Support
Help with Novella POS.
The full documentation set is being written alongside the application. The structure below is what it will cover. In the meantime, the common questions further down are answered in full, and you can reach a person directly.
These guides are being written as the application is finalized. Published articles are linked below; anything marked "Not yet published" is still being written, and we would rather ship no instructions than instructions that do not match your screen. If you need an answer before then, ask us directly.
Getting Started
Installing Novella POS on the counter machine, activating your license, and getting through your first sale.
- Activating your license key Enter the license key that came with your purchase and confirm the register is unlocked.
- Adding your first products and categories Set up categories to organize the product grid, then add the products your register will sell.
- Ringing your first sale Walk through a complete sale, from adding items to the cart to taking payment.
- System requirements and what you need before you install Not yet published
- Installing Novella POS on Windows Not yet published
Setting Up Payments
Connecting your own Accept.blue merchant account and choosing how card transactions are priced.
- Connecting your Accept.blue merchant account Paste your Accept.blue API credentials into Settings so the register can take card payments.
- Where your gateway credentials are stored How your Accept.blue API key and PIN are kept on the machine, and who can see them.
- Taking a card payment Charge a card at the register once your Accept.blue account is connected.
- Taking a payment with store credit Use a customer's store-credit balance as the tender for a sale.
- Setting up a cash-discount or card-surcharge program Configure the register to automatically discount cash sales or add a fee to card sales.
- Voiding a sale and reversing a card charge Void a completed sale from Sales History, with any card charge reversed automatically.
Running the Register
Day-to-day checkout: scanning, the product grid, held tickets and Quick Sale.
- Setting up a barcode scanner Connect a USB barcode scanner to the register with no drivers or configuration.
- Organizing the product grid by category Use categories to control how the register's product grid is grouped and ordered.
- Entering a custom price for an item not in inventory Ring up a one-off item or special order that is not in the product catalog.
- Using Quick Sale Ring up a simple cash-in-hand sale in one step, without building a cart first.
- Holding a ticket and recalling it later Park a sale in progress so a customer does not block the line, then bring it back.
- Looking up a customer at checkout Attach a regular customer to a sale by searching for them at the register.
Managing Employees
PIN logins, admin and cashier roles, and what each role can reach.
- Adding an employee and assigning a PIN Create a staff account with its own PIN so they can sign in and start ringing up sales.
- Admin and cashier roles explained What the difference between an admin and a cashier account actually controls.
- Resetting an employee PIN Give an employee a new PIN from Manage Employees.
Customers and Store Credit
Keeping records for regulars and running a store-credit balance.
- Adding and editing a customer record Keep a contact record for a regular so they can be looked up at checkout.
- Adding store credit to a customer balance Adjust a customer's store-credit balance up or down, with a reason recorded.
- Redeeming store credit at checkout Charge a sale against a customer's store-credit balance instead of cash or card.
Receipts and Hardware
Customizing what prints, and connecting a printer and cash drawer.
- Choosing a receipt printer in Windows Point Novella POS at a printer already installed in Windows, with no special driver needed.
- Adding your logo and header or footer message Put your branding on the printed receipt, with a live preview as you edit.
- Choosing which store details print Control which address, phone and hours fields appear on the receipt, and where.
- Adding a custom note to a single sale Print an extra line on one receipt, such as a tracking number or a pickup date.
- Connecting a USB cash-drawer trigger Set up a USB device that pops the physical cash drawer open automatically.
- Reprinting a past receipt Print a receipt again for any transaction in Sales History, completed or voided.
Cash Drawer Sessions
Opening a till with a float, recording pay-ins and pay-outs, and closing out.
- Opening a drawer session with a starting float Start a shift by counting the cash already in the drawer before any sales happen.
- Recording a pay-in or pay-out Log cash added to or removed from the drawer during a shift, and open it to make change.
- Closing out and reading the variance Count the drawer at the end of a shift and see how it compares to what Novella POS expected.
- Reviewing past drawer sessions Look back at how previous shifts closed out, including their variance.
Discounts
Building rule-based discounts and scoping them correctly.
Running Reports
Reading the Sales Summary and the breakdowns behind it.
- Reading the Sales Summary report What each line in the Sales Summary report actually counts.
- Using the Sales Summary as an X or Z report How the same live Sales Summary report covers both a mid-shift check and an end-of-day total.
- Sales by Item, Employee and Category See which products sold, what each employee rang up, and how each category performed.
- Choosing a date range Use the preset ranges or pick a custom start and end date for any report.
Common questions
These are answered in full today. They cover what Novella POS requires, what hardware it works with, and how payments and licensing behave.
What do I need to run Novella POS?
A Windows PC at the counter. Novella POS is a desktop application that you install on that machine. It is not a website or a browser tab.
Which barcode scanner do I need?
Any USB barcode scanner that works as a keyboard wedge, which is the common and inexpensive kind. There is no driver to install and no special hardware integration to set up. If it types the barcode when you scan into a text field, it will work.
Do I need a special receipt printer?
No. Novella POS prints to any printer that is already installed in Windows, so there is no thermal-printer driver to source. A USB cash-drawer-trigger device is supported if you want the till to pop automatically on cash sales, but it is optional.
Do I need my own merchant account?
Yes. Novella POS integrates with Accept.blue as its payment gateway, and each business connects its own Accept.blue merchant account using its own API credentials. Your processing relationship and your rates stay between you and your processor.
Is card data stored on my machine?
No. Card entry happens inside a PCI-compliant hosted tokenization widget provided by the gateway. Raw card numbers go from that widget to the processor without passing through Novella POS, so they are never handled or stored by the application.
Does Novella POS need an internet connection?
License activation does not. Each install is unlocked with a cryptographically signed key that is verified on the device, so there is no activation server to reach and no lockout if your connection drops. Card payments are a different matter. Those are processed through Accept.blue and do require a connection.
Can I run both a cash discount and a card surcharge?
No. You pick one or the other. The register supports either an automatic cash-discount program or an automatic card-surcharge program, and you configure whichever one your business runs.
How do employees sign in?
With a PIN. There are no usernames to type at the register. Employees are either administrators, who can reach settings, reports and management screens, or cashiers, who get the register.
Where is pricing?
There is no public pricing page or self-serve signup yet. Novella POS is in active development and being fitted to real shops now, so pricing is handled directly. Get in touch and we will talk through what your store needs.
Get direct help
Until the guides are published, support runs by email and it is answered by the people building the software.
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Include your Windows version and, if the question is about a specific screen, which screen you were on. It saves a round trip.
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