Lay By Payment - Maximise Point of Sale Capabilities

Lay By Payment Overview

Lay By Payment Transactions are initially created by using the standard POS function in SapphireOne which is named Till Client Invoice. Using this function all Point of Sale types of transactions may be generated and processed by selecting the appropriate radio button at the top of the screen. The three options available using these radio buttons are Point of Sale, Lay By and Returns. For Standard un-tracked cash POS transactions the user will have to setup a Cash Client G/L account within the data file.

Lay By Payment procedure

Lay By transactions will have to be tracked as progressive payments made for the item on Lay By. For this reason a Client Record will be created for each Lay By transaction. Some planning will have to be done before hand as a decision will have to be made for the ID,s of these lay By Clients as they will all have to be unique.

The Lay By Payment function within SapphireOne’s Inventory Mode Point of Sale (POS) is for the management of Lay By transactions and payments, made by Lay By Clients within SapphireOne. This Lay By function gives the user the ability to generate and view Lay By payments already made in SapphireOne. It also provides the ability to receive and process additional payments made for the Lay By item as they are made.

Lay By payments are stored in the Till that was used to process the Lay By transaction. Selecting the Lay By Payment function will display a list of Tills currently in SapphireOne. Double clicking on a Till will display all of the current Lay By transactions processed through the selected Till as seen below.

Dictation and Speech to Text Overview

SapphireOne’s implementation of both Dictation (MacOS) and Speech to Text (Windows) is a game changer for data entry. Any data entry field you can type into using a keyboard can use this feature.

You can also use this functionality on all inquiry screens within SapphireOne. For example, the user is in a Contact within a Client. They may have made a phone call to that particular client using the Softphone technology. Consequently, this will automatically date and time stamp both the contact and the phone number you called.

As soon as the call is completed, the user has the ability to use Speech to Text (Windows) or Dictation (MacOS). They can dictate into the memo field of the CRM contact, adding as much description as they require.

Dictation and Speech to Text Procedure

This functionality applies across every single Data Entry screen. For example, the SapphireOne user is entering a Vendor Invoice (VI). Additionally, you may want to add a memo within the Vendor Invoice (VI). The user can utilise the tool and simply dictate the memo.

Another example is if the user wants to add additional lines to the General Ledger account, within each General Ledger account. When the user is completing data entry using a General Ledger, there’s always a unique memo field for each GL account line.

The user can then utilise this feature to quickly add the information they need to add. Alternatively, you may have an interview with an employee. After the interview process is completed, the user can then make notes about the employee.

Speech to Text or Dictation is an extremely powerful tool. It is something that we at SapphireOne, as well as our clients, utilise daily. It is a massive time saver.

As each payment is received the amount is entered into the appropriate payment data entry field, which includes Card, Cheque, Cash, Account or Voucher. The payment may be a single entry such as Cash only, or a combination or payments such as Cash and Voucher.

SapphireOne will automatically add up all payments as entered and insert the Total into the Total field displayed to the right of the Voucher data entry point. It will also display a running outstanding Balance for the Lay By in the Balance field.

These Columns display the following details.

  • Customer ID – The ID given to the Lay By Client
  • Customer Name – The Client or Customers Name.
  • Start – The date that this Lay By transaction was commenced.
  • Due – The date that this Lay By transaction was due to be fully paid.
  • Ref – SapphireOne will assign a unique reference number to each Lay By transaction.
  • Invoice Amount – This is the original Invoice dollar figure.
  • Out Standing – This is the amount owing before this transaction is processed.
  • Payment – This is the sum total of all payments currently entered from Card through to Voucher data entry fields. If more than one type of payment is processed SapphireOne will declare the payment type as ‘Mix’.
  • Payment History – This button allows the user to view the complete payment history of the Lay By transaction.
  • Find – For larger shops the list of Lay By customers may become quite large, so a ‘Find’ button has been provided so that a detailed query may be performed to enable the user to find the correct customer quickly. The ‘Look’ button enables a user to look at the transaction that is related to the Lay By transaction.

Once the ‘Process’ button has been selected SapphireOne will print out a receipt for the customer.  The Customers Name, Opening and remaining Outstanding Balances, as well as the current Total Payment being made is displayed on the printed receipt.


You can review our Blog and YouTube channel for additional information and resources on SapphireOne ERP, CRM and Business Accounting software.

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