AWRA Help Center

Receipt and drawer settings belong to the POS counter, not to the user, so two tills in the same shop can print differently. They are on the counter’s form under Settings → POS Counters, in the Receipt printer section.

The Counter’s Receipt Settings

• Paper width — 80 mm (the default) or 58 mm. The receipt is drawn to fit, and the print page sizes its preview to match.
• Print the receipt as soon as a sale is saved — on by default. Off, the receipt opens with a Print button instead.
• Open the cash drawer on cash sales — off by default. The drawer opens only for a sale that took some cash; an M-Pesa or card sale never opens it.
• Send receipts by — Browser print dialog (the default), QZ Tray, or USB serial from Chrome or Edge.
• Printer name for QZ Tray — the printer’s name exactly as the computer lists it. Leave it blank to use the computer’s default printer. Only QZ Tray reads it.

Browser Print

With Browser print dialog, the till saves the sale and opens the receipt in a new window for the browser to print. Any printer the computer knows works, a thermal receipt printer with its maker’s driver included. The browser shows its print dialog each time unless the till’s browser is started in kiosk-printing mode.

The browser cannot open a cash drawer by itself. On a browser-print counter, set the printer driver’s own open drawer on print option if it has one; a drawer plugged into the printer’s drawer port then opens with every receipt.

Printing Straight To The Printer

With QZ Tray or USB serial, the till sends the receipt to the printer as ESC/POS text, the language thermal receipt printers speak, with no print dialog. It prints what the PDF receipt prints, in the same order: 48 characters a line on 80 mm paper and 32 on 58 mm, a QR code for a sale filed with eTIMS, then a feed and a cut on printers that have a cutter. Accented letters are printed as their plain equivalents so the slip reads correctly on any printer.

If anything goes wrong — QZ Tray not running, no printer connected, a timeout — the till shows a message saying why and opens the browser print page instead. A sale is never held up by the printer.

Setting Up QZ Tray

QZ Tray is a small program for Windows, macOS and Linux that lets a web page print to USB, serial and network printers.

1. Install QZ Tray from qz.io on the till’s computer and leave it running; it starts with the computer.
2. Install the receipt printer so the computer lists it. A raw or generic / text only printer is ideal; the maker’s driver also works.
3. On the counter’s form, set Send receipts by to QZ Tray and type the Printer name for QZ Tray exactly as the computer shows it, or leave it blank for the default printer.
4. Ring up a test sale. QZ Tray asks whether to allow the AWRA site; choose Allow.

QZ Tray may ask that question again each time the till page reloads, and may not offer to remember it. That is how QZ Tray treats a site that has not installed a signing certificate.

Setting Up USB Serial

Nothing to install, but it needs Chrome or Edge on a desktop computer, and the printer must show up as a serial port: a serial printer on a USB-serial adapter, or a USB printer switched to its virtual COM (USB-CDC) mode. A printer that offers only the ordinary USB printer mode will not show up; use QZ Tray for it.

1. On the counter’s form, set Send receipts by to USB serial from Chrome or Edge.
2. On the till, press Connect printer once and pick the printer. The browser remembers it on that computer, until the site’s data is cleared or the printer moves to a port where it looks different.
3. Ring up a test sale.

The till talks to the port at 9600 baud. A printer on a true serial connection set to another speed prints nonsense, so set it to 9600. Firefox and Safari have no USB serial support; a USB serial counter used from them prints through the browser dialog every time.

The Cash Drawer

On a QZ Tray or USB serial counter with Open the cash drawer on cash sales ticked, a sale that took cash sends the drawer-open signal first, so the drawer opens while the slip prints. If the counter does not print automatically, the till opens the drawer and shows the receipt with its Print button. The drawer must be plugged into the printer’s drawer port.

No Sale / Open Drawer

Sometimes the drawer has to open with nothing rung up — change for the float, a note checked by the supervisor. On a QZ Tray or USB serial counter, the Cash Drawer card on the till has a No sale / open drawer button, with a box for the reason.

• The button shows only to someone holding the Open POS drawer permission, at the counter assigned to them.
• Every press is recorded first — who, when, the counter, the cashier’s open drawer session and the reason — and only then does the drawer open. A drawer opened this way always has a record behind it.
• The POS Risk Report counts these per cashier or counter in its No sale column, flags anyone well above their colleagues, and the Monday risk digest names them.

Before You Go Live

Receipt printers differ in their raw modes, cutters and drawer ports. On each till, ring up a cash sale and a card or M-Pesa sale and check the slip, the cut, the QR code and that the drawer opens only for cash. We can help you set your printer up.

Permissions

• Manage POS counters — change a counter’s receipt and printer settings.
• View POS — print a receipt, by browser or straight to the printer.
• Open POS drawer — the No sale / open drawer button. Admins hold it; give it to other roles under Roles.
• View POS risk reports — the No sale counts on the risk report.

More We Can Add To Your Workspace

• Bluetooth receipt printers and drawer opening from the mobile app, for handheld 58 mm printers.
• A signing certificate for QZ Tray, so it stops asking whether to allow the site.
• A serial speed per counter, for printers that cannot be set to 9600 baud.
• Your logo on the printed slip when printing straight to the printer.
• Integrated card terminals that receive the amount from the till.

Common Mistakes

• “There is no No sale button.” The counter is on browser print, the counter is not assigned to you, or your role lacks Open POS drawer.
• The till keeps opening the print dialog. That is the fallback: read the message it shows. Usually QZ Tray is not running, the printer name does not match, or Connect printer has not been pressed on this computer.
• The drawer does not open on a browser-print counter. The browser cannot open it; switch the counter to QZ Tray or USB serial, or turn on the printer driver’s open-drawer option.
• The drawer opens for card sales. AWRA sends the signal only for cash, so the printer driver’s own open-on-every-print option is on. Turn it off when the counter uses QZ Tray or USB serial.
• Garbled characters on a serial printer. Set the printer to 9600 baud.

Related

• Shifts & Cash Drawer — opening floats, drops and closing a drawer.
• Closing & Signing Off A Cash Drawer.
• Returns & Receipts — reprinting and sending receipts.
• Point of sale — the feature overview.