Serial Numbers at the Point of Sale

Enabling the Serial Column

Before you can see serial information at the Point of Sale, you need to enable the serial column on your POS machine:

1. Go to Program → POS Machines
2. Open your POS machine record
3. Check Show Serial Column in the machine settings
4. Click Save

The POS grid now displays a serial indicator column for every line item.

The [SN] Indicator

When you add a serial-tracked item to a sale, the serial column shows [SN] after serials have been captured for that line item. This visual indicator confirms which serials are included in the current sale. If the serial column is blank for a serial-tracked item, it means serials have not yet been captured for that line.

Automatic Serial Capture

When you add a serial-tracked item to the sale — whether by scanning its barcode or searching for it — a serial capture dialog opens automatically. This dialog displays all available serials for that item at your current location.

The dialog shows a grid of serials that are eligible for sale: only serials with a status of In Stock and marked as available at your location appear in the list.

Using the Capture Dialog

To capture a serial in the dialog:

• Double-click a serial in the grid to assign it to the sale immediately
• Or select a serial and click the Add button

If the line item quantity is greater than 1, the dialog stays open so you can capture multiple serials. For example, if a customer is buying 3 units of the same item, you select 3 serial numbers before closing the dialog.

SN: Barcode Scanning

If you have barcode labels printed for individual serialized units, you can use the SN: prefix scanning method for the fastest checkout experience.

Scan a barcode that contains SN:ABC123 (where ABC123 is the serial number) and AccuArk does everything in one step:

1. Looks up which inventory item the serial number ABC123 belongs to
2. Adds that item to the sale
3. Automatically captures that specific serial for the line item

This eliminates the need to scan the product barcode first and then select the serial. One scan does it all. This is the fastest way to sell serialized items at the Point of Sale.

Completing the Sale

When the sale is completed and payment is collected, all captured serials are automatically updated:

• Serial status changes from In Stock to Sold
• Each serial is linked to the invoice record for the sale
• If a customer is assigned to the sale, each serial is associated with that customer record

This creates a complete chain of custody: you can look up any serial and see exactly when it was sold, on which invoice, and to which customer.

Removing Serials Before Completing a Sale

Before the sale is completed, you can remove a serial-tracked item from the sale just like any other item. When the item is removed, the serial capture for that line is cleared and the serials remain in their original In Stock status.

POS Mode Compatibility

Both standard POS mode and compact POS mode fully support serial number tracking. The serial capture dialog, [SN] indicator, and SN: barcode scanning all work identically in both modes.

Enforcing Serial Capture

If your business requires that cashiers always capture serial numbers before completing a sale, you can enforce this at the location level:

1. Go to Program → Locations
2. Open the location settings
3. Enable Require Serial Capture in the location's POS settings

When this setting is enabled, the POS will not allow a sale to be completed if any serial-tracked items are missing their serial captures. The cashier must assign a serial to every serialized line item before the sale can proceed.