FBR POS integration for book depots and stationers: what it means and how it works

FBR POS integration is a topic where rumours travel faster than facts, and book depot owners hear all of them in the school season: that every shop with a card machine must integrate, that books are exempt so none of it applies, that the internet must never go down. This guide explains what integration actually means for a book depot or stationery shop, what changes on the bill and at the counter, and how it works in BooksPOS.

It is general information, not tax advice. Whether your shop has to integrate, which of your items carry sales tax and at what rate, and which PCT codes to use are questions for your tax adviser and FBR. BooksPOS does not decide them for you.

The short answer

• FBR asks Tier-1 retailers to integrate their point of sale with its system. Who counts as Tier-1 is set in the sales tax law and has changed with several budgets, so check your status with your tax adviser or on FBR's IRIS portal.
• Integrated shops report every sale. Each bill goes to FBR as it is made, and FBR's own invoice number and a QR code print on the customer's receipt.
• A Re 1 POS service fee is added to each invoice made through an integrated POS. It belongs to FBR, not to the shop.
• Bills made while the internet is down are marked as offline invoices and sent to FBR once the connection is back. FBR's rules set a deadline for that, so ask your adviser for the current one.
• Not integrating when you are required to can be expensive: FBR can impose heavy penalties and seal a shop.
• If you are not required to integrate, leave it off. In BooksPOS nothing changes until you switch it on.

What FBR POS integration means

Integration connects your billing software to FBR's system for reporting sales. Each time a bill is saved, the software reports it to FBR, and FBR returns its own invoice number. That number prints on the receipt with a QR code, and the customer can check the invoice in FBR's Tax Asaan app or by SMS to 9966.

FBR offers two ways for a point of sale to reach it: its online API, where the software sends each invoice over the internet with an access token, and its Fiscal Component, a program from FBR installed on the shop's PC that forwards invoices to FBR. Both need the outlet and its POS registered with FBR first, which gives each POS a POS ID.

Does a book depot or stationer have to integrate?

The test is not what you sell. FBR's Tier-1 criteria look at things such as whether the shop is part of a chain, whether it is in an air-conditioned mall or plaza, how much electricity it uses and how large its turnover is, and they change with the budget. A neighbourhood bookshop that meets none of them is usually not Tier-1; a depot in an air-conditioned plaza, or one that is part of a chain, may well be. Only your tax adviser, looking at your own shop and the rules in force, can tell you.

If FBR has written to you about integration, do not decide on your own that it no longer applies. Ask your adviser first.

If you are not required to integrate, there is nothing to do. Your software should not push FBR fields, fees or receipt lines on you, and in BooksPOS it does not.

What an FBR receipt shows

When FBR POS reporting is on in BooksPOS, the thermal receipt carries:

• your NTN, STRN and FBR POS ID under the shop's details;
• each item's tax rate, and a Tax line when the bill has tax;
• the POS Service Fee of Re 1 on its own line, after the bill total;
• FBR Invoice No. with the number FBR returned, and a QR code of that number;
• the line "Verify this invoice through FBR Tax Asaan Mobile App or SMS at 9966 and win exciting prizes in draw".

BooksPOS never prints an FBR invoice number that FBR did not issue. If FBR has not answered, the receipt says OFFLINE INVOICE instead, and if FBR refused the invoice it says NOT YET ACCEPTED BY FBR.

Online API or FBR Fiscal Component

Choose whichever you registered for. Both work with the same receipts, the same waiting list and the same reports.

When the internet goes down

A book depot cannot stop selling in the first week of the school season because the line is dead. In BooksPOS the sale is always saved first, and the bill waits at most a few seconds for FBR's answer. If FBR cannot be reached, the receipt prints as an offline invoice and the invoice joins a waiting list. BooksPOS sends waiting invoices again automatically in the background, oldest first, at growing intervals (from every 30 seconds up to every 30 minutes) until FBR has them. After FBR fails to answer, the next bills skip the wait for about two minutes, so the queue at the counter keeps moving.

Everything FBR needs is recorded with the sale in the same step, so a power cut straight after a bill never leaves it unreported. And if the connection breaks after an invoice was sent but before FBR answered, BooksPOS does not send it again blindly, which could report it twice: a person checks FBR's records and records whether FBR has it.

The top bar of BooksPOS and its Sync & FBR screen show how many invoices are not with FBR yet, the Not yet with FBR filter in Sales & returns lists them, and Send to FBR now tries one at once. The owner portal's dashboard shows each branch's count too, as last reported.

Tax, PCT codes and the Re 1 fee

Every item in BooksPOS has a Tax rate (%), 0 unless you set it. Tax is added on top of the price, shows on the till, the receipt, the A4 invoice and the reports, and is booked to sales tax payable, never counted as your sales. With FBR reporting on, each item can also have its own PCT code (blank uses the default PCT code from Settings) and a Third Schedule item mark. Your adviser decides the rates and codes; ask about each kind of item you sell, from books to registers and bags.

The Re 1 POS service fee is added after the bill total when the fee option is on, printed on its own line, left out of the invoice sent to FBR and kept out of your sales and profit, because it is owed to FBR.

Returns are reported too. A return against a reported bill goes to FBR as a credit note that points back to the original invoice, once FBR has the sale, and it refunds its share of the bill's tax.

How it works in BooksPOS

BooksPOS is FBR integrated book depot and stationery software, and the integration is optional. Until you switch it on, nothing is sent, no fee is added, receipts carry no FBR lines and items show no FBR fields.

1. Register the outlet and its POS with FBR, with your tax adviser if you like, and get a POS ID and an access token, or install FBR's Fiscal Component.
2. On the store PC, open Settings › FBR POS, tick Report invoices to FBR, choose the online API or the Fiscal Component, and enter the POS ID, the token and the default PCT code.
3. Give items their tax rates, and their own PCT codes or Third Schedule marks where they differ.
4. Choose Sandbox (testing), make a small test bill yourself and check the receipt. A Sandbox receipt looks exactly like a real one, fee included. Then switch to Production (live).

With several branches, each branch is its own FBR outlet with its own POS ID, and the owner can see and change each branch's FBR settings from BooksPOS Cloud. BooksPOS does not register you with FBR; that stays with you or your adviser. Every field and every common error is in the help centre guide to FBR POS integration.

A short readiness list

• Ask your tax adviser whether your shop is Tier-1 under the rules in force, and keep the answer on file.
• Register each outlet and its POS with FBR, and note every POS ID.
• Choose between the online API and the Fiscal Component, based on your internet.
• Get the tax rates and PCT codes for what you sell from your adviser, and set them on your items.
• Make test bills in Sandbox before switching to Production, and tell cashiers about the Re 1 line.

Common questions

Are book depots exempt from FBR POS integration?

Not simply because they sell books. Whether a shop has to integrate depends on FBR's Tier-1 criteria, not on what it sells. Ask your tax adviser about your own shop.

Does FBR reporting slow down billing?

Only by a few seconds at most. The sale is saved first, and when FBR is slow or down the bill prints as an offline invoice and is sent later, while the counter carries on.

What if the internet is down all day?

Keep billing. Receipts print as offline invoices, and BooksPOS sends them to FBR by itself, oldest first, once FBR can be reached.

Is the customer charged the Re 1 fee?

Yes, when the fee option is on. It prints as POS Service Fee and is not your income or profit.

We are not required to integrate. Should we switch it on anyway?

There is no need. Leave it off: nothing in BooksPOS changes, and you can switch it on if your status changes.

Related reading

• FBR POS integration: the setup guide
• Adding books and stationery items
• Returns, reprints and A4 invoices
• A school-season checklist for book depots

Checked on 27 September 2026. Rules change with each budget; check the latest position with FBR or your tax adviser before acting.