---
title: Take a payment
summary: Choose a payment method at checkout, take cash and give change, finish the sale and hand over the receipt.
id: take-a-payment
type: how-to
audience:
  - cashier
areas:
  - payments
since: "2.0"
updatedAt: 2026-11-07T15:47:58.638Z
release: 2.5.0
url: https://help.omviq.com/payments/take-a-payment/
markdown: https://help.omviq.com/payments/take-a-payment.md
related:
  - make-a-sale
  - split-a-payment-and-add-a-tip
  - when-a-payment-does-not-finish
  - hold-and-resume-a-sale
  - open-and-close-a-till
  - void-a-sale
keywords:
  - payment
  - checkout
  - cash
  - card
  - gift card
  - change due
  - receipt
  - cash rounding
lang: en
---

# Take a payment

Checkout is where a sale becomes a payment. You choose how the customer pays, take the money, and Omviq finishes the sale and offers a receipt.

## Before you start

- Have the cart ready. Tap **Pay** or **Checkout**, whichever your order type shows. See [Make a sale](https://help.omviq.com/selling/make-a-sale/).
- **Cash needs an open till.** Until a till session is open, the **Cash** button is greyed out with a message telling you to open the till. If a customer reaches checkout first, open the till from the header without leaving the checkout. The message clears and the cash is counted in the session you just opened. See [Open and close a till](https://help.omviq.com/till/open-and-close-a-till/).
- Which payment methods you see depends on your business's settings. The grid shows only the methods that are turned on, under **Settings → Checkout → Payment Methods**.

## The checkout screen

The screen has two columns. The left column is the order summary with the items, subtotal, tax, service charges, discounts, tips and the total. It updates as payments are applied, voided or tips are added. The right column holds the payment methods, cash entry, tip buttons, and the processing and success screens.

## Steps

1. Tap **Pay** or **Checkout**. The checkout opens.
2. If your business takes tips, add one now. See [Split a payment and add a tip](https://help.omviq.com/payments/split-a-payment-and-add-a-tip/).
3. Tap a payment method.
4. Enter or confirm the amount. It starts at the full balance still due.
5. Take the payment. For a card, the card terminal talks to the card processor. For cash, the drawer opens.
6. The sale completes. A success message appears, then the terminal returns to idle. Depending on your business's settings, you may instead see a receipt page. It offers the receipt options your business has turned on, such as print or skip.

## Payment methods

| Method | How it works |
|---|---|
| **Cash** | Quick-amount buttons (for example $10, $20 and $50) and a box where you can type any amount. The change due is worked out as you type. Tap **Pay Cash** to take it. The drawer opens by itself. |
| **Card** | Debit or credit. The customer taps, inserts or swipes on the connected card terminal. The payment starts as soon as you choose **Card**, and you do not enter anything else. A processing screen shows while the terminal talks to the processor. |
| **Gift Card** | Scan the card or type its number. Omviq checks the balance first. The remaining balance prints on the receipt. |
| **Store Credit** | Applied from the customer's account when the customer is identified. Customers get store credit after returns instead of a cash refund. |
| **House Account** | For business customers with a pre-approved credit line, billed monthly. |
| **Check** | Entered by hand. Omviq does not verify it and treats it as paid. |
| **Custom** | Methods your business defined, such as meal vouchers or tokens. |

Every payment is started and recorded by Omviq's payment service, which first checks that the sale can still take money. It must still be open and owe something, and the order it was rung for must still exist and be unpaid. Nothing is charged in your browser.

## Cash rounding

If your business uses cash rounding, the cash part of a sale is rounded to the nearest accepted amount, for example $0.05. Card, gift card and other electronic payments always use the exact amount.

- The rounding appears as its own line on the receipt, for example `Cash Rounding: -$0.02`.
- Item prices and tax are not changed.
- If a sale is split between cash and card, the cash part is rounded and the card part is exact. The total collected still equals the sale total.

| Exact total | Rounded to $0.05 | Adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| $13.47 | $13.45 | -$0.02 |
| $13.48 | $13.50 | +$0.02 |
| $13.50 | $13.50 | $0.00 |

The setting is made once by an admin, under **Settings → Checkout → Cash**, and applies to every terminal at that location.

## Going back to the check

The **Back** arrow at the top of the order summary leaves the checkout and returns you to the terminal.

- **Before any payment is taken,** Back returns you to the check exactly as you left it. Every item, the customer, discounts, price changes and comps are still on it, and nothing is charged. Make your changes and tap **Pay** again.
- **Once a payment has been taken,** Back cancels the sale. The payment already taken is reversed and the terminal is cleared for the next guest. The bottom navigation is locked until the sale is finished, voided or suspended. To put a part-paid sale down without cancelling it, use **Suspend**. See [Hold and resume a sale](https://help.omviq.com/selling/hold-and-resume-a-sale/).
- Leaving an unpaid checkout through the bottom navigation asks you to confirm first, and the check is kept.
- If a card reader stops answering during a payment, tap **Abandon Payment** to cancel that card payment. When nothing else has been paid, you return to the check with every item still on it, ready to take payment another way.

To undo one payment while the sale is still open, see [Split a payment and add a tip](https://help.omviq.com/payments/split-a-payment-and-add-a-tip/).

## If something goes wrong

| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| The card reader does not respond | Check the USB or Bluetooth connection to the card terminal. If it never answers, tap **Abandon Payment** and take payment another way. |
| **Payment method unavailable** | The method is turned off. An admin has to turn it on in the checkout settings. |
| The cash drawer did not open | The local agent (POSAgent) may be offline. Check its status in the status menu, which should show green. Also check the cable between the printer and the drawer. See [Fix printing problems](https://help.omviq.com/printers/fix-printing-problems/). |
| The **Cash** button is greyed out | No till is open. Open the till from the header. |
| A gift card shows a balance of $0 | The card is used up or expired. Check the card's status in the Wallet section. |
| The receipt did not print | See [Fix printing problems](https://help.omviq.com/printers/fix-printing-problems/). |
| A message says nothing was charged, or the sale is stuck | See [When a payment does not finish](https://help.omviq.com/payments/when-a-payment-does-not-finish/). |

## Related pages

- [Make a sale](https://help.omviq.com/selling/make-a-sale/)
- [Split a payment and add a tip](https://help.omviq.com/payments/split-a-payment-and-add-a-tip/)
- [When a payment does not finish](https://help.omviq.com/payments/when-a-payment-does-not-finish/)
- [Open and close a till](https://help.omviq.com/till/open-and-close-a-till/)