EPOS system
EPOS system for shops, cafes and pharmacies
An EPOS system is the till at your counter and the record behind it of what was sold, paid, refunded and counted. ExecCortex Point of Sale runs on a tablet or computer you pair with each till, keeps selling when the internet drops, and changes its layout for retail, grocery, restaurant or pharmacy.
EPOS or POS: what an EPOS system is
EPOS stands for electronic point of sale. It is the word used in the UK, Ireland and Australia; in the US the same thing is simply called a POS system. Either way it means the screen your staff stand at to take payment from a customer in front of them, and the record of every sale behind it.
In ExecCortex this is the Point of Sale app. You add your shops, set up a till for each checkout point, pair a tablet or computer with it, load your items and prices, and your cashiers sign in with a PIN and sell. The back office, with reports, stock and settings, is a separate area that a till device can never open.
One EPOS system, four kinds of shop
Each shop chooses a business type, and the till’s layout follows it. One workspace can run a restaurant and a shop side by side.
Retail
The standard scan and pay layout, with barcodes, packs that scan as several units and printed labels.
Grocery
Weighed items, scale labels and quick keys for the things that have no barcode.
Restaurant or Cafe
Many open tables at once, with orders sent to a Kitchen Screen grouped by prep station.
Pharmacy
Sell a full box or single strips and tablets, capture the customer’s name and phone, and print a pick list beside the receipt.
Selling, refunds and the end of the day
At the till a cashier taps their name, types their six digit PIN, scans or taps items and takes payment in cash, card or a mix. Receipts print on an 80 mm or 58 mm thermal roll, chosen per device. Where a shop allows it, Sale Only, Pay Later records the sale and the money later.
When the internet goes down the till keeps selling from its own copy of items and prices, holds the sales on the device and sends them by itself when it reconnects. Till Health shows when each till was last seen and how many sales are still waiting on it.
A finished sale is never edited. A refund is a new record with its own number, the original receipt number with R added. Price changes, removed lines and money given back without a receipt appear under Corrections, and each needs a second person’s PIN at that moment. Nobody can allow their own.
At the end of a shift the drawer is counted, the App shows what it should hold, and the difference is recorded with a note.
EPOS in the UK and Australia
Each shop sets its own currency and time zone, and whether shelf prices include tax, which is how most UK and Australian shops price. Reports include Tax By Rate, so the VAT or GST you collected is split by rate for your return. Store credit, gift cards and promotions work the same everywhere.
Setting up the EPOS system in ExecCortex
1.Add the shop
Under Outlets & Registers, add its name, address, currency, time zone, tax setting and receipt header and footer, and choose its business type.
2.Add a till per checkout point
Give each till a short code and its own receipt number letters.
3.Pair a device
Press Pair a device on the till. A short code shows once, for ten minutes. Type it on the device and name it.
4.Load items and prices
Make a standard price list, then add items one at a time, import a spreadsheet, or Import from store if you run the Ecommerce app. Give each item its barcodes.
5.Add cashiers
On Cashiers, give each person a six digit PIN.
6.Read the reports
Reports has Sales, Ways Of Paying, Items & Categories, Refunds, Tax By Rate, Shifts & Variance and the Day Book, as CSV, spreadsheet or PDF.
Every screen is explained in detail in the Point of Sale guide.
What it does not do
- It does not take card payments itself. Cards go through your own payment terminal or provider; the till records the type and amount and never stores a card number.
- It does not sell or lease hardware. It runs on the tablet or computer you already have, with your own receipt printer and scanner.
- It does not change your online store. Items imported from a store update here only when you press Accept changes.
What it costs
Every workspace starts on the free plan, with no card required. Each app is then priced per workspace and switched on by itself, and capacity packs raise one limit at a time without moving you to a bigger plan. Prices below are read live from the platform.
See every price and capacity pack or read more about Point of Sale.
Related: WooCommerce inventory management, Small business management software, or every use case.
EPOS system: common questions
What is the difference between EPOS and POS?
None in practice. EPOS, electronic point of sale, is the UK and Australian term. In the US the same system is called POS.
Can I use it on more than one counter?
Yes. Add a till for each checkout point and pair a device with each one.
What happens if the internet drops?
The till keeps selling from its own copy of items and prices and sends the waiting sales when it reconnects.
Does it work with my accounting?
With the Accounting & Finance app, every closed till day becomes one journal, never one per sale. Point of Sale also works entirely on its own.
Can a cashier approve their own refund or price change?
No. A correction needs a second person’s PIN at that moment.
Give your team one place to work
Create a workspace, invite your team and import your first leads, all on the free plan.
- Free plan, no card
- Ready in a few minutes
- Cancel from inside the product