How to Process a Sale at the POS

Open a session, scan products, add a customer, apply a discount, take payment by cash or M-Pesa and issue a receipt — every step covered.

5 min read Updated June 2026

Processing a sale in Vendra POS is a straightforward flow from opening your session to handing the customer their receipt. These steps apply to both the Shop and Restaurant terminals. Before you begin, make sure at least one payment method has been configured on the terminal — see the POS setup guide if you haven't done this yet.

Steps to process a sale

1

Open a POS session

Go to Point of Sale from the left sidebar. On the Dashboard, locate your terminal (for example Shop or Front Counter) and click Open. If prompted, enter your employee PIN to log in. If the terminal requires an opening cash float, a dialog appears — count the cash in the drawer and enter the amount, then confirm.

The live POS interface opens. Product categories appear as tabs or buttons on the left side of the screen. You are ready to serve customers.

2

Search or scan products

To add a product to the order, scan its barcode with a connected barcode scanner — the product is added instantly. Alternatively, tap or click the search box and type part of the product name. Matching products appear and you tap the one you want.

You can also tap a product tile directly if it is visible in the on-screen grid. Once a product is added to the order panel on the right, use the numpad to change the quantity. Tap the quantity field on the order line, then type the correct number and press the green confirm button. Repeat for each product in the order.

3

Add a customer (optional)

Tap the Customer button at the top of the order panel. A search dialog opens — type the customer's name, phone number or email to find an existing record. Tap the customer name to associate them with the order.

If the customer is new, tap Create and Edit to open a quick form. Enter their name and phone number at minimum. Adding a customer is required when the customer has a credit account, wants the sale posted to their account balance, or wants a named receipt or invoice rather than a generic receipt.

4

Apply a discount (if authorised)

Select the order line you want to discount by tapping it. Then tap the Disc (discount) button on the numpad section. Enter the discount value. If the pos_discount_amount module is active, you can enter a fixed monetary amount as the discount. If pos_discount_fixed_amount is in use, a fixed-price override is also available.

If the pos_financial_security module is enabled and the discount exceeds your cashier role limit, a PIN prompt appears. A supervisor or manager must enter their PIN to authorise the discount. The discounted unit price or line total updates immediately on the order.

Split payments are supported. At the payment screen, you can add multiple payment lines — for example KSh 500 cash and KSh 700 M-Pesa to cover a KSh 1,200 order. Tap each payment method in turn and enter the partial amount for each.

5

Choose payment method

When the order is complete, tap the Payment button. The payment screen shows the order total and the available payment methods configured on this terminal. Tap Cash, Card or M-Pesa depending on how the customer wants to pay.

For cash, enter the amount tendered in the numpad and Vendra calculates and displays the change due. For M-Pesa STK Push, enter the customer's M-Pesa phone number in the format 2547XXXXXXXX and tap Send STK Push. The customer receives a payment prompt on their phone asking them to enter their M-Pesa PIN.

6

Confirm payment and issue receipt

For cash, once the tendered amount covers the total, the Validate button becomes active — tap it to complete the sale. For M-Pesa, wait for the customer to authorise the payment on their phone. Vendra receives a callback from Safaricom's Daraja API and automatically marks the payment confirmed. Tap Validate to finalise.

A receipt is generated automatically. If a receipt printer is connected (e.g., an Epson printer via IoT box), the receipt prints. Otherwise, the receipt displays on screen — the customer can take a photo or you can tap Send by Email to email it to them. The pos_vat_receipts module ensures the VAT breakdown and your business VAT number appear on every receipt.

7

Close the session at end of day

When the trading day is over, tap the hamburger menu icon (top-left of the POS screen) and select Close. A closing screen appears showing the expected cash based on all sales made during the session. Count the actual cash in the drawer and enter each denomination using the cash count interface.

Vendra compares your declared cash against the expected cash and shows any discrepancy. Review the summary — it shows totals for every payment method (Cash, M-Pesa, Card). Tap Close Session to finalise. The session is saved, stock levels are updated, and the accounting journal entries for the session are posted automatically.

FAQ

POS sale questions

Common questions when processing sales at the Vendra POS.

Contact support
Can I process a split payment — part cash, part M-Pesa?
Yes. At the payment screen, tap Cash and enter the cash amount. Then tap M-Pesa and enter the remaining amount along with the customer's phone number. Vendra tracks each partial payment separately and only allows you to validate once the total is fully covered. Both payment methods appear on the receipt and in the session closing summary.
What if the M-Pesa STK push doesn't arrive on the customer's phone?
First confirm the phone number is correct and in the format 2547XXXXXXXX. The customer should also check they have sufficient M-Pesa balance and that their phone has network coverage. You can tap Send STK Push again to retry. If the push continues to fail, you can switch the payment method to Cash while the customer sorts out their M-Pesa, then accept the cash payment instead.
Can I put an order on hold and serve another customer?
Yes, if the POS Hold Orders feature is installed (pos_hold_orders module). Tap the hold icon to park the current order. A new blank order opens so you can serve the next customer. Parked orders appear in the order list and can be recalled at any time to continue and complete payment.
How do I reprint a receipt?
Go to Point of Sale → Orders → Orders in the back-office view. Find the order by date or order reference. Open the order and click Print Receipt. The receipt re-generates and can be printed or emailed. You can also do this from inside a live POS session by opening the Orders list via the hamburger menu.

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