Signing in and opening the shift
The first two minutes of a cashier's day: signing in, attaching the device to a POS seat, then opening the shift on the cashier's cashbox and warehouse. Read it when you start on a new device or want to understand the opening float.
On this page
Before you start
The cashier works in the same Sahl app that runs on Android, iOS, Windows and the web. What you need from the manager before the first sign-in: a user account enabled for the point of sale, and a cashbox and warehouse set on that account. How that is prepared is explained in Setting up the cashier user.
Signing in
- Open the app, choose "Sign in" and enter the username and password the manager gave you.
- After signing in you see the "Services" page. Choose "Point of Sale". Its description reads: a fast cashier that works without internet with automatic sync.
- The first time the point of sale opens, the app registers the device on the server and attaches it to your account. At that moment a POS seat from the subscription is reserved for you, and the device appears to the manager in the panel under "Active POS terminals".
- A "Preparing the point of sale" message shows while the catalog downloads: items with their units, barcodes and prices, customers, promotions, quick items, print templates and cash accounts. Then the sale screen opens.
"POS terminals are busy"
If every POS seat in the subscription is taken by other devices, this message appears with the list of devices holding the seats. The fix is with the manager: eject a device that no longer works from "Active POS terminals", or add seats from "Billing and subscription". Then press "Retry". Details in Devices and active POS terminals.
The cashier's cashbox and warehouse
Every shift opens on one cashbox, which receives the shift's cash, its receipts and the count difference, and on one warehouse, from which the goods on its invoices are issued. Both come from your account as the manager set them, and the manager can restrict which cashboxes and warehouses you may pick. If the device picks a cashbox outside your scope, the server refuses it and falls back to the cashbox on your account.
Two cashiers cannot have open shifts on the same cashbox at once. If another cashier tries to attach to your busy cashbox they are stopped at attach time, and if a shift opened offline arrives on a busy cashbox its sales are accepted and the conflict is logged for the manager in the audit log.
Opening the shift
The shift is the frame that groups your invoices, receipts and returns until you close it by counting the cash. To open it:
- From the sale screen open "Current shift". If no shift is open you see: "No open shift. Opens automatically on first operation".
- Press "Open shift with opening float". The "Open shift" form appears with "Opening float", "Cash account" (the default or one of the cashboxes allowed to you) and "Warehouse".
- Enter the cash actually in the drawer if you want to record it yourself, then press "Open". The message "Shift opened" appears.
You may also skip opening a shift manually: the first sale opens one for you automatically on your cashbox and warehouse.
The opening float when you leave it blank
If you leave the field blank or at zero, or the shift opens automatically with the first sale, the server takes the ledger balance of your cashbox at the moment of opening and uses it as the opening float. If you handed yesterday's cash to the main cashbox with a transfer document, your cashbox balance is zero and today starts from zero. If an amount from yesterday stayed in the drawer, that is the cashbox ledger balance and today starts with it. The only rule: a positive number you type in the field is respected as is.
Tip
Leave the opening float blank unless the manager asks otherwise. That way the expected cash at closing matches the cashbox balance in the books, and a difference shows only when the drawer really has a shortage or a surplus.
What happens in the books
Opening a shift creates no journal entry. The opening float is a number recorded on the shift and used only to compute the expected cash at closing. The source of the number (entered, or cashbox balance) is recorded in the audit log under "shift opened". The real movement of cash between your cashbox and the main cashbox is recorded with a "transfer between cash accounts" document, as in Cash handover.
Signing out
The top bar has a "Sign out" button, and a confirmation asks "Do you want to sign out of this shift?". Signing out does not close the shift; it stays open until you close it by counting the cash as in Closing the shift. If you only need the services home page without signing out, use "Home" in the same bar.
Frequently asked questions
Can two cashiers work on the same device?
Yes, in turns: the first signs out and the second signs in. Each cashier has their own shift on their own cashbox, and one cashier cannot have two shifts open at the same time.
I forgot to open the shift and started selling. What happened?
A shift was opened for you automatically with the first invoice, on your cashbox and warehouse, and its opening float is the ledger balance of your cashbox at that moment. Close it at the end of the day like any shift.
I entered a wrong opening float. How do I fix it?
The opening float cannot be edited after opening. Close the shift with the real count so the difference shows, and the accountant handles it as described in the shift differences article.