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Configure open orders

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Open orders let an operator keep a sale open on the store, identified by a memo such as Table 12, and submit items to it as the customer orders. Turn it on for table service, or any counter where a sale is built up over time and paid at the end.

Open orders are off unless you turn them on. Everything below is set with store variables on the Store record, so no code change is involved.

Before you start

  • You need edit access to the Store record and its Store Variables related list.
  • POS reads these values on its next store sync, so plan the change for a quiet period. See manage POS data sync.

Turn on open orders

  1. Open the Store record and go to the Store Variables related list.
  2. Click New.
  3. Enter a Name that makes sense to your organization, such as POS open orders.
  4. Enter pos.open_orders.enabled in Key. Keys are case sensitive.
  5. Enter true in Value. Any other value leaves the feature off.
  6. Save the record.
  7. Sync the register, or wait for the next store sync.

At the register, a cart with items in it now shows a Create order button, and the Orders list gains a Memo column. The Order type filter already offers Open, whether or not the feature is on.

Rename the memo label (optional)

The memo is the operator’s handle on an open order, so name it after whatever your staff actually call it: a room, a job, an appointment.

  1. Add a second store variable with the Key pos.memo.label.
  2. Set Value to the label you want, such as Room.
  3. Save, then sync the register.

The new label replaces “Memo” everywhere it appears: the Create open order screen, the cart header banner, and the Memo column heading on the Orders list. The stored value is unchanged, so renaming the label does not affect existing orders.

What open orders changes at the register

Where What appears
Cart with items, no order linked Create order button
Cart linked to an open order Memo banner with Edit, Submit in place of Create order, Order actions in place of Cart actions
Order actions menu Cancel, Save order & clear cart, and the memo editor, in place of Park cart and Empty
Cart lines Lines already sent to a fulfillment station, grouped under Previously submitted with their preparation status once new lines are added alongside them
Line actions Cancel on submitted lines, which keeps the line for the audit trail, in place of Remove
Checkout Submit & exit as the exit for an open order (Save & exit once any payment is taken), and no Park cart
Orders list A Memo column, second after Reference number. Filter Order type by Open to list them
POS layouts Any layout field set to the open_orders_enabled condition

A custom order_list layout that defines its own fields takes control of the columns, so it only shows the memo if you add a memo field to it. See POS layouts.

Open orders or parking

Both free up the register, but they are not alternatives to each other.

  Park Open order
Where the sale is held On the store, as a Cart record On the store, as an Order record
Who can pick it up Any register in the store, including one at another outlet Any register in the store, including one at another outlet
Reaches a fulfillment station No Yes, on each submit
Identified by Its entry in the Carts list Its memo, such as Table 12
Suits Stepping away from one customer to serve another A sale that is added to over time, such as a table

Parking stays available on any cart that is not linked to an open order. See park an order.

Once the store has synced, create a test open order at the register and confirm it appears in the Orders list under the Open filter with its memo shown.

Related articles

Documentation Start an open order Documentation Resume and submit an open order Documentation Store variables Documentation Configure POS fulfillment station routing Documentation Manage POS data sync

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