Off-Line / Forced Void / Add Tips

onePOS with version 3.1 now supports forcing or processing off-line a void or add tip.

In the past, there were times where a site would accidentally send a credit card batch mid day (sometimes the owner did this on purpose thinking it was going to help get the deposit to his bank quicker, but that logic is pretty flawed). When this batch goes mid day, all the transactions in the EPS journal are sent and moved to a historical batch file.

A long time ago we did not batch transactions that did not have tips applied to avoid this, but once a month or so there always seemed to be a transaction or two hanging out for which the restaurant never got paid. We decided years ago it was better to get paid for every transaction in the journal, than to cover an inconvenience when the manager makes a huge operation mistake.

In any event, if a transaction in the EPS journal is batched before it is tipped via the FOH Terminal, it becomes impossible to tip that transaction. Since you cannot run a Server Checkout Report without tipping every transaction, it was now impossible to run a check out. While this punishes the manager for making such a bad mistake, it really is less than ideal for our "staff friendly" POS.

There is now a similar issue with voiding a payment. Most processors now require that voids be sent to the bank real time (this is done primarily for gift card and debit card processing). If the internet is down, or the void at the processor fails, then it is impossible to void the transaction in onePOS. Again, less than ideal for our "staff friendly" POS.

So... on the enter tips and void payment screen we now have an "Off Line" button. Before selecting Done on the Enter Tips screen or pressing the void reason on void transaction, press the off line button and the transaction will be voided in the POS system even if the EPS void fails. There is a danger in doing this, the other side might not process the void or tip... making the resulting batch out of balance with the POS. When using the Off Line mode, make sure the management staff understands, just like with off line credit cards, that there are financial risks for doing so.

Side Note: In the next release of 3.1 this will be a manager function to prevent servers from messing things up.