | For |
|---|---|
| Camera | "Scan barcodes with the device camera." The default for food and service businesses. |
| Hardware Scanner | A Bluetooth or USB scanner paired as a keyboard. The default for retail. The camera stays available as a backup. |
Camera scanning reads EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A, UPC-E, Code 128, Code 39, Code 93 and QR codes. Point at the barcode — the overlay says "Point at a barcode", then "Processing...", then "Added to cart!". The device buzzes on each scan and ignores the same code twice in a row.
An unrecognised code stops with Not Found — "No product found for barcode: {code}". Tap OK and the camera re-arms.
Hardware scanning adds items straight to the cart with a toast — "Added {name}" — and never interrupts you with a dialog. An unknown code shows "No product found for barcode: {code}" and you carry on. A scanned member loyalty card is recognised and offered for attaching to the sale.
Scanning looks in the device's own catalogue first, so scanning works offline. Both product and variant barcodes match.
Scanning something already in the cart adds 1 to that line rather than making a second line. Two lines only appear when something genuinely differs — different modifiers, or a different price tier.
Quantity prompt on scan (Settings) asks for a count on every scan or tap instead of adding one at a time. Type the number, or just scan the next item to ring the current one as 1. It is on by default for retail, and it is what you want for anything sold by weight or by the handful.
Scan-first mode starts the grid empty and fills it only from a search or a scan. For a grocery with thousands of SKUs, browsing tiles is a waste of time. Turn it on in Settings → Store Features.
The cart
The cart header reads Cart (6) — the total number of units, not lines. An empty cart says "Cart is empty" / "Tap a product to add it".
Beside it: + Customer (becomes Customer ✓ once one is attached), Hold, and Held.
Each line shows the item name, the variant, the unit price and the line total. It may also carry a WS or Custom badge, a modifier count, the note you typed, the assigned staff member, and — in a kitchen setup — a prep badge (Sent, Preparing, Ready, Served, or 86'd for a rejected line).
| To do this | Do that |
|---|---|
| Change quantity | The round − and + buttons on the line |
| Type a quantity | Scan or tap in quantity-prompt mode, then use the keypad |
| Remove a line | Swipe the line left and tap the red bin, or − at quantity 1 |
| Edit price, modifiers, note or staff | Tap the line |
| Empty the cart | Clear, then confirm "Remove all 6 items from cart?" |
The most you can put on one line is 999.
Tapping a line opens one dialog with everything editable on it:
- Price — one tap for Retail or Wholesale, or type a custom unit price. Only offered on products that allow it.
- Modifiers — the current selections, and Edit modifiers.
- Note for kitchen — up to 500 characters, "e.g. No ice, extra hot, allergy: peanuts".
- Partner — the staff member credited with the line.
- Remove from cart.
There is no per-line discount. What you can change per line is the price: retail, wholesale, or a typed amount. Discounts are applied at checkout, to the whole order — except statutory senior citizen and PWD discounts, where you choose which items qualify. See Discounts.
The totals block
Underneath the lines, in this order:
| Label | Shown when |
|---|---|
| SC 10% (toggle) | Your store charges a service charge — flip it off for this sale if you need to |
| Subtotal | Always |
| VAT 12% (incl.) | Your prices include VAT |
| VAT Exempt | There is an exempt amount |
| Discount | A discount applies |
| Service Charge (10%) | A service charge applies |
| Total | Always |
Then the order-type chips, then Clear and Checkout.
Order types
The chips you get depend on your business type, and the set is fixed:
| Business type | Order types |
|---|---|
| Retail | Walk-in · Delivery |
| Food & beverage | Dine-in · Takeout · Delivery |
| Services | Walk-in · Appointment |
Choosing a chip records the order type on the sale. It does not, on its own, start anything else — picking Dine-in does not open a table picker. Tables are chosen from the Tables screen, which brings you back to the POS with the table already attached. See Table management.
Once a table is attached the chips are replaced by a blue Table 7 banner, and Checkout is joined by Send Order for the kitchen.
Working offline
Selling works offline. An amber strip appears at the top — "You're offline — transactions will sync when reconnected" — and the product area adds "Showing cached catalog. Transactions will sync when back online."
If the stock figures are more than half an hour old you also get "Stock may be 40m out of date — quantities update on reconnect."
The sync indicator in the top bar is the thing to watch:
| It says | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Synced | Nothing waiting |
| 3 pending | Three sales queued — tap to sync now |
| Offline - Sales saved locally | No connection, sales are safe on the device |
| Offline (3) - Unsynced for 26h | Get this device back online |
A few things genuinely need a connection: sending an order to the kitchen, updating a note on an already-sent line, job orders, receivables, and the customer queue. Each says so when you try.
Your cart survives closing the app. See How offline works.