Adding a till on a second PC in the shop

In the busy season one counter is not enough. BooksPOS lets another PC in the shop bill as an extra till against the same stock. The second PC does not keep its own copy of anything: it asks the store PC for every price and every sale, so two counters can never both sell the last copy.

What you need

• The store PC (the one that runs the BooksPOS store server) and the new PC on the same shop network, by cable or Wi-Fi.
• BooksPOS on the new PC, installed as an Extra till. While the Download page has no installer, we install it with you.
• The owner's sign-in on the store PC.

1. Let the store PC accept tills

The store PC's shop-network listener is off until you switch it on, and Windows Firewall must allow it (on a private network only). The installer does both when you tick "Extra tills on the shop network will connect to this PC" on the store PC; run it again there to tick it later. While the Download page has no installer, we switch it on with you.

2. Create a one-time code on the store PC

1. Sign in as the owner and open Staff & counters.
2. Under Tills on other PCs, choose Add a till.
3. BooksPOS shows the store PC address and a code. The code works once, for a limited time. Below it is the store PC's certificate fingerprint.

The address and one-time code for the new till (a demo code). Screenshot of the current build (28 Sep 2026), synthetic demo data.

3. Connect the new PC

1. On the new PC, open BooksPOS and choose Connect to the store PC.
2. Type the address and the code exactly as shown.
3. The till checks that it is talking to your store PC (the code never travels over the network; both sides prove they know it) and remembers its certificate. From then on, every request is encrypted and carries the till's own device token.
4. Sign in with your own name and password, as on the store PC.

Each counter has its own bill numbers and cash shift. Choose which counter a PC uses under Settings › Receipt printer on this PC on that PC. If you need another counter, add it under Counters on Staff & counters.

Removing a till

On the store PC, Staff & counters lists the tills with the time each was last seen. Remove locks that PC out at once; it shows a message explaining how to pair again. Use it when a PC is replaced, sold or lost.

If something goes wrong

• The store PC is off or the network is down: the extra till cannot bill until it is back. Its open bill is kept, and a sale retried after an unclear answer cannot be posted twice. The till on the store PC itself keeps working.
• The code does not work: it may have expired or been used. Create a new one.

Common questions

Does the second PC need the internet?

No. It needs the shop network and the store PC. Internet matters only for the store PC's sync with BooksPOS Cloud, and billing does not wait for it.

Can the two tills sell the last copy twice?

No. A till never keeps its own stock; every sale is posted by the store PC, which refuses a sale that would take stock below zero.

What if the store PC is switched off?

The other tills cannot bill until it is back, and their open bills are kept. BooksPOS deliberately does not let a second PC take over, because two PCs selling the same stock separately could both sell the last copy. More in offline and cloud.

Is the connection between the PCs secure?

Yes. It is encrypted, the till pins the store PC's certificate, and every request carries the till's own device token. The one-time code itself never travels over the network.

Does each till get its own bill numbers?

Yes. Each counter has its own bill number series and its own cash shift.

Step by step, with every message you may see: Tills on other PCs in the help centre.