FLIP

User Manual

Revision 1.5.7
October 2011

Postec Data Systems

Auckland, New Zealand
www.postec.co.nz
[email protected]
FLIP - FOCUS Limited Item PoS

COPYRIGHT © Postec Data Systems

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Publisher
Postec Data Systems

Managing/Technical Editor
Grant McIvor

Graphics Designer
Logan Maire

Team Coordinator
Michael Simpson

Production
Grant McIvor
Jonathan Hill
 Contents I

Table of Contents
Part I Introducing FLIP 2
1 Overview
................................................................................................................................... 2
2 System
...................................................................................................................................
Requirements 2

Part II Setup 4
1 General
...................................................................................................................................
Settings 4
2 Products
................................................................................................................................... 6
3 Local
...................................................................................................................................
Accounts 7
4 Tax................................................................................................................................... 8
5 PoS...................................................................................................................................
GUI 9

Part III Operation 13

1 User
...................................................................................................................................
Interface 13
2 Functions
................................................................................................................................... 15
3 Reports
................................................................................................................................... 18

Part IV Appendix 20
1 OPOS
...................................................................................................................................
Setup 20

© 2011 POSTEC Data Systems

 Part

I
Introducing FLIP
 Introducing FLIP 2

1 Introducing FLIP
1.1 Overview
The FOCUS Limited Item PoS (FLIP) is a light weight PoS designed to serve in a retail fuel site
environment where a limited number of dry stock items are sold and managed. FLIP provides the
basic functionality and reporting to effectively sell and manage dry stock products in addition to the
normal wetstock (fuel) being sold on the site. FLIP is part of and fully integrates with the FOCUS
suite using the Visual Console to process fuel transactions and the Forecourt Manager for product
management, reporting, and FLIP configuration.

The PoS is limited to a small number of items, typically 500, and can be run on multiple PC's
depending on the license purchased. All data is written back to the central FOCUS database.

FLIP is only available for release in selected markets, it is not released as part of the
generic FOCUS suite. Please contact Postec marketing for more information.

Manual Revision - 1.5.7, October 2011

1.2 System Requirements

FLIP is part of the FOCUS suite, refer to FOCUS User Manual under system requirements.

Note: FLIP is designed to ideally run in a resolution of 1024 x 768.

© 2011 POSTEC Data Systems

Part

II
Setup
 Setup 4

2 Setup
FLIP is part of the FOCUS suite so before it is used FOCUS should be installed, PCC configured,
and FOCUS setup complete as per the FOCUS User Manual.

Following that these key steps should be performed to setup FLIP:

1. Register FLIP with appropriate license codes, this enables the FLIP functionality within FOCUS.
2. Setup appropriate Methods of Payment under the Methods of Payment page of the Forecourt
Manager. MOP 0 is always Cash and needs the Smallest Value and Round Point to be
defined., e.g. Smallest Value of 10 and Round Point of 5.
3. Import FLIP Products into FOCUS under the FLIP Products page using the appropriate
template.
4. Setup the PoS ID under the PoS Setup page of the Forecourt Manager. First PoS = 1, Second
PoS = 2, etc.
5. Enable FOCUS Shift Control if not already enabled under the FOCUS Setup | Operation page of
the Forecourt Manager.
6. Close the Visual Console.
7. Run the FLIP application.
8. Perform a Visual Console end of day and then start of day.
9. Use the Balance PoS function to enter a starting till float.
10. Process a fuel transaction through the PoS

Following this product buttons will need to be configured on the PoS and minor changing of the FLIP
General settings should be performed to setup the desired operation.

2.1 General Settings

FLIP operation is setup using the PoS Setup option page in the FOCUS Forecourt Manager. The
FLIP general group box is only displayed when FLIP is enabled via the appropriate license codes.
The console integration mode will need to be set to Integrated PoS, refer to the FOCUS user manual
for all other PoS settings outside of the FLIP general settings.

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5 FLIP User Manual

FLIP General
PoS ID - this ID is used to configure the number of the PoS, in a multiple PoS configuration each
PoS requires a unique PoS ID.

Safe Drop Warning Value - when the cash balance of the till reaches this value a warning about
making a safe drop will appear at the end of each transaction to inform the user to perform a safe
drop. This warning continues until a safe drop is made and the cash balance in the till drops below
the warning value.

Product quantity warning level - under the FLIP products page in the Forecourt Manager each
product's details are displayed including the current stock quantity. When the quantity falls below
the specified warning level it is highlighted yellow. When the stock is less than or equal to zero this
highlight changes to red.

PoS Height - configures the height of the PoS application. Ensure the height is set appropriately to
maximize the screen use.

Receipt reprint time period - configures the number of days a user can go look back for a transaction
to reprint a receipt.

Show Button Editor - turn this option on to show the button editor in the PoS screen. This is used
for configuration and should NOT be left on when the site is operational.

Balance PoS - the balance PoS function can be performed adhoc or additionally the user can be
prompted to perform this function on a shift change or end of day by checking the appropriate boxes.

Integrated EFT - supported EFT systems can be enabled for electronic transactions and
settlements.

Devices - supported devices can be set up for EFT integration.

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 Setup 6

Tax - one or more tax rates can be set up, refer to Tax.

2.2 Products
FLIP products are setup using the FLIP Product option page in the FOCUS Forecourt Manager.

The FLIP Products page displays all FLIP products present in the FOCUS database. The product
PLU, Description, Type, Sale Units, Price, Price Override, Tax Code, and Quantity are shown. The
Quantity field is highlighted green when stock levels are above the configured warning level, yellow
when below the configured warning level, and red when there is zero stock or less.

By default, only dry stock products are displayed. If the 'Display fuel products' checkbox is checked,
fuel products are displayed. For fuel products, only some information is editable as Grades are
mainly configured through Forecourt Configuration.

The following functions are available on this page for product management:

Add
Click the New button to add a new FLIP product.

A product has the following properties:

PLU - Product Lookup this is a unique number identifying the product and usually resides on the
product barcode.
Description - two fields for the text description of the product.
Type - type of product, currently the only type available is Default.
Unit Price - the unit price of the product,
Sale Units - the sale units of the product.
Each - product is sold as individual items.
Fuel - product is a grade of fuel (note these are setup automatically by the system so
should not be manually configured)

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 7 FLIP User Manual

Kg - product is sold in kg's, so can have a quantity which is not whole, e.g. 0.85kg.
Litre - product is sold in litres, so can have a quantity which is not whole, e.g. 1.45L.
Tax Code - the tax code of the product, reserved for future use. Default is None.
Price Override Allowed - whether the price of the product can be overridden with a new price at
time of sale.
Location - location field for grouping products. Default is 0.
Reference 1-3 - miscellaneous reference field, reserved for future use. Default is 0.

Modify the properties where appropriate and click OK to change, changes are automatically saved.
Click Cancel to abort any changes.

Edit
Click the Open button to edit an existing product. Modify the properties where appropriate and click
OK to change, changes are automatically saved. Click Cancel to abort any changes.

Delete
Select a product and click Delete to delete an existing product. Note be cautious with deleting a
product as when a product is deleted it will be deleted from the product table and stock adjustment
history but the product PLU will remain in the transaction data resulting in unknown product text
within reports.

Stock Adjustment
Adjust the level of a products stock by clicking Add Stock or Remove Stock, enter the appropriate
value and click OK to make the adjustment. All stock adjustments made from this page are
recorded in the Product History report for future reporting.

Import
A product file can be imported into FOCUS to reduce the initial data entry, click Import Product File
to select the file and start the import process. The template for this file is installed as part of the
FLIP installation and resides in the FOCUS folder under the file name FLIP_Product_Template.csv.
The PLU code is used to check if the product is already present in which case that product will not
be imported during the import process. A dialog will indicate how many products were imported from
the file. Note the number of products used by FLIP is limited by licensing.

2.3 Local Accounts

FOCUS Local Accounts functionallity allows for a local accounts server to authorise forecourt or PoS
tranasctions. Please refer to the FOCUS manual for more information.

FLIP is able to use Local Accounts as a method of payment. This would allow a use case similar to
the following:
1. A customer has a local account created for them, refer to the FOCUS manual for information on
this.
2. When the customer is ready to pay, they present the PoS attendant with their card or other
identification.
3. The attendant selects Local Account as the method of payment.
4. The customer's card is swiped or the attendant searches for the customer.
5. FLIP authorises the transaction with the Local Accounts Service.
6. Through Forecourt Manager, the customer can be issued with a statement.

To set up this functionallity, the following steps are required. Note that you must have installed Local
Accounts and have a license, refer to the FOCUS manual for more information.

Method of Payment Setup

The following steps are performed in Forecourt Manager.

Configure the IP address of the Local Accounts PC.

1. Open Point of Sale | PoS Setup.
2. Change the Integrated EFT to LAMS and click Setup.

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 Setup 8

3. Change the IP Address to that of the system where the Local Accounts Server is located. If it is
on the same PC, leave the IP address as the default of 127.0.0.1.
4. If you are using another EFT with FLIP, change the Integrated EFT back to your preferred
default.

Set up a method of payment for Local Accounts.

1. Open OPTs | Methods of Payment.
2. Create a new method of payment.
3. You can set MOP code and Description to whatever you like (a good description might be 'Local
Account'). You must set the EFT Integration code to 4.

FLIP GUI Setup

You need to create a Tender key for the Local Accounts MOP. Refer to PoS GUI for guidance.

2.4 Tax
The Tax Management dialog is accessible within Forecourt Manager - PoS Setup and allows one or
more tax rates to be set up. Once a tax rate is set up, it can be assigned to individual products on
the FLIP Products configuration page.

Add
Click the New button to add a tax rate.

A tax rate has the following properties:

Name - The name for the tax rate.
Rate % - The percentage amount for the tax, entered as a number between 0 and 100.
Description - A description of the tax that will be printed with the tax amount on receipts.
Marker - An optional character which will be printed next to items attracting this tax rate.
Marker Description - A note which will be printed at the end of a receipt to explain the meaning of
the marker.
Logic - Currently reserved for future use.

Edit
Click the Open button to edit an existing tax rate. Modify the properties where appropriate and click
OK to change, changes are automatically saved. Click Cancel to abort any changes.

Delete
Select a tax rate and click Delete to delete an existing tax rate.

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 9 FLIP User Manual

2.5 PoS GUI

The buttons within the FLIP application are configurable. Under Forecourt Manager - PoS Setup you
need to check the Show Button Editor option under FLIP General.

This will allow the user to right-click on a button and select Edit Button.

If a button is invisible then right click on the blank space and select Show Button.

Button Editor

Visible - Indicates whether the button is visible.

Function button page

Type:
Function - this allows a function to be assigned to the button
Numeric - this means the button will act as a numeric keypad key.

Value:
Type = Function, possible Values:
None - no function, e.g. not setup

© 2011 POSTEC Data Systems

 Setup 10

Exit
Product Lookup
Cancel Sale
Cancel Item
Disc Sale
Disc Item
Move Up
Move Down
Reprint Receipt
Qty
Price Override
Park
Recall
Return
Balance PoS
Safe Drop
No Sale
Numeric, possible Values:
0-9
00
Clear
BackSpace
Decimal

Sale Main, Item Group 01-10

Type:
Item - allows an item (product) to be assigned to the button
Page - allows a page to be assigned to the button

Value:
Type = Item, possible values
Product Lookup
PLU is used to set to any product setup under FLIP Products
Page, possible values
Sale Main
Tender
Item Group 01
Item Group 02
Item Group 03
Item Group 04
Item Group 05
Item Group 06
Item Group 07
Item Group 08
Item Group 09
Item Group 10

Tender

Type:
Standard MOP - a MOP key that allows an amount to be entered and then MOP key pressed.
Speed MOP - a MOP key that pays the remaining subtotal as the MOP key pressed.
Speed Cash - a cash MOP with a value
Page - allows a page to be assigned to the button

Value:
Type = Standard MOP - possible values
MOPs as per setup in Forecourt Manager

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11 FLIP User Manual

Speed MOP
MOPs as per setup in Forecourt Manager
Speed Cash - a cash MOP with a value
MOPs as per setup in Forecourt Manager
Page, possible values
Sale Main
Tender
Item Group 01
Item Group 02
Item Group 03
Item Group 04
Item Group 05
Item Group 06
Item Group 07
Item Group 08
Item Group 09
Item Group 10

Miscelleaneous Properties
Colour - colour of button, note this is overridden by the image colour
Text - button text, use ^ for a carriage return
Font - text font details
Image - assign an image to the button

© 2011 POSTEC Data Systems

Part

III
Operation
 13 FLIP User Manual

3 Operation
3.1 User Interface
The FLIP user interface is designed for use with ideally a touch screen, or mouse. Limited keyboard
functionality is available via a standard QWERTY keyboard interface.

Main Sale Screen

The main sale screen features the following areas:

Products Panel - this panel located on the left-hand side contains up to ten product group pages,
the main page, and tender page. Each button on the pages can be individually assigned to
products, setup to switch to another page of products or the Tender and Main pages. Up to 10
pages can be configured.

Functions Panel - this panel located in the centre contains all the configurable function buttons for
the PoS and numeric keypad

Item Panel - this panel located on the right-hand side contains the selected items in the sale,
discount item, and tender items.

Subtotal panel - displays the current subtotal.

Numeric entry panel - this black panel with white text displays the current numeric entry.

Tender Screen

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 Operation 14

The tender screen features the following areas:

MOP Panel - this panel located on the left-hand side contains buttons for methods of payment or
speed methods of payment.

Functions Panel - this panel located in the centre contains all the configurable function buttons for
the PoS and numeric keypad

Item Panel - this panel located on the right-hand side contains the selected items in the sale,
discount item, and tender items.

Tendered panel - displays the current tendered value.

Subtotal panel - displays the current subtotal value.

Still to Pay - displays the current to pay value.

Numeric entry panel - this black panel with white text displays the current numeric entry.

Basic Operation
The basic operation of the PoS involves the following steps:
1. Select one or more products using the:
a. Configurable product buttons
b. Product Lookup function
c. PLU entry via barcode scanner
d. Visual Console fuel transaction processing.
2. The selected items appears in the item panel on the right-hand side of the PoS.
3. Modify any items, e.g. quantity adjustment, price override.
4. Apply a discount if appropriate
5. Move to the Tender screen by clicking the Tender button.
6. Enter the value for the amount tendered using the numeric keypad and click the appropriate
method of payment button. Split tendering is also supported. The speed method of payment

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 15 FLIP User Manual

buttons pay off the entire outstanding amount to the selected button's method of payment. If
cash is used to tender any change is communicated to the user by a separate dialog,
configurable rounding rules are used to calculate the change value. Receipts are can be never
printed, always printed, or optionally printed at the tendering stage of a transaction.

3.2 Functions
The function control panel can be setup to have buttons to access the following functions.

Numeric Keypad
The numeric keypad provides the numeric entry for functions such as quantity adjustment, price
overrides, discounts, tendering, etc. Backspace, Clear, and Double-zero buttons ensure ease of use
and correction. Move Up/Down buttons allow the selection of a particular sale item in the sale item
panel.

Park/Recall Sale
Sales can be parked to be recalled for tendering at a future date.

Park - Park an active sale for recall and tendering at a later date/time. There must be an active sale
otherwise an appropriate error message displayed.

Confirmation required:
Yes – sale parked user is returned to the main sale page
No – no action taken.

Recall - Recall a previously parked sale. There must be no active sale otherwise an appropriate error
message is displayed.

Recall sale dialog is displayed, OK/Cancel:

OK – selected parked sale is now the active sale.
Cancel – no action taken.

Cancel Sale Item

Cancel the selected sale item. There must be an active sale otherwise an appropriate error message
displayed.

Confirmation required:
Yes – cancel (remove) selected item from the current sale.
No – no action taken

Cancel Entire Sale

Cancel the entire sale. There must be an active sale otherwise an appropriate error message
displayed.

Confirmation required:
Yes – cancel entire sale.
No – no action taken

Quantity
Adjust quantity of selected item or next item added. There must be an active sale otherwise an
appropriate error message displayed.

Two methods of quantity adjustment:

User enters quantity using the numeric keypad and clicks an item button. Quantity units must
match those of item otherwise a quantity of 1 is set.
User selects an item, enters new quantity and clicks Quantity button or clicks the Quantity

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 Operation 16

button and enters the new value in the dialog displayed. Quantity units must match those of
item otherwise an appropriate error message is displayed.

Confirmation required:
Yes – quantity adjusted
No – no action taken

Price Override
Change the unit price of selected sale item. There must be an active sale otherwise an appropriate
error message displayed. Selected item must have price change allowed set to true. The current
PoS user must have rights to override price.

User selects an item, enters new price and clicks Price Override button, or clicks Price Override
button and enters new price in the dialog displayed. Confirmation required:
Yes – price adjusted
No – no action taken

Discount
Apply a percentage or value discount to the entire sale. There must be an active sale otherwise an
appropriate error message displayed. The current PoS user must have rights to apply a discount.

User enters discount value and clicks Discount button or clicks the Discount button and enters
discount in the dialog displayed.
Discount type selection required:
% - percentage discount
Value – value discount

Confirmation required:
Yes – apply discount to sale
No – no action taken

A discount can be cleared by entering a zero value and clicking Discount, a confirmation on the
discount clear will be displayed.

Reprint Receipt
Receipts are always or optionally printed at the tendering stage of a transaction. Receipts can be
reprinted at anytime through the reprint receipt dialog.

Reprint receipt dialog is displayed, OK/Cancel:

OK – reprint the receipt for the selected sale.
Cancel – no action taken.

Product Lookup
Lookup a product

Product lookup dialog is displayed, enter the PLU or description and select product,
OK – selected product added to the sale.
Cancel – no action taken.

Product Return
Products can be returned by a customer, this results in subsequent refund and returning of stock to
the inventory table.

Balance PoS
Balance PoS function displays the current till balance, float from last balance PoS event and any

© 2011 POSTEC Data Systems

17 FLIP User Manual

safe drops made since then.

Enter the new float and click Balance PoS or click Balance PoS and enter the new float into the
dialog displayed. A summary of the PoS balances is displayed and confirmation of the new float for
balancing is displayed.

Confirmation required:
Yes - PoS is balanced, new float entered, and receipt printed with PoS Balance detail.
No - no action taken.

Safe Drop
Perform a safe drop. A safe drop is required to remove cash from the till to be stored in a more
secure facility such as a safe.

Enter the safe drop value and click Safe Drop or click Safe Drop and enter the safe drop value into
the dialog displayed.

Confirmation required:
Yes - Safe drop made and receipt printed with Safe Drop detail.
No - no action taken.

Exit PoS
Exit the PoS application. The current sale must either be cancelled or tendered before the PoS can
exit.

Confirmation required:
Yes - Exit PoS
No - no action taken.

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 Operation 18

3.3 Reports
FLIP adds a number of reports in addition to the standard FOCUS wetstock reports. These reports
are all accessed from the Back Office | Reports page in the Forecourt Manager.

In addition to the existing FOCUS wetstock based reported the following reports around FLIP are
available:
Product Inventory – current stock levels, both dry stock and fuel.
Product Forecasting – forecasting of how many days worth of stock is left for products based on
sales history.
Product History – reporting of modifications of product stock levels through the Forecourt
Manager
Sales Totals – by Method of Payment or Product
Pos Transactions – summary, e.g. one line per transaction, or e.g. detailed full transaction
detail.

© 2011 POSTEC Data Systems

Part

IV
Appendix
 Appendix 20

4 Appendix

4.1 OPOS Setup

FLIP supports the use of peripherals that implement the OPOS specification. The peripherals
currently supported for OPOS are receipt printer, cash drawer and customer display.

The following diagram provides an overview of the OPOS architecture used by FLIP:

FLIP communicates with an OPOS control for each peripheral, the controls used are the standard
OPOS reference components. These components communicate to a vendor supplied hardware driver
which then communicates with the hardware.

The usual procedure for setting up OPOS hardware is as follows:

1. Install Drivers: For each hardware peripheral, the vendor supplied driver/configuration utility
needs to be installed. The vendor configuration utility must be run to configure the hardware
and to test it.
2. Register OPOS controls: Some vendors supply their own OPOS controls with their driver.
The controls supplied with FOCUS should be registered to ensure that these are used rather
than the vendor's controls. This is done by running the Reg_OPOS.bat file within the
FOCUS directory. If this file is not run, then there is a possibility that FLIP will display an
'Interface not supported' message when FLIP is loaded.
3. Configure FOCUS: Using Forecourt Manager – PoS Setup, the names of the devices are
supplied and any other settings configured.

FOCUS Configuration

Receipt Printer
The receipt printer is configured through Forecourt Manager – Point of Sale – PoS Setup – Receipt
Options Setup.
Driver is set to OPOS.
Device Name is set to the name set up using the vendor's configuration utility.
Some devices work better with or without Use Async Mode checked. You may like to try both
modes to see which causes the printer to work faster.

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21 FLIP User Manual

Customer Display
The customer display is configured through Forecourt Manager – Point of Sale – PoS Setup
Customer Display Setup.
Type is set to OPOS.
Device Name is set to the name set up using the vendor's configuration utility.

Cash Drawer
The cash drawer is currently configured through the registry.
Run regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Postec\FOCUS\Visual
Console\POS Settings\Cash Drawer. (Create the Cash Drawer key if it does not already exist).
Create a new DWORD value called Type if it does not exist and set its Data to 2.
Create a sub-key under Cash Drawer called OPOS if it does not exist.
Create a new String value called Device Name if it does not exist and set its Data to the exact name
set up using the vendor's configuration utility.

Device Specific Notes

FLIP has been tested with a limited set of OPOS peripherals. The following notes provide some
setup guidance for specific devices that Postec or its partners have used before. Note that support
for specific devices should come from the device vendor, the below notes are for guidance only.

Receipt Printers / Cash Drawer

Digipos DS-900 USB: Use the supplied SEWOO utility to configure the printer and cash drawer. The
device should be configured as ThermalU and the cash drawer as StandardU.

Customer Display
Digipos WD-202: When plugging in the display, the system will attempt to install a Prolific serial
adapter. Allow it to install and check in Device Manager for the COM port which Windows assigned.
Use the supplied Epson SetupPOS Utility. Add a DM-D110 line display, be sure to select the COM
port that Windows assigned. FOCUS should then be configured to use the DM-D110 device.

© 2011 POSTEC Data Systems