---
id: "take-payment"
lang: "en"
title: "Take payment at the till"
summary: "Take the money for a sale one way or several: card, cash, bank transfer, a gift card or the customer's store credit. The receipt lists each one."
area: "Selling at the till"
kind: "task"
url: "https://zeropos.shop/help/take-payment"
alternate: "https://zeropos.shop/help/take-payment?lang=es"
markdown: "https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/take-payment.md"
screens: ["/pos/sale"]
where_to_find: ["New Sale"]
related: ["make-a-sale","gift-cards","customer-credit","reprint-or-email-receipt","close-the-day"]
updated: "2026-10-21"
---

# Take payment at the till

Take the money for a sale one way or several: card, cash, bank transfer, a gift card or the customer's store credit. The receipt lists each one.

Payment is the last part of [Make a sale](https://zeropos.shop/help/make-a-sale). Every way of paying is listed under **Payment methods** on the right of New Sale, and the sale button reads **Create Sale** only once the amounts add up to the total.

For a sale paid in full today. Paying in parts over several visits: [Layaway: hold items while a customer pays over time](https://zeropos.shop/help/layaway).

Where to find it: New Sale.

## Before you start

- The sale is rung up: products, customer and sellers ([Make a sale](https://zeropos.shop/help/make-a-sale)).
- The methods are your region's: in Simple accounting **Credit/Debit card**, **Cash**, **Bank transfer** and **Other**; in Expert, the ones the owner set up ([Add a payment method](https://zeropos.shop/help/payment-methods)).
- **Gift card** shows when the owner sells gift cards ([Gift cards](https://zeropos.shop/help/gift-cards)); **Store credit** shows for a linked customer whose balance is above zero.

## Steps

### Card, cash or transfer

1. Tick a method under **Payment methods**. The first one you tick fills in with the whole total.
   - For a card, take the payment on your card machine as usual: ticking the method here records it.
2. Taking cash? Type what the customer hands you, and **Cash tendered … → Change due** shows the change to give.
   - Then set the cash back to what is owed, or the button stays on **Payments over**.
3. To split the payment, tick a second method: it starts at 0. Type how much goes on each.
   - **Balance to total** puts whatever is still missing, or over, on the last method you ticked.
4. When the amounts add up to the total, tap **Create Sale**.

### A gift card

5. Tick **Gift card** under **Payment methods**.
6. Type the code from the customer's slip in **Code from the slip** and tap **Check**.
7. Check **How much?**: it starts at the card's balance or what is left to pay, whichever is smaller.
8. Tap **Use this card**, then take anything still owed with another method.
   - One gift card per sale.

### Store credit

9. Link the customer in the **Customer** box ([Find a customer](https://zeropos.shop/help/find-a-customer)).
10. Tick **Store credit** under **Payment methods**: their balance shows in brackets, and the amount fills in with it, or with the whole total if that is less.
   - Ticked after another method, it starts at 0: type the amount.
11. To use less, type the amount. The till never takes more than the balance in brackets.
   - Unlinking the customer, or linking somebody else, takes the store-credit payment off.
12. Take the rest with another method if the balance doesn't cover the sale.

### A tip

13. When the shop asks for tips, choose under **Tip**: **No tip**, one of the percentages, **Custom %** for the percentage the customer names, or **Custom amount** to type what they hand over.
   - A percentage is of the ticket's total after discounts, with or without tax as the owner chose ([Tips: what customers can choose and who gets them](https://zeropos.shop/help/tips)). Every sale starts at **No tip**.
   - The till warns when a tip is more than the sale itself: check it with the customer before you charge.
14. **To pay**, under the total, now shows the total plus the tip. The first method you tick fills in with it.
15. Take the tip in cash or by card: store credit and a gift card pay for the goods only.
   - A layaway takes no tip.
16. When the amounts add up to **To pay**, tap **Create Sale**.

> Heads-up: A sale paid even partly with store credit or a gift card is final: it can never be refunded, exchanged, cancelled or edited. Tell the customer before you tap **Create Sale**.

## What happens next

- **Sale created** shows the receipt with every method and its amount. Print or email it from there: [Print a receipt again, or email it](https://zeropos.shop/help/reprint-or-email-receipt).
- Money: each method counts on its own line in the day's close. Store credit and gift card payments bring no new money into the drawer or the bank ([Close the day](https://zeropos.shop/help/close-the-day)).
- Balances: store credit used comes off the customer's file, and the gift card's balance goes down by what it paid.
- Commission: the part a gift card paid earns none, because the card earned it when it was sold. Loyalty points are earned whichever way the sale was paid ([Loyalty points: earning, tiers and balances](https://zeropos.shop/help/loyalty-points)).
- A tip goes where the shop's rule says ([Tips: what customers can choose and who gets them](https://zeropos.shop/help/tips)): to the sale's sellers, shared as the sale is, split with the team on shift, or shared by everyone on shift. It is never part of the sale: no tax, commission or loyalty points. The day's close counts it with the method that took it.

## Common questions

### What does the receipt say about the payment?

Each method and the amount it paid, under the total. It doesn't print the change or what is left on a gift card: check a card's balance under **Check a card** on the Gift cards screen ([Gift cards](https://zeropos.shop/help/gift-cards)).

### The customer can only pay part of it today. What now?

A sale is paid in full. Paying in parts, with the goods kept for the customer, is a layaway: [Layaway: hold items while a customer pays over time](https://zeropos.shop/help/layaway).

### Why can't a sale paid with store credit be refunded?

It is the shop's rule: only money paid by card, cash or transfer is ever given back. Store credit and gift cards are the shop's own money coming back to it ([Refund a sale](https://zeropos.shop/help/refund-a-sale)).

### The customer has two gift cards. Can both pay?

Not on one sale: the till takes one gift card per sale. Take the rest another way, or split the goods into two sales and pay each with one card.

### Is a tip given back when the sale is refunded?

No: a refund gives back the goods' money only, and the receipt shows the tip on its own line. Cancelling a sale that has no refund gives back everything, the tip included ([Refund a sale](https://zeropos.shop/help/refund-a-sale)).

## If you see this

- “**Payments are … short of the total. Adjust the amounts before closing the sale.**” — What to do: The amounts don't reach the total. Correct them, or with two methods ticked tap **Balance to total**.
- “**Payments exceed the total by …. Adjust the amounts before closing the sale.**” — What to do: Usually the cash handed over is still typed in. Give the change, then set the cash to what is owed.
- “**This customer has only … of store credit left, so the store-credit payment was taken off. Add it again for … or less, and take the rest another way.**” — What to do: Some of the balance was used elsewhere meanwhile. Tick **Store credit** again, type no more than the brackets show, and take the rest another way.
- “**The till can't take “…” — that way of paying isn't set up for this region. The owner can add or enable it under Settings → Payment methods. The list has been refreshed; charge this sale another way.**” — What to do: That method was switched off while the till was open. Tick another one: the list now shows only what you can take.
- “**There is not enough left on that card.**” — What to do: Lower **How much?** to what the card holds and take the rest another way.
- “**Someone else was using that card. Try again.**” — What to do: Another till used the same card a moment ago. Tap **Check** again to see what is left.
- “**A gift card cannot be bought with another gift card.**” — What to do: This sale is selling a gift card, so take its payment another way.
- “**A tip is paid in cash or by card, never with store credit or a gift card. Take at least the tip in cash or by card.**” — What to do: Lower the store credit or gift card to the ticket's total and take the tip in cash or by card.
- “**Type a percentage from 0 to 100.**” — What to do: The percentage under **Custom %** is over 100 or isn't a number, so no tip is added and the button reads **Check the tip** until it is put right. Type the percentage the customer meant, or choose **No tip** or one of the percentages.
- “**Type an amount of 0 or more.**” — What to do: The amount under **Custom amount** is below nothing or isn't a number, so the button reads **Check the tip** until it is put right. Type the amount the customer is adding, or choose **No tip**.

## Good to know

- With two methods ticked, type the first amount, then tap **Balance to total**: the second fills itself in.
- Leaving New Sale halfway keeps the methods you ticked, except a gift card: check its code again when you come back.

## Related guides

- [Make a sale](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/make-a-sale.md)
- [Gift cards](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/gift-cards.md)
- [Store credit](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/customer-credit.md)
- [Print a receipt again, or email it](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/reprint-or-email-receipt.md)
- [Close the day](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/close-the-day.md)