Overview
This guide walks you through one full sale in ninoPOS, from opening the POS screen to handing your customer their receipt. You will learn how to add items, change quantities, give a discount, attach a customer, take payment, and print or share the receipt.
Everything here works on a computer, a tablet, or a phone. On a phone or small tablet the cart appears as a bar at the bottom of the screen; on a larger screen it sits in a panel on the right. The steps are the same on all of them.
Step 1: Open the POS
In the left menu, click POS (the first item at the top). This opens the sale screen at /pos.
At the top you will see:
- The store name (for example "Main Branch"). If your business has more than one store, this is a dropdown you can change.
- A barcode box that reads "Scan or enter barcode…" with an Add button and a camera scan button next to it.
- An Open Register button on the right (see the tip below).
If you handle cash, click Open Register, type the Opening Balance (the cash already in the drawer), and click Open Register again. This starts your shift so the system can track cash and help you count the drawer at closing. See Cash Register Management for the full guide.
Step 2: Add Items to the Cart
There are three ways to add a product. Use whichever is fastest for you.
Way A — Tap a product
The products show as a grid of cards, each with a name, price, and stock status. Tap a card to add one to the cart. Tap it again to add another. Each card shows one of: the number "in stock", "Low stock", "Out of stock", or "Available" (for services). Out-of-stock items cannot be tapped.
Way B — Search by name
Type in the Search products… box to filter the grid, then tap the item you want. You can also narrow the list with the category dropdown next to it (it starts on All). Press F2 to jump straight to the search box.
Way C — Scan a barcode
Click the barcode box at the top (Scan or enter barcode…), scan the item with a barcode scanner or type the code, and press Enter or click Add. The item drops into the cart. To scan with your phone or tablet camera, tap the camera button beside the box (Scan with camera). Press F7 to jump to the barcode box.
For a shop with many items, a barcode scanner is the quickest way to ring up a sale. Scanning the same item twice adds two of it.
Step 3: Set Quantities and Line Discounts
Each item in the cart has its own controls:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Soda [X] │ │ 1,000 / each │ │ │ │ [ − ] [ 2 ] [ + ] % Disc 2,000 │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ less tap to more tap to give │ │ type qty a discount │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
| What you want | What to do |
|---|---|
| Add or remove one | Tap the − or + button |
| Type an exact quantity | Tap the number between − and + and enter it on the keypad |
| Give a discount on this item only | Tap Disc (the % button) and enter the amount |
| Remove the item | Tap the X in the top-right of the item |
If an item needs a serial number or IMEI (for phones and electronics), a box appears asking you to type one line per unit. If it is marked required, you must fill it before you can finish the sale.
Step 4: Apply a Discount to the Whole Sale (Optional)
Besides discounting a single item (Step 3), you can discount the whole sale. In the cart summary at the bottom, tap Discount (the % row) or press F6. Enter the discount and apply it. The Total updates right away, and the discount shows in red as a minus amount.
Discounts may be limited by your role. If you do not see or cannot use the discount option, ask your manager or owner — they control who is allowed to discount.
Step 5: Choose the Customer (or Use Walk-in)
Near the top of the cart there is a customer button that reads Select Customer… (press F8). You have two choices:
- Pick a saved customer — tap Select Customer… and search for them. This links the sale to their account (useful for credit, loyalty points, and history).
- Quick name only — leave the saved-customer button alone and just type a name in Customer name (optional) and a Phone (optional). These print on the receipt but do not create an account.
If you leave everything blank, the sale is recorded as a Walk-in Customer. This is normal and fine for most quick cash sales.
Choose a saved customer when they pay part now and part later (credit), when they earn loyalty points, or when you want to keep their buying history.
Step 6: Take Payment
When the cart is ready, tap the big Checkout button at the bottom (it shows the total, and can be triggered with F5). The Payment window opens.
At the top, choose the Payment Method: CASH, CARD, or MOBILE. Below that you see the Subtotal, any Discount, Tax, and the Total Due. There is also an optional Tip / gratuity box.
Paying by Cash
Choose CASH. In the Cash Received box, type how much the customer handed you — or tap a quick-amount button (Exact fills the total; the others add common note amounts like 1,000 / 5,000 / 10,000). ninoPOS then shows:
- Change: the amount to hand back, when they paid more than the total.
- Paid in full, when the amount matches exactly.
- Due: … — will be saved as outstanding balance, when they paid less than the total (a part-payment).
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Payment │ │ │ │ [ CASH ] [ CARD ] [ MOBILE ] │ │ │ │ Total Due 4,500 │ │ │ │ Cash Received: [ 5,000 ] │ │ [Exact] [+1,000] [+2,000] [+5,000] ... │ │ │ │ Change: 500 │ │ │ │ [ Cancel (Esc) ] [ Complete & Print ] │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Paying by Mobile Money
Choose MOBILE, then tap the customer's provider: M-Pesa TZ, Airtel Money, Mixx by Yas, HaloPesa, M-Pesa KE, MTN MoMo UG, or MTN MoMo RW. Type the Customer phone number. The phone number is saved on the sale so you can match it against your mobile-money statement.
ninoPOS records the mobile-money payment for your records — the customer must still send the money from their own handset. Confirm you received the payment before you finish the sale.
Paying by Card
Choose CARD to record that the customer paid by card. Take the card payment on your own card machine, confirm it went through, then finish the sale here to record it.
The Notes box at the bottom of the payment window lets you write anything you want to keep with the sale (for example a reference number).
Step 7: Finish and Give the Receipt
Tap Complete & Print. ninoPOS saves the sale, reduces the stock, and shows a Sale Complete! window with the receipt number and a summary: Total, Paid, any Balance Due, any Change, and the Status.
From this window you can share the receipt:
- Email — type the customer's email and tap Email (available when your account has email set up).
- WhatsApp — type the phone number and tap WhatsApp; it opens WhatsApp with the receipt text ready to send.
- Download PDF — opens the receipt as a PDF you can save or print.
At the bottom, tap Print Receipt to print, or Close (Esc) to go straight to the next sale.
When a sale is completed, the stock counts drop, the money is recorded in your reports, and loyalty points (if enabled) are added. You do not need to do anything else.
Holding (Parking) a Sale
If a customer needs to step away while you serve someone else, you can hold the current cart and come back to it later.
Customer steps away
│
Tap [ F3 Hold ] ← saves the current cart
│
Serve the next customer normally
│
Tap [ F4 Resume ] ← pick the held order from the list
│
Finish the original sale
- To hold the cart, tap F3 Hold in the cart (or press F3). The cart clears so you can serve someone else.
- To bring a held cart back, tap F4 Resume (or press F4) and choose it from the held-orders list.
Working Offline
If your internet drops, ninoPOS shows an Offline badge at the top. You can keep selling — when you complete a sale, you will see "Sale queued for sync when online". The sale is saved on the device and uploads automatically once the connection comes back.
Queued sales are stored on that device until they sync. Keep the tab open and reconnect to the internet as soon as you can so the sales upload safely.
Closing the Register at the End of the Day
If you opened a register at the start (Step 1), close it when your shift ends. Tap Close Register at the top. ninoPOS shows the Expected in drawer (opening cash + cash sales). Count the real cash, type it in Counted cash, and any difference shows as a Variance. Add a note if there is a variance, then confirm. Full details are in Cash Register Management.
Keyboard Shortcuts (for speed)
On a computer, these function keys make selling faster:
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| F1 | Show the shortcuts help |
| F2 | Jump to Search products |
| F3 | Hold order |
| F4 | Resume a held order |
| F5 | Checkout (open payment) |
| F6 | Cart discount |
| F7 | Jump to barcode box |
| F8 | Select customer |
| F9 | Clear the cart |
| F10 | Sales summary |
| Esc | Close the open window |