Billing at the counter (POS)

The POS screen is where your counter staff bill customers, and it is built for fast medical store billing from the keyboard. You scan or search a medicine, pick the unit, take the money and print a thermal receipt, usually without touching the mouse. On the Cloud edition the POS runs in the browser; on the Offline edition it runs in the MediPOS for Windows app, with the same layout, buttons and shortcuts.

MediPOS

How to bill a customer

1. Open POS from the menu. The cursor is already in the search box.
2. Scan the barcode, or type at least two letters of the brand name, generic name or SKU. Each word you type must start a word in the name, so pana 500 finds Panadol 500 mg.
3. Use the arrow keys to highlight the right medicine and press Enter. Each result shows the stock in hand and the price.
4. Change the Unit and Qty on the line if needed. Press Enter in the quantity box to jump back to the search box for the next item.
5. Choose how the customer pays (Ctrl+P), enter the amount (F10) and press F12 (Complete sale (F12)).
6. On the completed-sale card, press Enter for Print receipt (Enter), or choose New sale without printing.

A scanned barcode goes straight into the bill, and scanning the same item again adds one to the same line.

Units, prices and stock on each line

Panadol 500 mg set up as Box (10 strips), Strip (10 tablets) and Tablet shows all three in the Unit list, largest first. A box barcode starts the line in Box.

The price is the retail price (RP) of the batch that will be sold first, converted to the unit: Rs. 3.50 a tablet is Rs. 35 a strip and Rs. 350 a box. If the batch has no RP, the unit's own sale price is used. If nothing is set, the line shows No price.

Under each name you see the stock available; if you ask for more, it turns red ("Only … in stock") and the bill will not complete. Prescription medicines carry an Rx badge. The Note (optional) box above the bill is saved on the invoice.

Prescription and doctor

When the bill has a prescription (Rx) or controlled medicine, a strip Prescription medicine in this bill appears with three boxes: Patient (optional), for a walk-in patient's name (it is not shown when a customer is chosen: their name is used), Prescription ref (optional), for the prescription's number or date, and Doctor (optional), for the doctor's name. The prescription and doctor print on the receipt as Ref.: and Dr.:, and all three show on the invoice page under Sales → Invoices and in the drug inspector's registers (see Drug inspector registers and the inspection pack). They are kept with a held bill too.

Which batch is sold (FEFO)

MediPOS sells from the batch that expires first and takes any remainder from the next. If batch A (expiry 03/2027) has 4 strips left and batch B (11/2027) has 20, a sale of 6 strips takes 4 from A and 2 from B, and both batch numbers print on the receipt when Print batch & expiry on receipts is on.

How to sell from a batch you choose

Sometimes the customer wants a later expiry, or you are clearing one batch first. Under the line, click Batch: nearest expiry. A list opens with the batches you can sell, nearest expiry first, each with its expiry and stock. Pick one: the line now shows that batch, is sold from it only, and the stock shown is that batch's stock. To go back to FEFO, open the list again and choose Nearest expiry (automatic).

Choosing the batch needs the Choose batch manually permission, which the Manager and Pharmacist roles have by default. A cashier without it can still choose; when they press F12, a supervisor approves it with their PIN. See Counter PIN and supervisor approval.

Expired batches are never sold, and neither are batches blocked on the product page (for example after a DRAP recall). In Settings → POS & receipts, Stop selling batches expiring within (days) also blocks batches close to expiry (0 blocks only expired ones).

Discounts and price changes

• The Disc % column and the Bill discount (Rs.) box appear only for staff with the Give discounts permission.
• Each team member can have a Max discount (%) under Administration → Team. With a 5% limit, a 10% discount is refused: "Your discount limit is 5%. Ask a manager for more." The bill discount counts as a percentage of the bill.
• A customer's Usual discount % fills the Disc % of items you add after choosing that customer.
• Only staff with Change selling price at POS can type a new price. The invoice then shows Price changed and the audit log records it.

Every discount and price change appears in the Discounts & price changes report. The total is rounded as set in Round bill total to (none, or the nearest Rs. 1, 5 or 10).

Taking payment

The payment buttons are Cash, Bank transfer, EasyPaisa, JazzCash and Card, plus any bank or wallet account you have added.

• Leave the amount empty to take the exact total.
• For cash, type what the customer hands you in Cash received. On a Rs. 1,240 bill paid with Rs. 1,500, Change shows Rs. 260.
• Bank transfer, EasyPaisa and JazzCash need the Transaction ID.
• Card and wallet payments cannot be more than the bill. Only cash gives change.
• A bill takes one payment method. If less than the total is paid, the rest must go on a named customer's udhaar.

Udhaar, customers and shifts

Press F4 and search the customer by name or mobile; the panel shows their balance and Udhaar room, and any unpaid amount goes on their account. Without a customer, an unpaid amount stops the sale. If your plan does not include Customers & udhaar, every bill is a walk-in sale. If your pharmacy uses shifts, the POS shows an Open shift box until you open one.

Receipts

On a PC with MediPOS installed (the Offline edition), the receipt goes straight to the thermal printer with no dialog, and the drawer opens for cash bills. Otherwise it opens in a small window and prints itself. In the Windows app, if no receipt printer is chosen on that PC, it prints to the Windows default printer. If a receipt printer is chosen but does not print (switched off, out of paper, unplugged), the app says why and does not send the receipt to another printer; fix the printer and click print again. Receipts fit 58 mm or 80 mm paper and show your pharmacy name, address, phone and drug licence number, the items, discounts, payments, change, any udhaar and your footer.

medipos.pk/app/sales

Keyboard shortcuts

The whole bill works from the keyboard. The POS shows every key above the bill, and the owner can move any of them to another key under Settings → Keyboard shortcuts. These are the keys MediPOS starts with:

The selected item is the one just added, shown with a light blue background. Choose another with Up / Down in the search box (when no search list is open), or by clicking it.

How to change a key

1. Open Settings → Keyboard shortcuts.
2. Click the box next to the action and press the key you want: an F-key, or Ctrl or Alt with a letter or number.
3. Click Save shortcuts. Every counter, in the browser and the Windows app, uses the new keys from its next bill; Back to the defaults brings back the list above.

A key can do one thing only, and MediPOS refuses keys the browser, Windows or the app keep for themselves (such as Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, Ctrl+W, F11, Ctrl+M). In a browser, a few F-keys can still be caught by the browser itself on some PCs; the Windows app is not affected.

In the Windows app the whole program works from the keyboard. Ctrl+M goes to the menu on the left: Up / Down move through it, Enter opens a page, and Right goes back to the page. On a list (invoices, products, customers), Down in the search box goes to the first row, Up / Down move through the rows, Enter opens one, and Up on the first row goes back to the search. Settings' parts and the report cards move with the arrow keys too. Ctrl + and Ctrl − make everything bigger or smaller.

Rules worth knowing

• The screen is a preview. On F12, MediPOS checks prices, stock, discount and credit limits again and refuses the bill with a clear message if something is wrong.
• Pressing F12 twice, or again after "Connection problem — press F12 again", never creates a duplicate sale.
• A completed bill cannot be edited: void it the same day, or take a return.

Common questions

Can a customer pay part in cash and part by JazzCash?

One bill takes one payment method. For a regular customer, take the cash on the bill, let the rest go on their udhaar, then record the JazzCash amount at once with Receive payment on their customer page. A walk-in customer has to pay the whole bill by one method.

Why does the POS say a medicine has no price?

Its batches have no RP and the product has no sale price. Set the price on the product, or ask someone with Change selling price at POS to type it on the bill.

Can I sell loose tablets from a box?

Yes, if the Tablet unit is marked for sale. Choose Tablet in the Unit list. Stock is kept in the smallest unit, so selling 5 tablets reduces the box stock correctly.

The counter PC has a small screen. Can I make the text bigger or smaller?

Yes. In the MediPOS for Windows app, open Settings → Display and choose a size, or press Ctrl + for bigger, Ctrl − for smaller and Ctrl 0 to fit the screen again. Each PC keeps its own size. Fit to screen is the default: on a small laptop it makes everything a little smaller, so the bill, the payment and Complete sale show at once. On a narrow screen each medicine's full name shows on its own line, with the unit, quantity and price under it.

Related guides

• Pharmacy POS software: what it does for a pharmacy
• Held bills, reprints and voiding a sale
• Customers and udhaar (credit sales)
• Units, prices and barcodes
• Setting up thermal receipt printers