Tabs

A tab holds an amount on a guest’s credit card so they can keep ordering, such as at the bar, and pay with the same card at the end. The POS calls this a pre-authorization. The card is charged only when you apply the tab to the order.

Before you start

• Turn on Use pre-authorization (Tabs) for credit card in the Back Office POS settings.
• Tabs work on a PAX terminal or a MagTek reader, on credit cards only.
• Tabs aren’t offered on Third-Party Ordering orders.

Open a tab

You can open a tab from the order or from the payment screen.

• From the order: open the order and tap Tab. This button shows on POS orders that aren’t closed. Then tap Add Tab.
• From the payment screen: on the Credit Card panel (PAX) or the MagTek panel with credit selected, tap Open Tab. The tab uses the reader of the panel you’re on. On PAX, Open Tab needs a saved PAX IP address.

Add Tab on the order’s Tab screen uses MagTek when MagTek is this iPad’s default reader in Payment Settings, and PAX otherwise. The screen shows which one, such as Current terminal: PAX · <IP address>.

Then:

1. On Add Tab, enter the amount to hold, at least $1. Order total and Suggested show above the keypad. Tap Accept $X to use the suggested amount.
2. Tap Confirm.
3. Have the guest insert, swipe, or tap their card. On PAX, the screen shows Please insert/swipe/tap card for preauthorization.

The suggested amount is what the order (or the check you’re paying) still owes, plus the tip and any card surcharge. From the order’s Tab screen, the tip is the order’s auto tip; from the payment screen, it’s the tip set there. The suggestion is never less than $5. On a PAX terminal, a tab must hold at least $5; a smaller amount shows Invalid amount or ref.

If Add Tab shows an error after the guest’s card was read, pull down on the tab list to refresh before you try again. The card may already be held even if no tab appears, and adding the tab again places a second hold.

In Selflane POS 7.4.11 or later, Add Tab shows Order total and Suggested with the Accept $X button.

Find a tab

To see every tab, tap the credit card icon at the top of the Orders screen. The POS asks you to sign in first. All Tabs lists today’s tabs:

• Open Tabs haven’t been charged yet. In All Tabs, they’re sorted by name.
• Used Tabs have been applied to an order.

Search by the guest’s name or the card’s last 4 digits in Name or Last4. Pull down to refresh the list. Tap Show Order to open the tab’s order.

Each tab shows the name, the amount held, the card brand and last 4 digits, the terminal that took it, and the time.

• Tap the pencil to change the name, such as to a seat or a nickname. Edit Preauth Card Name opens. An empty name shows Please enter a correct name.
• Tap the printer to print a pre-authorization slip with the order number, name, card, and approval code.

When a tab outgrows the hold

In Selflane POS 7.5.7 or later, an open tab shows a warning once the tab passes 120% of the amount held on the card. The tab here is the same figure as Suggested: what the order still owes, plus tip and card surcharge. The warning reads Authorized $X · Tab $Y · N.N×, where N× is how many times the hold the tab has grown. It’s orange, and turns red once the tab passes twice the hold.

The warning doesn’t block anything. You can still charge the tab, but the processor can decline a charge well above the hold.

Raise the hold

On a PAX tab, tap Increase Auth on the warning. The POS raises the hold to the tab’s current figure. The guest doesn’t need to present the card again.

Increase Auth isn’t available:

• On MagTek tabs.
• From All Tabs or the order’s Tab screen when the order has split checks. Raise it from that check’s payment screen.

In Selflane POS 7.8.0 or later, this iPad keeps an unsaved raise after the app restarts and saves it again on its own when the app reopens or gets back online. On earlier versions, if the app restarted after this message, contact Support instead of tapping Increase Auth again.

Charge a tab

1. Open the order and tap Pay.
2. Tap the card icon at the top of the payment screen. Order #N Tabs opens.
3. Tap Apply on the guest’s tab.

The POS charges the amount on the payment screen, including the tip and any card surcharge, to the tab’s card. It isn’t limited to the amount held. On PAX, it uses the terminal that took the tab, at the IP address saved when the tab was opened. On PAX, the screen shows Charging a preauth card. On MagTek, it shows Finalizing MagTek payment. The payment appears on the order, and the tab moves to Used Tabs.

Apply is unavailable while the terminal is busy with another payment.

If the payment shows on the order but the tab is still under Open Tabs, don’t apply it again. The card has already been charged.

What staff might see

For other PAX messages, see PAX terminal troubleshooting.

Related links

• Pay Order — the payment screen
• Payment Settings — choose the default reader
• Adjust Tips
• POS settings in the Back Office — turn on tabs