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PCs & shop network

Updating tills from the store PC

How an extra till takes the store PC's BooksPOS version over the shop network, what it checks first, and what to do when it cannot.

An extra till is a PC that bills through the store PC over the shop network. Since 28 September 2026 it does not need its own download: once the store PC runs a new version of BooksPOS, each till takes that same version from the store PC, checks it, and installs it in about a minute. This guide explains what the till shows, what happens when you choose Update now, and what to do when a till cannot update this way.

What the till shows

Each till compares its own version of BooksPOS with the store PC's, when it starts and every few minutes after that.

  • The store PC runs a newer version. A bar under the top of the screen says Update to 0.9.6 from the store PC (with the store PC's version), and that it takes about a minute and the bill on screen is kept. Choose Update now, or Later to hide the bar until BooksPOS opens again.
  • The till is too old for the store PC. When a till is older than the oldest version the store PC still serves, it cannot bill with it. Instead of the sign-in, the till shows Update this till, with both versions and the button Update this till from the store PC.
  • The till runs a newer version than the store PC. The bar says so. Update the store PC under Settings › System & updates; the till keeps working meanwhile.
  • The store PC is too old for the till. The till shows Update the store PC first instead of the sign-in.

On the store PC, Staff & counters shows the version each till last reported, and marks a till that runs an older version. The dashboard and the notifications bell say how many tills run an older version.

What happens when you choose Update now

  1. The till asks the store PC for its installer. The store PC offers only the installer of the version it runs itself: the one it downloaded from BooksPOS Cloud, checked and installed.
  2. The till downloads it over the shop network, through the same pinned, encrypted connection it uses for billing. The bar shows how far it got.
  3. The till checks the file itself: BooksPOS's signature on the release, that it is newer than the till's own version and exactly the store PC's version, and that the file's size and SHA-256 are the signed ones. If anything differs, nothing is installed and the till says why.
  4. The till's updater, which the BooksPOS installer set up on the till, copies the file to a folder ordinary users cannot change, checks it once more, and installs it as an extra till. No administrator password is asked at the counter.
  5. BooksPOS closes, and opens again by itself when the installation has finished. The till keeps its pairing, its printer, its counter and any bill in progress.

The store PC does not need the internet for this, and the till does not either.

When a till cannot update from the store PC

The till says why. The usual reasons:

  • The store PC has no installer of its version yet. The store PC keeps its installer only after it has updated itself under Settings › System & updates. A store PC installed by hand from the download page has none until its first update. Until then, install the same version on the till from the download page and choose Extra till.
  • The till was installed before this feature. It has no updater of its own. Run the BooksPOS installer on the till once, as an administrator, and choose Extra till; from then on it updates from the store PC.
  • The file does not match. Nothing was installed. Choose Update now again; if it happens again, contact BooksPOS support.
  • Windows would not start the till's updater. Run the installer on the till once as an administrator, choosing Extra till, then try again.

Who can update a till

Anyone signed in at the till can choose Update now: it installs only BooksPOS's own release, the version the owner already installed on the store PC. On the store PC, updates are installed by an owner or manager, or automatically at night if the owner chose that (see Automatic updates at night).

Common questions

Does updating a till lose the bill on screen?

No. The bill is kept on the till while BooksPOS closes and opens again. The store PC keeps every posted bill, as always.

Does the till need the internet to update?

No. The till takes the installer from the store PC over the shop network. Only the store PC fetches new versions from BooksPOS Cloud.

Can a till be updated to a version the store PC does not run?

No. A till takes only the version the store PC runs, so the two always match. A newer till than the store PC is told to update the store PC first.

Last updated 30 September 2026. Still stuck? Contact us.