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This page explains how to take payment for an order on the register (the NowOS app): opening the pay screen, taking cash or card, splitting the check in restaurant mode, and what happens once the check is fully paid.
The flow differs by mode. In restaurant mode, you send items to the kitchen first, then take payment — with the option to split the check. In retail mode, you pay for the cart directly, in one go. The relevant sections call this out.

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Opening the pay screen

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In restaurant mode

1

Open the order

Open the order you want to pay. At the bottom of the order panel, you see the Split, Pay and Send buttons.
2

Send items to the kitchen

The Pay and Split buttons stay dimmed until at least one item has been sent to the kitchen. Tap Send first if items are still waiting.
3

Tap Pay

The Take payment screen opens full screen: the list of items on the left, the payment controls on the right.
In restaurant mode, you select on the left the items this payment covers. Tap each item, or Select all to select everything. The Selected amount at the bottom of the list is the amount the register will charge. Until something is selected, the pad on the right stays inactive: the register needs to know what this payment covers before it lets you key in an amount.
When you select only some of the items, the register gives them their own check and that is the one you settle. The remaining items move to a separate check that carries no payment at all, so you can keep splitting it between the remaining guests. This is the recommended way to cash out a guest who leaves before the others.
If this is the first payment of the day and the business day is not open yet, the register prompts you to run start of day first. See Start of day.

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In retail mode

Tap the Pay button under the cart — it shows the total to charge directly. The pay screen opens: the check on the left (the Due amount in large type, the tax breakdown, payments already recorded), the payment controls on the right.

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Paying with cash

1

Choose Cash

In the right pane, Cash is selected by default.
2

Enter the amount handed over

Type the amount the customer hands you — it appears under Tendered. You can also tap a quick chip: Exact (the exact amount due) or a common bill (5, 10, 20, 50, 100).
3

Check the change

If the customer gives more than the amount due, the register shows Change owed: that is the change to hand back. The change is calculated for you.
4

Confirm

Tap Apply followed by the amount. The payment is recorded and the Due amount updates.
If the customer gives less than the amount due, the register records what was handed over and the check stays open for the balance. Simply take a second payment for the rest — cash or card.

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Paying by card

NowOS is not connected to the card terminal: you choose how much to charge (the bill, plus any tip), charge it on your usual terminal, then confirm in the register.
1

Choose Card

In the right pane, tap Card. The Total on card and the keypad below it are pre-filled with the amount due, and the tip is No tip.
2

Add a tip (optional)

Tap a percentage (10%, 15%, 20%, 25%) to set the total to bill + that tip, or type the amount to charge directly on the keypad. Anything above the bill becomes the tip — the Tip line and the Total on card update as you go. Leave No tip to charge the bill exactly.
3

Charge the terminal

Charge the Total on card on your card terminal, as usual.
4

Confirm

Tap Apply followed by the total. The register records the bill and the tip separately.
Typing less than the bill records a partial card payment (no tip) and the check stays open for the rest — take a second payment for the balance.
The tip goes to your staff — it is never counted as a sale, never taxed, and never shows up in your revenue. You’ll find the total tips collected in the Payment methods and Staff performance reports. Cash tips left on the table aren’t entered in the register.

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Combining several payments

A single check can be settled in several payments: half cash, half card, for example. Record each payment one after the other — the Payments list and the Due amount update each time. As soon as the amount due reaches zero, the check closes automatically.

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Correcting a payment before the check closes

If a partial payment was entered with the wrong amount or tender, tap Correct on its row in the Payments list. Select the reason, record what happened to the money, then have a manager approve the correction.
  • For cash, confirm whether it was returned to the customer or only the NowOS entry was wrong.
  • For card, void or refund it on the terminal first when needed, then record the action taken. NowOS does not operate or verify the external terminal.
The original payment remains visible as Corrected, but no longer counts toward the paid amount. Any tip on it is also reversed. You can then take the correct payment. While an active payment exists, the check’s items, discounts and allocation stay locked.
This correction is only available while the check is open. A paid check is a final Sale: use a refund instead.

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Splitting the check (restaurant mode)

Splitting the check only exists in restaurant mode. Tap Split at the bottom of the order panel: the Split screen opens, with each check shown as a column (Check 1, Check 2…), its total and its own Pay button.

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Splitting evenly

Most of the time you simply want to split the check equally between the guests. When the Split screen opens, as long as you haven’t moved anything yet, a Split evenly shortcut appears, with a share count pre-filled from the table’s covers.
1

Adjust the number of shares

The stepper starts from the table’s covers. Change it if the number of payers differs.
2

Tap the split button

The button shows the amount per check. The check is divided at once into equal checks, ready to take payment.
Each item is spread equally across all checks (shown as “1/N”), so every check pays the same amount — to the cent, the last share absorbing any rounding remainder. The shortcut disappears as soon as you start managing checks yourself — creating a check, moving or splitting an item. You can also tap or assign items manually to switch straight to manual mode. If a discount is applied to the check, splitting evenly is unavailable: remove the discount first.

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Creating a check

Tap the Add check column on the right. An empty check has no minimum: you then move the items you want onto it. An empty check can be removed with Delete. Leaving one empty is harmless: a check with no items cannot be paid, so it is discarded on its own the moment you settle the last check that does have items. The order completes as normal and the table frees up.

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Moving items to another check

1

Select the items

Tap one or more items in their original check.
2

Tap Move here

On the destination check, tap Move here. The items change check and the totals recalculate.
If you select a single item with a quantity above one (for example “3× Tea”), an n/3 stepper appears on the line: adjust it to move only part of the quantity.

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Splitting one item across several checks

For a dish shared between several guests:
1

Tap Split on the item

Tap Split on the item’s line (or select items, then tap Split at the bottom of their column).
2

Choose how many to share

If the item has a quantity above one, a large + / − counter appears at the top of the dialog. It starts on the full quantity; turn it down to share only part of it. The line under the counter reminds you how many units stay on the original check.
3

Pick the checks

Tick at least two checks — you can also create one with Add check — then tap Done.
With a discount applied. The discount follows the items: split or move as usual, and each check keeps the share of the discount matching what it receives. The table’s total does not change. The one exception is an item where only part of it is discounted (say “2× Water, 1 on the house”): nothing can say which unit keeps the benefit, so Split is unavailable on that row. Remove the discount, split, then re-apply it on the right check.
The price of the shared units is divided into equal shares across the chosen checks. When the division is not exact, the last share absorbs the remaining cent or cents: the shares always add up to exactly the original price. Depending on how many units you share, the result takes one of two forms:
  • Enough units for every check — they are handed out as whole units, keeping their name. Six waters shared between two checks give “3× Water” on each side.
  • Fewer units than checks — the price is fractionalised and each share displays as “1/N” followed by the item’s name. One water shared between two checks gives two “1/2 Water”.
This is how you bill one shared drink on a table that ordered several: on a “6× Water” line, set the counter to 1 and tick both checks. The other five waters stay on the original check, and only the sixth is halved.

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Paying each check

Each column has its own Pay button, which opens the pay screen for that check only. This is how one guest can leave before the others: move their items onto a check, take its payment — their receipt is issued — and the order stays open for the rest of the table. The order is complete when every check is paid. A paid check displays with a Paid label: its items and amount are locked and it can no longer be changed.

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A partially paid check is locked

If a check has taken some money without being settled, the Split screen shows it with an already collected label and a Total / Paid / Due breakdown. Its items are dimmed: while that payment is on record they can no longer be moved or split, and the check cannot receive items from elsewhere either. Only Pay the rest stays available. To unlock it, tap Correct the payment on the column — that takes you to the correction described above. Once the payment is corrected, the check can be edited and split again.
To avoid this lock, cash a guest out by selecting their items on the payment screen rather than by typing a free amount: the register then gives them their own check and leaves the rest of the table completely free.

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When the check is fully paid

As soon as the payments cover the total, the check closes and the Payment complete screen appears: the amount collected, the item and tax breakdown, the list of payments, the tip and total paid when a tip was left, and the change handed back if any. The receipt prints automatically when a printer is set up — see Receipts and printing. From this screen, you can:
  • Reprint — print the receipt again;
  • Issue invoice — issue an invoice for this customer;
  • Done — leave the settled sale.
Once the check is paid, the sale is final: it can no longer be edited, cancelled or deleted. This is a legal requirement. If a correction is needed (an entry mistake, a returned item), go through the refund.
In restaurant mode, when every check on an order is paid, the order moves to completed. Done then brings you back to the floor plan — or to the orders list if the order was not at a table — and the Menu tab starts over for the next order. The settled sale stays available from the orders list. In shop mode, Done rolls straight into an empty cart without leaving the register.