Configure fast checkout at POS

Fast checkout lets the cashier take payment from the cart in one tap, which makes checking out faster for the cashier and the customer.

When fast checkout is set up, the cart shows a Charge button with the amount on it. Selecting it bypasses the usual payment selection screen and goes straight to the register’s default payment method (e.g. the card terminal or opening the cash screen). Cashiers can still use the Checkout button to accept another payment method or split payment.

Use this process to turn fast checkout on, and to turn on suggested cash amounts so a cash sale is one tap rather than a typed figure.

Both settings are off until you turn them on, and each works without the other.

Before you start

Make sure:

• POS payment methods are configured for the store, so there is a method for a sale to resolve to. See Configure POS fulfillment types and payment methods.
• Cash rounding is set for the store if you take cash, because suggested amounts are built on it. See Configure cash rounding.
• You have permission to create Store Variable records.

Which sales can use fast checkout

Charge appears only when the register’s default payment method is in the left column. The methods on the right need details entered or a step outside the POS, so they stay on the checkout page.

Qualifies	Does not qualify
Cash	Voucher, account credit, pay on account
Integrated card terminals, including Tyro	Card (manual), which is not an integrated terminal
Square integrated terminals	Pay by link, cheque, bank transfer
Linkly	Latitude, which completes by SMS
Quest AirPay Tap	Vii gift cards, which need a card number and PIN

Refunds, zero-total sales, and sales that already have a payment always use the full flow. For these, the cart shows the normal Pay button instead of Charge, and Pay opens the full payment flow as usual.

Fast checkout always charges the full amount due now. A partial payment cannot start there: the terminal forms do not offer a custom amount, and the cash screen refuses a tender below what is owed.

Which payment method the Charge button uses

Charge always opens on the register’s default payment method, and it appears only when that method qualifies. There is no setting to choose the default. The register works down this list and takes the first method that is turned on and ready to use:

1. Card (Tyro)
2. Card (Square)
3. Card (Linkly)
4. Latitude
5. Card (Quest AirPay Tap)
6. Gift Card (Vii)
7. Card (manual)
8. Cash
9. All other payment methods

These are the results you see at the register:

• A register with an integrated card terminal — card is the default, and Charge sends the amount to the terminal. Card (Square) and Card (Linkly) are ready once the register is paired. Card (Tyro) is ready on every register of a store with an active Tyro payment provider for POS, including a register with no terminal.
• A register with no integrated card terminal — Card (manual) is the default, because it is on by default and ranks above cash. Card (manual) does not qualify, so the cart shows Pay. To make cash the default, set pos.payment_options.card.enabled to false. This removes Card (manual) from every register on the store.
• Latitude or Gift Card (Vii) turned on — both rank above cash and Card (manual), and Latitude also ranks above Card (Quest AirPay Tap). Neither qualifies, so a register where one of them is the default shows Pay.

To change which method Charge uses, turn off the methods that rank above the one you want. Opting a method out of fast checkout (see below) does not move Charge to the next method on the list. If you opt out the register’s default, the cart shows Pay.

Turn on fast checkout

1. Open the Store Variables list for your store.

2. Select New and create this variable, then select Save:

   Field	Value
   Key	pos.fast_checkout.enabled
   Value	true

   Enter true in lowercase. A value of True leaves fast checkout off, with no error.

3. Wait for the next store sync, then reload the register.

The cart footer now shows Charge with the amount on it, and Checkout beside it. If it still shows Pay, the register’s default payment method does not qualify. See Which payment method the Charge button uses.

Opt a payment method out

Every qualifying method is offered as soon as fast checkout is on. To keep one of them on the full flow, add a variable for that method.

1. Create a Store Variable with the key pos.payment_options.{type}.fast_checkout_enabled and the value false, replacing {type} with one of cash, card_integrated, card_square_integrated, linkly, or quest_airpay_tap.
2. Wait for the next store sync.

For example, pos.payment_options.cash.fast_checkout_enabled set to false keeps cash on the full payment flow while card terminals stay on the fast path.

:::warning These five keys are read exactly as written. A Tyro terminal is covered by card_integrated, so a variable keyed pos.payment_options.tyro.fast_checkout_enabled has no effect and gives no error. :::

Turn on suggested cash amounts

Suggested cash amounts show the cashier the figures a customer is likely to hand over, worked out from what is owed. Tapping one takes the payment in that tap. This works on the cash screen whether or not fast checkout is on.

1. Create a Store Variable with the key pos.smart_cash.enabled and the value true, in lowercase. A value of True leaves suggested amounts off.

2. (Optional) Create a Store Variable with the key pos.smart_cash.arrangement to choose how the cashier reaches an amount that is not suggested:

   Value	What the cash screen shows
   custom_on_request	The suggested amounts as cards, with a Custom amount card that reveals the keypad. This is the default
   custom_always	The keypad on screen, with the suggested amounts in a column beside it

3. Wait for the next store sync.

The cash screen now opens with the suggested amounts, and the cashier can take the exact amount in one tap.

What gets suggested

The suggestions are the exact amount owed, the total rounded up to the common increments for the currency, and the notes above the total, up to four in total. Notes stop at five times the total, because past that they are not amounts anyone hands over: an $8 sale suggests $8, $10 and $20, not $50.

They follow the store’s cash rounding and the notes and coins actually in use. On a store rounding to 5c, a $23.42 sale suggests $23.40, $25, $30 and $50, and never $1 or $2.

:::warning Suggestions use the store’s currency, taken from the Currency field on the Store record. That field offers only AUD, EUR and USD, and the notes and round-up steps are built for each of the three, so a store set to one of them gets suggestions that match its cash.

A store trading in another currency cannot select it there, so it gets the notes for whichever of the three is set, and the suggestions will not match the cash in the drawer. Leave suggested amounts off on those stores. Each button still charges exactly the amount shown, so nothing is mischarged. :::