Payments
Counter sale
Charge a customer outside the booking flow. Use Counter sale for walk-in services, retail products, gift cards, and custom amounts in one multi-add cart.
Last updated 23 September 2026
Counter sale is the standalone POS surface for charging a customer outside the booking flow. Use it for walk-in services, retail products, gift cards, and custom amounts. Existing appointments should still be charged from booking checkout.
Where to find it: use the wallet icon in the Schedule header. If a cart has staged items, Counter sale also appears in the sidebar or mobile drawer footer as a recovery row. Shortcuts:
Cmd+./Ctrl+.on web,Cmd+Pon iPad hardware keyboards.
TL;DR
- Use Counter sale when there is no existing booking to charge against.
- Add services, products, gift cards, and custom amounts into one cart.
- Your draft cart stays on this device for your account and venue. Saved sales appear in Open sales on authorised devices.
- Owners and managers can cancel eligible unpaid sales from Open sales.
- Service-mode sales create completed walk-in bookings so utilisation reports stay accurate.
When to use it
| You need to... | Use... |
|---|---|
| Charge for an appointment already on the calendar | Booking checkout from booking detail |
| Charge for a walk-in service with no booking | Counter sale -> Service mode |
| Sell a retail product over the counter | Counter sale -> Product mode |
| Sell a new gift card | Counter sale -> Gift card mode |
| Take an arbitrary amount | Counter sale -> Custom mode |
| Combine services, products, gift cards, and custom charges | Counter sale cart |
Counter sale uses the same checkout tenders as booking checkout, including cash, External card, Terminal, and supported mobile Tap to Pay flows.
Opening Counter sale
| Surface | How |
|---|---|
| Web Schedule | Wallet icon in the Schedule toolbar |
| Web shortcut | Cmd+. on Mac or Ctrl+. on Windows from authenticated app routes |
| Web sidebar | Recovery row only when a cart has staged items |
| Native Schedule | Wallet icon in the Schedule header |
| Native sidebar/drawer | Recovery row only when a cart has staged items |
| iPad shortcut | Cmd+P on a hardware keyboard |
| Command palette | Search Counter sale |
Modes
All four modes share the same cart and checkout path.
| Mode | Use |
|---|---|
| Service | Walk-in services with duration, price, and optional staff attribution |
| Product | Retail product sales with inventory decrement on successful charge |
| Gift card | New gift voucher sales, with amount and delivery details |
| Custom | Tips, off-menu charges, ad-hoc deposits, or other one-off amounts |
Cart behaviour
- Draft cart state is local to the device/browser and scoped to your account and venue.
- Once checkout opens, the saved order can be resumed from Open sales on another authorised device. Close checkout to return to it later, or choose New sale to leave it in Open sales and start a separate transaction.
- Adding the same service or product again increments quantity.
- Each gift voucher and custom charge remains a separate item. Edit a gift to change its recipient, amount or delivery before opening checkout.
- Closing checkout without payment preserves the cart.
- Successful payment clears the draft associated with that order. An uncertain payment must be reviewed before another collection attempt.
Open sales and cancellation
Use View sales on Counter sale to see the complete, paginated list for the venue. Each row shows the amount due and items. Resume sale opens checkout; Review payment appears when payment activity needs attention. A local Clear sale affects only an unsaved draft and offers Undo.
Owners and managers can choose Cancel sale for an unpaid order with no payment activity, enter a reason and confirm. Cancellation leaves the order in history. If money may have been collected, use payment review rather than cancelling or recording the tender again. A late cash or external-card report after cancellation is held as review evidence, not booked as another payment.
Gifts and retail
Choose Gift card to enter a preset or custom amount directly. Set the recipient and choose handover, email or text delivery where available. The basket keeps each gift separate and shows its recipient and delivery. After payment, use the existing voucher fulfilment status to distinguish issuance from delivery.
Product shows retail-eligible stock. Search or filter by category; owners and managers can pin up to six products for the venue. Products with a catalogue price of $0 require an explicit price review before adding them. The review can keep $0 with a reason or enter a permitted sale price; it does not change the catalogue price.
Service-mode reporting
When a service-mode counter sale is paid, OpenChair inserts completed walk-in booking rows so staff utilisation and service reporting stay accurate. Multiple service lines for the same staff member are sequenced to avoid overlapping completed bookings.
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Common questions
- When do I use Counter sale instead of booking checkout?
- Use Counter sale when you need to charge without an existing booking: walk-in services, retail product sales, a new gift card sale, or a custom amount. Use booking checkout when there is already an appointment to charge against.
- How do I open Counter sale quickly?
- Open it from the Schedule header wallet icon, press Cmd+. on web, press Cmd+P on iPad with a hardware keyboard, or search for Counter sale in the command palette. If an unfinished cart has items, Counter sale also appears as a recovery row in the sidebar or drawer.
- Can I add multiple items in one transaction?
- Yes. Counter sale is built around a multi-add cart. Add services, products, gift cards, and custom amounts in any combination. The sale strip shows the running total and the Charge button shows total plus item count.
- What happens to my cart if I leave the page?
- The cart is saved on this device for your account and venue. Once a sale is saved on the server, you can resume it from Open sales on web or native. Starting a new sale does not cancel the saved one.
- How do I remove an open sale?
- Open the Open sales list. An owner or manager can cancel an unpaid sale with no payment activity and give a reason. Sales with payment activity need a payment review instead.
- Does a service counter sale create a booking?
- Yes. Charging a service line through Counter sale auto-inserts a completed booking with source 'walk-in' so utilisation reports stay accurate.