Introduction

The Point of Sale (POS) system enables authorised users to manage on-site customer transactions, including selling memberships, redeeming vouchers, applying discounts, and processing refunds. Designed for front-of-house operations, POS provides a streamlined interface that connects directly with Expian’s central database to ensure all transactions are synchronised, validated, and compliant in real time.

POS improves both operational efficiency and customer experience by allowing visitors to purchase or renew memberships, redeem benefits, or apply promotional vouchers instantly. By reducing manual intervention and ensuring that all data is captured accurately at the point of interaction, it enhances service quality, supports compliance, and protects revenue integrity.

POS Permissions Overview

To perform transactions through the Point of Sale (POS) system, users must have the correct permissions assigned in Admin Portal → User Administration → User Management.

Each permission enables access to specific features or actions within the POS interface.

Best Practice Notes

• Review permissions regularly in the Admin Portal to ensure staff only have access to the functions they require.
• Use roles or groups (e.g., Cashier, Supervisor, Admin) to manage sets of permissions efficiently.
• Audit POS activity periodically to maintain compliance and prevent unauthorised transactions.

Ensure Sell Entitlements is always assigned to anyone performing membership or voucher sales.

Assigning appropriate roles ensures that users can perform their duties efficiently while maintaining control over financial and operational processes.

General POS Workflow

• Login and Setup: Users sign into POS and select their assigned location. The system automatically retrieves or creates the appropriate sales shift (single- or multi-user, as pre-configured), ready for transaction processing.
• Product Selection: Choose from available products or services displayed as tiles on the home screen.
• Customer Details: Capture or search for customer details (name, email, postcode) as required.
• Validation: The system verifies mandatory fields before allowing checkout.
• Payment:
• Payment: Accept payments via supported methods including cash, card, direct debit, or redeemable vouchers. (Promotional vouchers or discounts are applied before payment is taken) **
• Completion:Completion: POS automatically syncs the transaction, updates membership or voucher records, and prints receipts, cards, or tickets, including souvenir tickets printed from Desktop POS, where applicable

** Note: Voucher Types in Expian POS

Expian supports two distinct types of vouchers, each handled differently within the POS and Reservations environments:

• Promotional Vouchersare configured under Promos
• Function as discounts applied before payment.
• Adjust ticket prices or provide percentage/fixed-value reductions.
• Cannot be used as tender; the remaining balance must still be paid using a standard payment method (e.g. card or cash).
• Gift or Monetary Vouchersare configured under Entitlements → Vouchers
• Represent stored monetary value.
• Can be redeemed as payment at POS, online, or through Reservations.
• When scanned or entered, these reduce the order total as a valid payment method, appearing in financial reconciliation and redemption reports.

Understanding this distinction ensures that staff apply the correct workflow:

• Apply promotional vouchers before payment to adjust pricing.

Redeem gift or value vouchers during payment to settle the transaction.

Core Transactions

• Membership Sales
  Allows staff to sell new memberships on-site, either as individual or joint accounts. After entering customer details and selecting a payment method (direct debit or card), POS validates the information and finalises the transaction. If a printer is connected, membership cards are printed automatically.
  
  Gift Aid can be applied if configured, ensuring tax-compliant reporting and charitable contribution tracking.
• Gift Membership Voucher Sales
  Simplifies the process for purchasing a membership on behalf of someone else. Unlike standard memberships, customer validation is not required at the point of sale. Mandatory buyer fields such as name, email, and phone must be completed before payment. Built-in validation ensures all required data is entered to prevent incomplete transactions.
• Apply Voucher
  Vouchers can be applied in two ways:
• At Checkout: Select Promotion → Scan Voucher to apply directly before payment.
• Via Search: Locate or scan a voucher from the Search tab, then apply it to a qualifying product.
  
  Direct debit memberships cannot proceed with zero-value transactions; if the voucher reduces the total to zero, POS will prompt to switch to a standard payment type.
• Apply Membership
  Enables staff to associate an existing membership with a ticket purchase or attendance record. Accessible from the Actions → Redeem button or via search. Once a membership is applied, eligible ticket types (e.g. Member Adult) are discounted or free, depending on configuration.
• Renew Membership
  Used to renew memberships approaching expiry. The system displays current and upcoming memberships, allowing users to renew, upgrade, or downgrade plans. After processing payment, staff can print membership cards for either the current or upcoming term.
• Upgrade Tickets to Membership
  Allows customers to convert previously purchased tickets into part-payment toward a membership. Staff scan ticket barcodes, apply validated credit, and complete payment for the new membership. The system synchronises redeemed tickets and new memberships in real time.
• Refunds
  POS supports partial/split refunds using multiple payment methods within a single transaction. For example, a refund can be split between cash and external payment. Users must ensure all split amounts equal the total refund value before finalising the process.
• Ticket Sales(Details to follow)
  Supports the sale of admission, event, and journey tickets directly from POS. Ticket transactions can include seat selection, visitor details, and payment handling. Staff can also attach related products or experiences during checkout.
  Full documentation for this process will be added in a future update.
• Ancillary Sales (Details to follow)
  Allows staff to sell non-ticketed products such as merchandise, parking, or food add-ons alongside other transactions. Ancillary items can be linked to bookings or sold standalone.
  Full documentation for this process will be added in a future update.
• Ticket Validation (Details to follow)
  Enables scanning and validation of visitor tickets for entry. Validation ensures that tickets are genuine, within date, and have not been used previously. This supports both standard and membership-linked access control.
  Full documentation for this process will be added in a future update.

Error Handling and Validation

POS includes multiple real-time validation checks to prevent incomplete or inconsistent data: - Missing Mandatory Fields: The system flags missing contact or consent information. - Duplicate Member Detection: Alerts if the email address already exists in the database. - Voucher Restrictions: Prevents invalid or expired vouchers from being applied. - Direct Debit Restrictions: Disallows zero-amount direct debit transactions. - Split Refund Balancing: Ensures refund totals match before confirmation.

These safeguards ensure operational consistency, compliance, and a reliable audit trail.

Hardware and Connectivity

• Printers: Automatically print receipts, tickets/souvenir tickets or membership cards when connected.
• Scanners: Support barcode and QR scanning for tickets, vouchers, and memberships.
• Offline Use:Offline Use: POS retains limited cached functionality for continuity during temporary connection loss, allowing users to continue selling admissions and events, and to redeem tickets based on available cached validation data. The system automatically syncs all transactions once reconnected.

Best Practices

• Always log in with the correct user profile and location.
• Verify customer details and consent before completing transactions.
• Use scanning wherever possible to reduce manual errors.
• Regularly reconcile and close sales shifts to maintain accurate financial records.
• Confirm Gift Aid eligibility before applying it to a membership sale.
• Ensure all devices (printers, scanners, card readers) are connected and functioning before processing sales.
• Ensure user roles and permissions are correctly configured in User Administration.
• Test new pricing, discounts, or entitlement logic in a sandbox environment before publishing live changes.
• After making configuration changes in the Admin Portal (such as new products, prices, or entitlements), use the 'Refresh Content Cache' function in POS to ensure the latest setup is applied.

Summary

The POS system is the operational bridge between on-site customer interactions and Expian’s central platform. It enables quick, compliant transactions while maintaining real-time accuracy across memberships, vouchers, and payments. By streamlining processes and reducing manual input, POS empowers staff to provide a faster, more reliable customer experience while ensuring full visibility for reporting and financial control.

Helpful for supervisors or finance teams managing shift reconciliation.

View Reports / Reconciliation

Grants full configuration and management access to POS and related modules.

System setup, permission assignment, and troubleshooting.

Refunds and adjustments to prior sales.

Allows the user to sell memberships, passes, or vouchers directly via POS.

Linking memberships to bookings or discounts.

Allows redemption or scanning of promotional vouchers.

Check your organisation’s configuration — some setups separate refund rights for audit control.

Reserved for system administrators only.

Checkout and Payment Processing.

Allows users to open, close, or transfer POS sessions.

Refund / Cancel Transactions

Ensures accountability for sales activity per user or session.

Apply Vouchers

Often part of Entitlement Management or Membership Validation permissions, rather than a standalone toggle.

Enables applying existing memberships to ticketed products.

May be governed under Sell Entitlements or Manage Discounts depending on setup.

Should only be given to trained staff handling financial transactions.

Sell Entitlements

Opening and closing tills or workstations.

Admin Access

Voucher Redemption at POS or Entry Points.

Manage Payments

Permits handling of different payment types (Card, Cash, Direct Debit).

Grants ability to process full or partial refunds and cancel completed transactions.

Membership Sales, Voucher Sales, Ticket Upgrades.

Manage Shifts / Sessions

Apply Memberships

This is the core permission required for all POS sales. Without it, users cannot initiate transactions.

End-of-day reporting.

Enables viewing or printing of POS daily reports and till reconciliation summaries.