Offline-first POS

An offline-first POS keeps taking orders, payments and printing receipts with no internet connection, then sends the queued sales to the cloud once the connection returns.

The till keeps a local copy of the menu and prices and records each sale on the device first. Every queued sale carries a unique key, so sending it twice on reconnect never creates a duplicate.

Worth knowing

• Invoice numbers stay sequential offline because each device reserves its own block of numbers while it is online.
• Card terminals have their own connection, so plan what happens to card payments during an outage.
• Run an outage drill before you rely on it: unplug the router during a quiet hour and check that sales sync cleanly.

General information, not tax or legal advice. Check the official source and speak to a registered tax agent about your own situation.