Although TRS has several ways of processing a layaway, the following knowledge base article describes the way I find to be the easiest and is the way I describe how to do it to TRS users. This article assumes you have read the Accounts / Layaways chapter in the TRS10 user manual.
Suspended Sales are not a Substitute for Layaways
One common misconception in TRS is the difference between a layaway and a suspended sale. As I speak to people day to day on the support line, I hear of many people using suspended sales for layaways. Suspended sales should not be used for layaways for a number of reasons.
- Suspended sales are designed to be used for a short period of time - from a couple of minutes to a couple of hours.
- Using suspended sales for layaways clutters up your suspended sale list and it becomes hard to find the sale you want to recall.
- A suspended sale has no mechanism for taking payments towards the purchase.
Suspended sales should only be used for short term cases, such as the person forgot their purse in the car or the person is in a class so you are adding items to their “tab” and will check them out at the end of class.
Layaways on Serialized Sales
To start a layaway for a serialized item, enter a serialized sale for the customer. To do this:
Go to the customer tab and find the customer or if they are not in your system add them as a new customer.
Click on the button that says “For This Customer: Enter New Sale”. This will take you to the Sales tab (tab number 2) and start a record for the sale. Fill out the information on that screen as you normally would. Make sure the price entered does not include sales tax (the layaway/deposit feature will add it later). Also, since the serialized item is not going home with the customer yet, you should not enter a serial number in the Serial # field (the only exception to this would be if for some reason you are going to hold a specific machine for the customer until they pick it up). The serial number will be added when they pick up the machine (discussed later in this article). Once all of the information is entered, click the check mark button on the navigation bar to check in the record.
When TRS asks if you want to “Add the sale to a POS ticket” click “No.”
Next, click on the “Take Deposit” button. TRS will present you with a New Layaway window. This window creates the account in the Accounts/Layaway tab with the overall information about this layaway. The Date, Description and Layaway Amount will automatically be filled in by the system. You can fill in the Salesperson and Notes fields if desired, but they are not required. Click on “OK.”
The New Payment window displays. Enter the amount of money the customer is giving you as the initial deposit. You may fill in the Clerk and Notes fields, but they are not required. Click on “OK.”
TRS takes you to a Point of Sale transaction to collect the initial deposit. Finish the sale as you would any other sale.
Taking Payments on a Layaway
If the customer makes a payment on the account, you must process it using the “Enter Payment” button on the Accounts/Layaways tab. To do this:
Find the customer on the Customers tab. Once you have found the customer, if their history is not displayed, click on the “Show History” button.
Find the deposit (layaway) account under the Accts section of the History list. If you used the default description when the account was set up, it should say “Deposit on” and the make and model of the machine. Double click on the correct listing.
This will display the account on the Accounts/Layaway tab. Click on the “Enter Payment” button.
A new payment window will display. Fill in the Payment Amount - again Clerk and Notes are optional. Once it is filled in, click on “OK.” Just like before this will put the payment amount on a Point of Sale ticket. Complete the sale ticket as you normally would.
If the customer makes more payments on this account, follow the steps in this section each time you need to enter another payment.
Redeem the Layaway
When the customer is ready to pick up the machine and complete the purchase, go to the Customers tab and find the customer. Once you have found the customer, if their history is not showing, click on the “Show History” button.
Find the machine sale under the Sales section of the History. Double click on the correct listing. This will display the Sales tab where you initially entered the machine.
If you have not entered the machine’s serial number into the sale record, click on the triangle button on the navigation bar to put the record into edit mode. Then click on the “Select from List” button next to the Serial# field and click on the serial number of the machine. Fill in any other information you want to on this screen. When you’re done, click on the check mark button on the navigation bar to check in the record.
A warning displays that you have changed the serial number of the machine and asks if you want to remove it from inventory. Click “Yes.”
TRS will ask if you want to add the sale to a POS ticket. Click “Yes.”
TRS will ask if you want to reset the purchase date to today. Since this is the day they are taking delivery of the machine, click “Yes.”
TRS will ask if you want to apply the deposits already made. Click “Yes”.
TRS will bring up the Apply Layaway Payments window with the date and total amount of the payments automatically filled in. You may enter the Clerk and Notes if desired. When finished, click on “OK.”
TRS will apply the payment total to the Sale transaction. Click on “Total” and collect the amount under “Still due from the customer” and finish the sale as usual.
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