POS Transactions and Sessions
Every meal served through a Gaia POS terminal is recorded as a transaction within a session. This article explains how sessions and transactions work, where to find them, and what actions you can take on them.
What is a POS Session?
A session represents a single service period on a terminal (e.g., one lunch service at a specific school). When a cashier opens the POS app and starts serving, a session begins. The session tracks:
Terminal: which device and school the session ran on
Meal: which meal program was being served (breakfast, lunch, etc.)
Start and end time
Starting and ending cash balance (if the terminal accepts cash)
Cashier: the staff member who ran the session
All transactions processed during the period
View sessions from POS > Sessions in the main menu.
Sessions table columns
Transacted By, Account, School, Meal
Start Time, End Time
Terminal Location, Transaction Count
Starting Cash, Cash Collected, Ending Cash, Cash Status
Total Transactions Amount, Notes
Transaction Types
Sale: a standard meal purchase. Charges the student's account or records a cash/check payment and marks attendance if the template has attendance tracking enabled.
Void: cancels a sale that was processed during the same session. The original transaction is reversed and the student's account balance is restored.
Refund: reverses a sale after the session has closed. Used when a void is no longer possible.
Payment Methods
Account: the meal cost is deducted from the student's prepaid lunch account balance. This is the most common method.
Cash: the student pays at the register. The terminal must have cash acceptance enabled in its template.
Check: payment by check, recorded manually.
Viewing POS Transactions
Go to POS > Transactions to see all POS transactions across your district.
Transactions table columns
ID, Date
First Name, Last Name, Identifier (student ID)
School, Terminal Location, Transacted By
Items, Amount
Type (Sale / Void / Refund), Payment Method (Account / Cash / Check)
Flags, Notes
You can also view transactions scoped to a single terminal from POS > Sessions by clicking into a session.
Flagging Transactions
Transactions can be flagged for review. A flag indicates something unusual about the transaction (e.g., a duplicate charge, a suspected error, or a policy violation). Flagged transactions are highlighted in the table and can be filtered separately.
To configure which flag reasons are available to cashiers, go to POS > Flag Reasons. Each reason has a name, description, display order, and optional color code.
Editing a Transaction
Authorized users can edit certain fields on a transaction after the fact, such as the transaction date, notes, or flag status. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) on a transaction row to see available actions.
Voiding or refunding a transaction creates a linked reversal record rather than deleting the original, keeping a full audit trail.
Attendance
When a terminal's template has attendance tracking enabled, each Sale transaction also records attendance for the student on that date. You can view attendance records from POS > Attendance.