Running your till without Internet

Many till apps assume a permanent connection. A till built for offline reverses the logic: what is done locally does not depend on the network, and only the backup upload and the sync wait for a connection.

In other words: without a network, you lose no sale. You only delay the copy of your data to the cloud.

A network outage gives no warning. The preparation, though, is done the day before. Three things are enough: the tablet charged, with a power bank within reach, the app opened and checked, and prices up to date in the catalogue.

Test a sale in the morning, before the first customer. A test sale of 100 FC that you then cancel tells you in ten seconds that everything works: the till opens, stock goes down, the total is right.

The till, stock, customers and appointments work without a network. You take payment, print the receipt, assign the sale to the right seller: nothing changes.

Two rules avoid bad surprises. First rule: every expense is recorded the moment it is paid, not from memory in the evening. Second rule: the till balance is counted against the real money in the drawer, never a figure read on a remote screen.

1. 1. In the morning, turn on the tablet and check that the app opens.
2. 2. Make a test sale, then cancel it.
3. 3. Note the opening float (the money in the drawer).
4. 4. Take payments as normal all day; print receipts as usual.
5. 5. Record each expense the moment you pay it.
6. 6. At the end of the day, count the real money and compare it with the total sales.
7. 7. Close the day in the app.
8. 8. Leave the tablet on for a few minutes on an active connection, if the network is back.

The backup sends a copy of your data to the cloud according to the plan you chose: twice a week, every evening, or in real time. If the connection is missing at the scheduled time, the send stays pending and restarts as soon as the network returns, with no action from you.

In other words, a day without Internet is not a day without a backup: it is a backup that goes out later.

This is the usual situation for a till in the DRC without a network: outages are frequent there and a till that stops at every outage loses sales.

Count the till, compare it with the day's total sales, record any forgotten expenses, then close the day in the app. This is the moment to spot a discrepancy while you still remember the day.

If the network has returned in the meantime, leave the tablet on for a few minutes on an active connection: the pending backup will go out by itself.

Waiting for the network to take payment: the customer walks out. Stopping selling because the connection is down makes no sense if the app works locally.

Not recording expenses, then reconstructing them in the evening: till errors almost always come from there. Unplugging the tablet mid-backup is another, as is running a single tablet with no up-to-date copy.

A power bank, a test sale in the morning, expenses recorded through the day, a close counted against the real money, and the backup going out when the network returns. That is all it takes for a day without Internet to be an ordinary day.

To go further, see the offline point-of-sale software and the recommended hardware for a tablet till.