Resource
Point-of-sale glossary
Thirty-two terms that come up constantly in a till project, defined without unnecessary jargon — with particular attention to the Belgian context.
The essentials
Three acronyms come up constantly in Belgium. The registered cash register system is the requirement. The FDM is the unit that signs. The VSC is the card that identifies the venue inside that unit. Everything else is organised around these three elements.
Regulation & tax compliance
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Registered cash register system | A scheme imposed in Belgium on certain hospitality venues, pairing till software with a fiscal data module that signs every operation in a tamper-proof way. Also called a white till, or GKS (geregistreerd kassasysteem) in Dutch. |
| FDM Fiscal Data Module | A unit connected to the till, commonly called a black box, which signs every transaction and increments tamper-proof counters. The till sends it the operation's details and receives back a signature printed on the receipt. |
| VSC VAT Signing Card | A personalised smart card inserted into the fiscal data module. It identifies the taxable person and holds the cryptographic elements needed to sign operations. |
| VAT receipt | A document handed to the customer by a fiscal till. Beyond the sale details, it carries the data from the fiscal module's signature as well as a QR code that allows the operation to be checked. |
| Pro forma | A non-fiscal document showing the amount due before payment — the bill handed to the customer. It is signed as such by the fiscal module, distinctly from the final sale. |
| Audit trail | The set of records that allow an operation's history to be reconstructed : who did what, when, on which station. It covers cancellations, discounts, refunds and reprints. |
| X, Y and Z reports | Till reports. The X report is an intermediate read with no closing, the Z report is a period closing that resets the counters to zero. The Y report is a cumulative intermediate read, depending on configuration. |
Till & service
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| POS Point of Sale | The point where a sale is checked out. The term denotes both the till software and the physical station. |
| Room | A logical grouping of tables within a floor plan : indoor, terrace, bar, upper floor. A room can carry its own rules, notably a VAT rate. |
| Table transfer | Moving all or part of an order from one table to another, when a party changes seats or two tables merge. The operation is logged and, in a fiscal context, signed as such. |
| Bill requested | The status of a table whose customer has asked for the bill. The table remains editable : adding an item returns it to the occupied status. |
| Guest mode | A till configuration in which access requires no prior authentication, typically for a kiosk or an open-access counter. |
| KDS Kitchen Display System | A preparation screen installed in the kitchen or behind the bar, which replaces or complements the paper ticket. It shows the orders to prepare, their order and their origin. |
| Order kiosk | A self-service touchscreen that lets the customer build and pay for their order without going through a staff member. The receipt is printed on a kiosk printer. |
| Digital signage | Broadcasting content on information screens within the venue : menu, dish of the day, promotions, announcements, workstation instructions. Driven by the till, the display reuses the catalogue's labels, prices and availability, with no double entry. |
| Menu board | A menu displayed on one or more screens, usually above the counter. Fed by the till's catalogue, it updates itself on a price change or a stock-out, and can switch automatically from one service to another. |
Payment & checkout
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| PED Payment terminal | A device that reads a bank card and runs the transaction with the acquirer. When integrated with the till, the amount is sent to it automatically, with no re-entry. |
| Payment gateway | The software component that handles a given payment method at the point an order is confirmed : cash, terminal, wallet, partner. Each method has its own gateway. |
| Split payment | Settling the same bill through several successive payments, potentially with different methods. Each portion is recorded on the order. |
| Automated cash machine | A machine that accepts notes and coins and gives change with no human intervention. A recycler model reuses cash taken in to give change, which limits the float required. |
| Wallet Customer wallet | A cash balance attached to a customer account, topped up or funded by buying a package. It is debited at the time of consumption, with no bank transaction per purchase. |
| Prepaid | An operating mode in which the customer pays in advance and consumes against their balance afterwards. The till automatically charges every order to the wallet as long as the balance allows it. |
| Voucher | A title bought in advance that entitles the holder to a defined item, drink or meal. Buying it credits the customer's wallet, consuming it debits the wallet by a number of vouchers. |
| Deposit (container) | An amount charged to the customer for a reusable container, refunded when they bring the container back. The return is usually recorded by a scan. |
Catalogue & technical
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Multi-site | A configuration in which several venues share the same installation, with a synchronised catalogue and assortments that can differ from one point of sale to another. |
| Assortment | The subset of the catalogue actually offered for sale at a given point of sale. Two shops in the same network can share a catalogue and display different assortments. |
| Tare | The weight of the container, deducted from the total weight to obtain the net weight of the product sold. A till linked to a scale manages preset tares by container type. |
| E-commerce foundation | The technical base that provides the product catalogue, stock management, orders, customers and payment gateways. IZIII builds on the most widely deployed foundation in the world : more than 4.3 million active stores depend on it, accounting for 33.4 % of the global market. |
| Extension point | A mechanism that lets a feature act within a process without modifying the original code. This is how IZIII's features are added to the foundation without altering it. |
| Smart connected fridge | A bank of refrigerated lockers driven by the till. A paid order is assigned a locker that the customer opens whenever they arrive, at any hour and with no staff present. Pickup preserves the cold chain and feeds the same orders, stock and reports as a counter sale. |
| Accounting reconciliation | The task of matching figures coming from several checkout sources. When every channel produces the same type of order in a single database, this task disappears : there is only one figure, breakable down along whichever axis is wanted. |
| Per-site licence | A billing model in which the price depends on the number of venues, at a given address, rather than the number of till stations installed. A site can therefore open as many tills as its activity requires without the amount changing. |
Missing a term ?
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