Selling without internet (offline sales)
What the POS can do without a connection, how to recognise offline mode, reserved receipt numbers, TSE failure or hardware TSE, card via the register bridge, transfer, discrepancies and what does not work offline.
If the internet fails, the POS keeps selling. Receipts are created on the device, carry consecutive receipt numbers of the register and are transferred as soon as the connection is back. You do not have to switch anything.
Requirements
- The POS runs on a registered register device – see Register the device. Only a registered device gets reserved receipt numbers; on other devices the POS only shows Offline without a connection and posts nothing.
- The POS has been online at least once since it was opened. It then loads the items of its assortment with base price and stock, the payment methods and a block of 100 reserved receipt numbers. Online it reloads every ten minutes and fetches new numbers before the reserve runs low.
- The browser may store data (no private mode).
How to recognise offline mode
- In the dark header, a red Offline button with the number of waiting receipts replaces Online.
- Below the header a red bar shows the receipt numbers still free and the note not to reload the page.
- After reconnecting the button shows Transferring …, then Online again. If something remains open, it shows not transferred or discrepancies.
Tapping the button or POS menu → Offline sales and transfer shows the status: connection, how many items are stored locally, free receipt numbers, how the TSE and card payment work offline, the queue and the discrepancies. Transfer now sends waiting or failed receipts immediately, Update data reloads items and numbers.
Selling offline
- Scan or search items – the POS searches its local storage. Quick keys, miscellaneous keys and deposit work as usual. Categories and item images return with the connection.
- Pay opens the offline dialog: Cash with amount given and change, or Card.
- The receipt appears with its receipt number and is issued: directly via a receipt printer on the register bridge, otherwise via Print in the browser.
If the connection drops in the middle of paying, the POS books a cash payment or a card on an external device offline straight away – with the same ID. If the server did book the receipt after all, the transfer detects this and no second receipt is created.
Card offline: A terminal on the register bridge (ZVT or O.P.I.) works without the POS's internet – the payment runs directly between POS, bridge and terminal, the result is on the receipt. Terminals that run via the server (SumUp, Stripe, ZVT directly from the cloud) do not work offline. If the POS has no connected terminal, record the card as an external device as online.
As long as offline receipts are still waiting, the POS keeps selling via the queue even online. This keeps the order of receipt numbers gapless.
TSE without a connection
- Hardware TSE on the register bridge: The POS signs every offline receipt at the TSE as usual – transaction number, signature counter, signature and QR code are on the receipt. On transfer allverto checks the result (TSE serial number, client ID, process data, signature counter) again.
- Cloud TSE (fiskaly) or test TSE: Without internet the TSE cannot be reached. The receipt is created with the note TSE failure – permitted under the AEAO on section 146a AO if the failure is documented. The note is on the receipt, in the register log and in the DSFinV-K export (field TSE_TA_FEHLER). More under If the TSE fails.
If a failure lasts longer, check the obligation to notify the tax office.
Transfer and discrepancies
As soon as the connection is back, the POS transfers the receipts in order. Each receipt keeps its number and time and appears in the journal, the cash book and the next Z report. The period without connection is in the register log.
A transferred receipt is never rejected because something changed in the meantime – it has already been issued to the customer. Such discrepancies are listed under Discrepancies and stay there for review until you tap Seen:
| Discrepancy | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Price changed | The item now costs something else – the receipt keeps the offline price. |
| Item deleted or inactive | The receipt stays valid; no stock is posted for deleted items. |
| Stock | More was sold than was in stock, or a storage bin is missing – check in the ERP. |
| After closing | The receipt only arrived after a Z report and is on the next one. |
| Time | The device clock was ahead; the receipt carries the transfer time. |
If a receipt cannot be accepted at all (for example because the receipt number does not match the block), it stays in the queue as not transferred. The number is then never issued a second time, and the receipt is stored completely in the register log. Please contact support in this case.
What does not work offline
- Assigning customers, invoices, redeeming or selling vouchers, returns and cancellations, order payments, tips, cashback and payouts
- Customer prices, tiered prices and automatic discounts – offline the base price from the last update applies; manual line and receipt discounts work
- Parking, cash count, X report and closing – do the closing once all offline receipts have been transferred
- Locking after inactivity – offline the POS does not lock by itself, because unlocking needs the server. Do not lock it manually while the connection is missing.
- Digital receipt and receipt by email – after the transfer via All receipts