How manager approval works
When the POS asks for a manager's PIN, who can approve, how long the approval lasts, what gets recorded, and what the related errors mean.
On this page
Manager approval lets a cashier carry on with an action they are not allowed to do alone, without keeping a manager signed in on the tablet. A manager enters their own PIN, that one action goes through, and both names are recorded.
When the POS asks for approval
The POS opens a sheet titled Manager approval instead of refusing the action in two cases:
- Over a cap. The role allows the action but not this amount: "Your limit is 20%, this is 30%. A manager's PIN is needed." This is
LIMIT_EXCEEDED, with the plain message "This amount is above your limit. Ask a manager to approve it." - Permission missing. The role does not include the action: "You are not allowed to do this. A manager's PIN is needed." This is
PERMISSION_REQUIRED.
Only some actions can be approved this way. They are marked manager can approve in the role editor, and include applying discounts above the cap, voiding orders and sent items, comping items, open price, refunds and payment voids, reprinting, pay in and pay out, opening the drawer without a sale, closing someone else's till and editing timesheets. If an action is not on that list, the message stays PERMISSION_REQUIRED and nobody can unlock it with a PIN: someone with the permission has to do it, or you change the role. See Roles and permissions.
Approve an action on the POS
- The cashier attempts the action. The Manager approval sheet appears and first shows what will happen: who asks and on which till, the order, the item and the figures (for example "30% off the whole order", "−€15.00 · €50.00 → €35.00"), the reason, and the cashier's own limit.
- The manager reads it and taps Enter a manager's PIN. With no manager at the till, tap Ask a manager on another till instead (see below).
- The manager enters their own six-digit PIN on the keypad. The line of what is approved stays above it, and Back returns to the details. The PIN submits as soon as the sixth digit is entered.
- The POS repeats the original action automatically. The cashier does not tap it again.
The approval belongs to this till and to the person who asked for it. It cannot be passed to another till or another colleague.
Approve from another till
When no manager is at the till, the cashier can ask the managers signed in on the other tills of the location.
- On the Manager approval sheet, tap Ask a manager on another till. The sheet shows "Waiting for a manager" and counts down two minutes.
- On every till where a manager who may approve it is signed in, a message appears ("{name} asks for your approval on {till}") and the alert pill counts the requests. Tap Review.
- The manager sees who asks, on which till and when, and exactly what will happen: for example "30% off the whole order", the order number, "−€15.00 · €50.00 → €35.00", the reason and the cashier's own limit.
- The manager taps Approve or Reject. Approved, the cashier's action goes through on its own. Rejected, the cashier's sheet says who rejected it.
The cashier can tap Enter a PIN here instead at any time. A request nobody answers within two minutes runs out ("Nobody answered in time"); tap Ask again to send it once more.
A remote approval follows the same rules as a PIN: the same people can approve it, and it unlocks only the exact action the manager read, once. It is recorded in the Activity log under the manager's name, marked as remote, and a rejection is recorded too.
Who can approve
The approver must:
- have a PIN set and be active;
- be assigned to the location of that tablet (a manager at another location cannot approve remotely);
- hold the permission being approved;
- be within their own caps. If a cashier's own discount cap is 20%, they cannot approve 30%. A percentage is checked against the approver's percentage cap, never against a money cap.
- be someone other than the person asking. Nobody approves their own request.
How long it lasts, and what is recorded
- An approval is valid for 3 minutes, for that one kind of action and amount, and it covers one action only. A second refund, void or discount needs a new manager PIN.
- If the action fails, for example because something was entered wrongly, the approval stays usable for a retry within the 3 minutes.
- It only works on the till where it was asked for and for the staff member who asked. On another till or for someone else it is ignored and the action asks again.
- The action is recorded under the cashier's name. The approver is recorded too: the Activity log shows "approved an action with a PIN" with the permission, the amount and who asked. The POS tells the cashier this on the sheet.
- For a clock-in outside the planned shift, the log also records which rule was skipped. See Clock-in refused or hours wrong.
Errors on the approval sheet
| Message | Code | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Incorrect PIN. | PIN_INVALID | No active staff member at this location has that PIN | Re-enter it; check the manager is assigned to this location |
| This PIN cannot approve this action. | APPROVAL_DENIED | The PIN is the requester's own, or its owner does not hold the permission | Ask a manager or owner whose role includes it |
| The approver cannot approve this amount. | APPROVER_LIMIT_EXCEEDED | The amount is above the approver's own cap | Ask someone with a higher or no cap, or lower the amount |
| This approval was already used. Ask for a new one. | APPROVAL_ALREADY_USED | The approval already covered one action | Ask the manager to enter their PIN again |
| This action cannot be unlocked with a manager approval. | APPROVAL_NOT_ALLOWED | The action is not approvable | Have someone with the permission do it |
The sheet never says who the PIN belongs to or why it was refused, so a wrong guess does not reveal anything about your team.
PIN lockout (PIN_LOCKED)
To stop guessing, wrong PINs are counted, and after too many the terminal answers "Too many wrong PINs on this terminal. Try again in N seconds." Even the correct PIN is refused until the countdown ends.
| Counted | Limit in 15 minutes |
|---|---|
| Wrong approval PINs by one person on one terminal | 5 |
| Wrong PINs on one terminal in total (sign-in, time clock and approvals together) | 10 |
| Wrong PIN sign-ins from one network address across terminals | 30 |
Wrong PINs at the till, on approvals and on the time clock all count towards the same lockout. A correct PIN is not counted, and it does not reset the count. If a terminal is locked in the middle of service, wait for the countdown, or use another paired tablet.
Common questions
Does the manager have to be signed in?
No, not for a PIN: they only enter it, and the tablet stays signed in as the cashier. To approve from another till, the manager has to be signed in on that till.
Does the support chat on the till ask for a PIN every time?
No. Only starting a chat needs a manager's PIN. Replying and ending the chat do not.
Can a manager give a PIN to a cashier?
They should not. A PIN is a person's identity on the till, and the Activity log trusts it.
If something goes wrong
- The sheet keeps saying the PIN is wrong: check the manager has a PIN under Staff, is active and is assigned to this location. See Add staff and set up their access.
- Nobody on shift has the permission: an owner can sign in on the POS, or change the role.