What you can do in the POS
POS terminals
A POS terminal is a virtual workstation that your staff use to process sales. Each terminal can be assigned to a specific location and linked to a physical card reader.- The first terminal is created automatically — additional terminals require the Manage POS permission.
- You can activate or deactivate terminals without deleting them.
- Each terminal has its own grid layout, so you can customise the product tiles shown to staff at different locations.
Processing a sale
1
Add items to the basket
Tap activities or shop products to add them to the current basket. For items with custom pricing, a keypad appears to enter the price.
2
Apply discounts (optional)
Enter a discount code or let auto-apply discounts take effect. You can also apply membership discounts if the customer is a member.
3
Select a customer
For items that require a customer account — such as activities, memberships, and activity passes — the POS prompts you to select a customer before adding the item. Enter the customer’s email to search for an existing account. If no match is found, you can create a new account directly from the prompt. For shop products and other items that don’t require an account, you can continue as a walk-in.
4
Take payment
Choose a payment method — card, cash, invoice, or other. See payment methods below.
Pending baskets
When the POS has no active order, it displays a list of recent pending baskets for the current terminal. This helps staff quickly resume an in-progress sale instead of starting a new one. Each card shows the customer name (or “Walk-in customer” if no account is linked), the basket total, and when it was last updated. Select a card to load that basket into the POS and continue where it left off.Only baskets that still contain items and have not expired are shown. Up to ten recent pending baskets appear at a time.
Open a pending basket from its receipt
You can also resume a pending basket directly from the bookings dashboard. Open the order receipt for the basket and select View in POS to load it into the point of sale. The View in POS button only appears on receipts for baskets in a Pending state, and is available to staff with the Operator Booking permission. Once a basket has been paid or otherwise completed, the button is no longer shown.Customer selection
When you add an item that requires a customer account, the POS opens a customer selection prompt. This uses an email-first flow to quickly find or create the right account.Find an existing customer
Type the customer’s email address or name into the search field. Matching accounts appear as you type, showing the account email and the primary account holder’s name. If a search matches someone in a family — for example, a child’s name — the result still shows the main account, with a label like Tom Owen + 4 more indicating how many other people are on that account. Select the row to link the family account to the order; you can choose the specific family member after the account is selected.Family members no longer appear as separate rows in the search results. This keeps the list focused on accounts and avoids confusion when adding a participant who is not yet part of any family.
Create a new account
If no account matches the email, select the option to create a new one. The email you entered is carried over automatically. Fill in the remaining fields — phone number, full name, and optionally a date of birth — then save. The new account is linked to the order immediately.Walk-in sales
For items that don’t require a customer account — such as shop products — a Continue as walk-in option appears at the bottom of the prompt. Walk-in sales are not linked to any customer account.Activities, memberships, and activity passes always require a customer account. The walk-in option is only available for items like shop products and one-off payments.
Payment methods
The POS supports four payment methods. The method you choose determines how the transaction is recorded and settled.
You can also email a payment link to the customer directly from the POS. The customer receives a link to complete the payment online.
Till shifts
A till shift tracks cash transactions for a POS terminal during a period of time — typically a single day or staff shift. Opening a shift is required before you can accept cash payments.Open a shift
1
Select a terminal
Choose the POS terminal you are working on.
2
Enter the opening cash amount
Count the cash in the drawer and enter the amount. This becomes your starting balance.
3
Add a note (optional)
Record any details about the shift — for example, the staff member opening the till.
Close a shift
When you close a shift, count the cash in the drawer and enter the amount. Sailia calculates the expected cash total based on the opening amount plus all cash received and refunded during the shift. If the closing amount does not match the expected amount, the difference is flagged as a variance — useful for identifying discrepancies.Shift statistics
While a shift is open, you can view:- Cash received — total cash taken during the shift
- Cash refunded — total cash refunds issued
- Expected cash — opening amount plus net cash transactions
- Transaction count — number of transactions in the shift
Cash payments
Cash payments are recorded separately from card payments. When you record a cash sale:- The order is marked as paid with a cash payment method
- The payout appears in your finances under cash payouts
- If accounting sync is enabled, cash payouts are sent to the Sailia Cash Clearing Account in Xero
POS and inventory
The POS shares real-time data with your online booking page. When you sell an activity session through the POS, available spots decrease immediately for online customers too. This prevents double-booking across sales channels.POS grid layout
The POS uses a tile grid to give staff quick access to products, activities, memberships, activity passes, gift cards, and discount codes. You can organise tiles into folders and customise how each tile appears.Tile types
Live product names
Tile names update automatically when you rename the underlying product, activity, membership, or activity pass. You don’t need to edit POS tiles after renaming an item elsewhere in Sailia.Custom tile titles
You can set a custom title on any tile to override the default product name. Custom titles are useful when the full product name is too long for the grid or when you want a shorter label for quick scanning.- Custom titles have a maximum length of 20 characters.
- If no custom title is set, the tile shows the current name of the linked item.
- Long titles are truncated on the tile. Hover the tile to see the full title.
- Folders and category tiles also use custom titles for their display name.
Tile meta captions
Each tile shows a short caption in the bottom-left corner that gives staff at-a-glance context without opening the item. The caption depends on the tile type:
Captions update automatically when prices, variants, or discount values change on the underlying item — you don’t need to edit POS tiles after pricing changes elsewhere in Sailia.
Folders
Group related tiles into folders to keep the grid organised. When you delete a folder, all tiles inside it are removed at the same time.Duplicate a layout
If you manage multiple POS terminals, you can copy the grid layout from one terminal to another. This replaces all tiles on the target terminal with a copy of the source terminal’s layout, including folder structure. Duplicating a layout requires the Manage POS permission.Permissions
Any staff member with POS access can process sales. To configure which staff can access the POS, manage their permissions in the staff settings. The Manage POS permission is required to:- Create additional POS terminals
- Duplicate grid layouts between terminals
Related guides
Card readers
Set up a Stripe card reader for in-person payments.
Custom pricing
Override product prices at the point of sale.
Shop products
Set up products to sell through the POS and online.
Payments and Stripe
Connect Stripe and manage payouts.