When users log in to the Restaurant POS app from the Home screen, they're brought to the Register screen by default. The Register screen is where you add and process orders on the POS. 

Components of the Register screen

On the top and bottom of the interface are the main navigational buttons that remain visible on all ordering screens:

Log out: this button on the upper left corner of the screen logs out the user from the ordering session and returns back to the Home screen.

Logged-in user: in the middle of the screen the current user's name is displayed along with a padlock beside their name. The padlock allows the user to lock the ordering screens; when an order is sent or a receipt is closed, the user remains logged in to the ordering screen rather than brought back to the Home screen.

Notifications: In the top center of the screen is the notification icon. These notifications alert you of network connectivity, hardware issues, and other important information. Tapping the notification bell opens your notifications. For more information on notifications and the Notification Center, refer to our article Understanding the Settings Menu.

Note: Notifications are currently only available to some Lightspeed customers. If you don't see this feature on your POS, watch for it to appear soon. Some notification types may not yet be available.

Search/Camera icons: To the right of the screen are two icons representing a camera and search function. Tap the Camera icon to activate the POS device camera for reading QR and barcodes. Tap the magnifying glass Search button to manually search for a product by item name, SKU or barcode.

Navigational menu: at the bottom of the ordering screen are the main navigational buttons. Each of these buttons brings the user to another ordering screen or view:

• Register: Tapping the Register tab brings the user to the Register screen, the main ordering view for processing an order. By default, users are automatically brought to the Register screen after logging in from the Home screen. The Register screen is the primary topic of this article.
• Tables: Tapping the Tables tab brings the user to the Floor plan (or Tables screen) so they can open an order by table, or access a visual overview of open orders. For more information, see Understanding the Tables screen.
• Orders: Tapping the Orders tab brings the user to the Orders management screen. The Order management screen is an overview of all open accounts on the POS (including tables, delivery and takeaway). For more information, see Understanding the Order management screen.
• Customers: Tapping the Customers tab brings the user to the Customers screen. Use the Customer screen for creating a customer profile or adding a customer to an order. For more information, see About customers.
• Receipts: Tapping the Receipts tab brings the user to the Receipts screen. These receipts represent paid orders. From here, users can select receipts and perform functions such as reprinting the receipt or voiding a payment. The Receipts screen only displays paid orders for the day. Older receipts can be retrieved from the Back Office by admin users. For more information, see understanding the Receipts screen.
• Settings: Tapping the Settings tab brings the user to their user Settings menu, where they can view payments, reports, reload a device configuration or view printers. The functions on this menu vary according to the user role. For more information, see Understanding user settings.
• Status: Tapping the Status tab opens tappable icons for displaying the POS device's WiFi connection, reloading the device configuration, or opening the printing center.  

Order view: the top left of the screen contains the order view. This section displays a summary of your order items. 

The Order view displays ordered items, quantities and prices. This area also displays the table selection, courses and seats while in the Table Service ordering mode. The Order view also displays order tags, customers, or actions for the order:

• Order tags: this buttons allows a user to apply an order-type tag to the receipt (such as Takeaway, Dine in or Delivery, according to what has been configured in the Back Office).
• Assign customer: this button allows a user to add a customer to the order. 
• Actions: this button opens the Actions menu for perform actions such as applying a discount or order tag, according to what has been configured in the Back Office.

Once users add order items, the order view also displays a tax rate (as configured from the Back Office) and amount due. You may tap an individual order line for further item actions, such as to remove the item or add an item-level discount. 

Keypad: right below the order view area is the keypad. The keypad is only visible while in Direct Sale mode or ordering by course in Table Service mode. The keypad is a great tool for quickly entering a table number or item quantity to speed up the ordering process. For example, tap 5 on the keypad and then tap an order item on the right of the screen to add five order items. Or, tap a number representing a table and then tap the tables button to assign the order to that table number. Or, tap a payment amount and then select Cash to quickly settle the transaction. Whatever the function, simply tap the number first to apply that number to the following button's action. 

The buttons to the right of the keypad also change dynamically based on whether the user has added order items or if they are ordering in Direct Sale or Table Service mode. 

Main screens: the middle buttons on the Register screen are your main menu screens. Menus (and their sub-categories) are configured in the Back Office and displayed here as expandable buttons. For instance, tapping the Beers button on the main screens opens sub-screens on the right: you can further select the Draught Beer, Draught Cider or Bottles buttons to select an item within the specified sub-category.

Buttons in this middle section can also represent custom actions, such as sending a message to the kitchen or performing cash deposits (depending on how these buttons are configured on the Back Office). 

Subscreens and Items: the right-hand side of the Order view displays items within the selected main screen button. The buttons on this screen may be individual order items or expanded into further item categories. Depending on how menus and categories are configured in the Back Office, a user may tap multiple menu category buttons to further define the order item. For instance, a Wine menu could contain sub-categories depicted as White, Rosé, Red, and Sparkling. When a user taps on a Rosé sub-category, they could be brought to another screen of buttons where a user can further select Rosé wines by region or volume. Once the user has navigated to the subscreens for the selected menu, they then add the order item by tapping the item's corresponding button.

When creating sub-category buttons (or sub-screens) in the Back Office, always consider logic and speed. Staff members need to be able to find products intuitively and quickly. With that said, if your menu contains more than one item category, our Register screen system supports multiple menu screens.

What's next?

Learn more about pay-at-order workflows. See Adding orders in Direct Sale mode.

Learn more about Table Service workflows. See Adding orders in Table Service mode.

Learn more about the various ways a user can edit an order. See Editing and reviewing orders.

Learn how to enable and use the bar tabs feature. See Opening bar tabs for more information.

Learn how to modify bar tabs and close them out for payment. See Managing and closing bar tabs for more information.

Learn more about interacting with a floor plan and tables. See Understanding the Tables screen.

Learn more about searching for orders on the POS. See Understanding the Order management screen.