Receipt and bill — Paloma POS 2

This article is about Paloma POS 2 — the new Paloma cashier app for a tablet, POS terminal, or Windows device. If you are not sure which product you have, start with «How to tell you have Paloma POS 2». This article covers receipt preview and printing, the receipt copy, printing the bill «to pay» (pre-bill), the order lock after printing and how to unlock it, and the direct-print mode without a preview.

Overview

• Payment receipt. The order screen has a «Receipt» tile. It opens a preview — how the receipt will lay out on paper — from which you can print.
• Bill «to pay» (pre-bill). This is the bill you show a guest before payment. It prints from the order actions menu. After the bill prints, the order is locked read-only so the amount cannot change after the guest has seen it.
• Receipt copy. A paid order can be reprinted from the order list.
• Unlock. A check locked by printing is released from the order card in the list — after that it can be edited again.
• Direct print. On a specific device you can enable printing without a preview: the «Receipt» tile becomes a «Print» tile and prints the bill on a single tap.

Preview and print the receipt

Step 1. Open the preview

On the order screen, tap the «Receipt» tile in the top bar. The «Receipt preview» dialog opens, showing the real receipt layout (the same image that goes to the printer).

If the cart has no items yet, the app prompts «Add items to the cart before previewing the receipt.» — add products first.

On a narrow phone screen the preview opens full-screen with its own top bar. The «Close» button dismisses the preview without printing anything.

Step 2. Print

In the preview dialog, tap «Print». The dialog closes at once and a message appears at the bottom: «Open check sent to printer.».

Printing does not block the cashier: it does not wait for the printer to answer, so the app never freezes even if the printer is busy or unreachable on the network. Keep working right after the tap.

If the check was sent to print but for some reason was not locked, the app warns: «Open check sent to printer, but the check was NOT locked — print it again.» — reprint it.

Print the bill «to pay» (pre-bill)

The bill «to pay» is a preliminary bill for the guest. For dine-in and to-go orders it prints from the order actions menu:

1. On the order screen, open the actions menu (the three-dots button in the top bar).
2. Tap «Print check (preview)».
3. The app first sends any unsent lines to the kitchen, then prints the bill.

After the bill prints, the order is locked — it becomes read-only. The operator leaves the now read-only check, and the order card shows a «Bill locked» badge. If you try to open such an order for editing, the app reminds you: «Bill printed — unlock to edit».

You can also print the bill from the order list: open an open (unpaid) order and tap «Print bill».

The lock is controlled by the «Lock order after printing bill» setting: "When on, printing the bill to pay locks the order read-only; a manager must unlock it to edit again." If it is off, the bill prints without locking.

Unlock the bill

A check locked by printing is released from the order list:

1. Open the order list. A locked check appears on the «Printed» tab and carries a «Bill locked» badge.
2. Open that order's card.
3. Tap «Unlock bill».

After unlocking, the order can be edited again: add or remove items, change quantities, then pay or reprint the bill.

Actions on an open and a paid order

In the order card from the list, the set of buttons depends on whether the order is paid:

• Open (unpaid) order. At the top is a large green «Pay order» button with the amount due; below it, «Open order» to continue working and «Print bill» to print the bill «to pay».
• Paid order. «Receipt copy» is available — a reprint of the already-rung receipt. There is no separate kitchen-ticket reprint here.

Direct print without a preview

If you do not need the preview, you can enable one-tap printing on a specific device:

1. Open settings and find the «Print receipt without preview» switch (appearance section).
2. Turn it on. The hint reads: "The Receipt button becomes a Print button and prints the bill on a single tap, skipping the preview (this device)."

Once on, the «Receipt» tile on the order screen becomes a «Print» tile: a tap prints the bill immediately, skipping the preview dialog. The setting applies to this device only — on other cashiers the tile stays the same.

Common problems

• «Add items to the cart before previewing the receipt.» — the order has no items. Add products and open the preview again.
• «Open check sent to printer.» — not an error but a confirmation: the check went to print. If no paper came out, check the printer (paper, power, network link).
• «Open check sent to printer, but the check was NOT locked — print it again.» — printing went through but the lock did not apply. Reprint the bill so the order locks.
• «Bill printed — unlock to edit» — you are trying to edit an order whose bill is already printed. Release it with the «Unlock bill» button on the order card.
• «Bill locked» — a badge on the order card: the bill «to pay» is printed for it, editing is closed until unlocked.
• The receipt «freezes» while printing — in Paloma POS 2 receipt printing does not block the cashier: the dialog closes at once and printing runs in the background. If the app still waits, update it to the current version.

FAQ

How is «Receipt» different from the bill «to pay»?

«Receipt» is the payment receipt, printed at settlement. The bill «to pay» (pre-bill) is a preliminary bill shown to the guest before payment; it prints from the order actions menu and locks the order so the amount cannot change.

Why can't I edit the order after printing the bill?

By design: once the guest has seen the amount, the bill is closed for editing. To change the order again, open it in the order list and tap «Unlock bill». Automatic locking is controlled by the «Lock order after printing bill» setting.

How do I reprint an already-paid receipt?

Open the order list, find the paid order, open its card, and tap «Receipt copy».

Can I print at once, without the preview dialog?

Yes. Turn on «Print receipt without preview» in settings — the «Receipt» tile becomes a «Print» tile and prints the bill on a single tap. The setting applies to this device only.

Nothing comes out of the printer. Is the cashier broken?

No. The message «Open check sent to printer.» means the app did its part. Check the printer itself: paper, power, and network link. For paying receipts, see «Payments».