Refer to Opening and Closing a POS Session.

Once a session is open, the main checkout screen is where you process every meal. This article covers the day-to-day cashier workflow: starting a transaction, finding students, building orders, handling acknowledgements, choosing a payment method, and completing or voiding the transaction.

The screen is split into three regions:

A student scanning their ID or entering their PIN automatically starts a transaction. To manually add transactions — for visiting adults or students without IDs — tap the + button at the bottom of a queue. This opens the search dialog or the roster to find students, or to record No ID or other transaction types.

If a barcode or badge scan can't be matched, a Student Not Found dialog appears so the cashier can confirm and try again.

The body of the screen shows option buttons grouped by the template's option groups (e.g., Entree, Side, Milk). Tap an option to add it to the order; the button turns dark green to show it's selected. Tap again to remove it.

Each option group has a selection rule that changes how taps behave (the rule is not shown as a label on screen):

If the template includes an à la carte group, the option group collapses into a single A la Carte button. Tapping it opens the full-screen A La Carte Menu dialog, where you can tap items to add them and tap again to remove. Close the dialog to return to the order. The button shows a count when items are on the order (e.g., "3x items").

If the selected student has any allergens, dietary restrictions, or custom restrictions on file, an acknowledgement dialog titled "{Student} / Allergens & Restrictions" appears as soon as they're added to a transaction. The cashier taps I Understand to acknowledge before proceeding, or Cancel to back out. Once acknowledged, the allergens stay visible as orange chips in the header for the rest of the transaction.

If the student has already had a meal under this meal program today, a dialog titled "{Student} has already received a meal" appears showing the previous transaction(s). Tap I Understand to continue or Cancel to back out.

If the order total is greater than the student's current account balance, a dialog titled "Not enough balance" appears asking "The payment amount is greater than the student's current balance. Would you like to continue?" Confirm to charge the account anyway (taking the balance negative), or cancel to back out.

In standard mode, the bottom of the screen shows a footer with two buttons:

In Fast Mode, there is no footer. As soon as you select a student, the reimbursable meal is added automatically and the transaction completes. You'll hear a success sound and see Transaction Recorded. The completed transaction appears at the top of the queue, ready for the next student.

Each queue header has a link in the top-right:

In Fast Mode, scrolling away from the top of the queue surfaces a green back to service button so you can quickly snap back to the live transaction list.

To void a sale, tap the Void button on the standard-mode footer for an in-progress transaction, or open the per-row menu in the completed list. A confirmation dialog titled "Confirm Void Transaction" asks "Are you sure you want to void this transaction? This will be permanent."

Cashiers can flag a transaction for review using the per-row menu on any transaction. The menu shows your district's configured flag reasons as named, color-chipped entries, plus a General flag, a No flags option to clear flags, a Notes field, and a Void item. Flag reasons are configured by your district under POS > Flag Reasons.

Flagged transactions are highlighted in the queue, surfaced in the Review Session dialog at end-of-service, and filterable in POS > Transactions in the Gaia web app.