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Layaway, customer tabs & store credit

2 min read Updated Aug 8, 2026 SP360 Portal POS Register
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A payment plan spread across future dates

Three different ways of not settling in full at the till, each with its own ledger.

Points, tiers, gift cards and store credit compared
Store credit sits alongside points, tiers and gift cards as money owed to customers.

Layaway

A layaway lets a customer pay for goods in instalments and collect them when the balance is cleared. Start one from the register: build the cart, choose Layaway, take a deposit, and the plan is created with its own payment schedule.

Subsequent payments are recorded against the layaway from the register or from Sales โ†’ Layaway, which shows every plan, what has been paid, and what is outstanding. Whether the stock is reserved while the plan runs is a setting โ€” leave it off and the goods stay sellable until collection.

Customer tabs

A tab is a running account for a regular or a trade customer. Charge a sale to the tab at checkout and it goes onto their balance instead of taking payment. Settle the tab in part or in full whenever they pay.

Each tab keeps a full transaction history of charges and payments, so a disputed balance can always be traced to the sales behind it.

Store credit and credit notes

When you refund to store credit, SalesPoint360 issues a credit note with its own code and balance. The customer redeems it at the register like a gift card โ€” scan or key the code and it draws down against the sale.

Credit notes are listed under Sales โ†’ Credit Notes, where you can look one up by code, adjust it, or void it. Every issue, redemption, and adjustment is recorded in the credit-note ledger.

Which to use

  • Layaway โ€” a specific set of goods, paid off before collection.
  • Tab โ€” an ongoing account across many visits.
  • Store credit โ€” money already taken that is owed back as future spend.

Keeping on top of balances

Outstanding layaways, tabs, and credit notes all show on the customer's record, and the customer list can be filtered to those with a balance. Set expiry on credit notes if your policy has one.

Note: your business can rename menu items (Settings โ†’ POS Configuration โ†’ Menu Labels), so the names in your menu may differ from those shown here.

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