Suspend any sale as a Layaway, Estimate or custom type and resume it from the suspended list. Layaways take payments over time and deduct stock, estimates don't, and unsuspending locks the sale so two registers can't open it at once.

Not every sale finishes in one visit. A customer forgets their wallet, wants to pay something off over a month, or needs a written quote before committing. Suspended sales cover all of it — the sale is stored with its items, customer, prices and any payments already taken, ready to pick back up on any register whenever the customer is.

The suspended types, and what each does to stock

Every suspended transaction — sale, layaway or estimate — goes into the same suspended list. The type decides what happens to inventory the moment you suspend:

Both built-in names can be relabeled: Store Config → Suspended Sales/Layaways → Override Layaway Name and Override Estimate Name change what the buttons, receipts and lists say (call them "Hold" and "Quote" if you like). Custom types are defined in the same tab under Additional Suspended Sale Types: click Add Suspended Sale Type, name it, and tick its Remove Quantity When Suspending checkbox if that type should reserve stock like a layaway. Orders imported from a connected online store arrive under their own suspended type when Import E-Commerce Orders Suspended is enabled — see how ecommerce sync works.

Suspend a sale

1. Build the sale as usual on the Sales screen — items, customer, discounts, and any payment already taken (a layaway deposit, for example, entered with Add Payment before suspending).
2. Press the Suspend Sale button above the customer panel.
3. Pick the type from the dropdown: Layaway, Estimate, or one of your custom types.

The sale is saved and the register clears for the next customer (a success message confirms "Your sale has been successfully suspended"). Suspending requires the Suspend Sale permission; Estimate appears in the menu only for employees who also hold Can Create Estimate.

Settings that change the moment of suspension, all in Store Config → Suspended Sales/Layaways unless noted (defaults: off):

• Require customer for suspended sale — a customer must be attached before the sale can suspend.
• E-Mail Receipt When Suspending Sale — emails the customer a receipt of the suspended sale immediately (needs a customer with an email address and the Email Receipt toggle on).
• Show receipt after suspending sale — show the suspended sale's receipt instead of returning straight to a new sale.
• Change sale date when suspending sale — re-suspending updates the sale's date; by default the original date is kept.
• Change sale date when completing suspended sale — completing updates the date to today; by default the sale keeps its original date.

Find and resume a suspended sale

1. On the Sales screen, open the 3-dot (...) menu above the customer panel and choose Suspended Sales (or press F8).
2. The list shows every waiting transaction. Use the search box, filter by type with the Suspended Types dropdown (Layaway, Estimate and your custom types), or tick Only show my suspended transactions to see just your own. The columns shown are configurable per employee. Store Config → Suspended Sales/Layaways → Only show suspended sales owned by employee by default makes the "only mine" filter the default.
3. Each row offers:
   • Unsuspend — loads the sale back onto the register exactly as it was left, ready to edit, take payment, complete, or suspend again. Requires the Edit Suspended Sale permission.
   • Receipt — prints the suspended sale's receipt (gated by View Suspended Receipts).
   • E-Mail — emails the receipt to the customer; it needs a customer with an email address on file.
   • Delete — removes the suspended sale and puts any reserved stock back. Requires Delete Suspended Sale. To delete several at once, tick their checkboxes and press Delete at the top of the list.

Unsuspending restores the register's state as well as the cart: the payment type that was selected and the register mode the sale was suspended in (Return, Purchase Points, or a receiving in Return mode) come back with it, so nothing has to be reselected.

If your store runs the kitchen display, suspending is also what sends a ticket to the kitchen — see the Kitchen Display System, which uses suspended sale types to separate dine-in from takeout.

When someone unsuspends a sale it locks: another register that tries to open the same sale sees "Sale is open on Register ... by ...", naming the register and employee that has it. If locking doesn't fit how your store works, disable it with Store Config → Suspended Sales/Layaways → Do NOT lock suspended sales to prevent duplicate access. Two related guards: Do NOT allow employee to Un-Suspend Sale Created By Someone Else restricts resuming to the sale's creator, and the Edit Suspended Sale Details permission controls whether an employee can modify a suspended sale's contents at all (without it, the item form and edit buttons are hidden so quoted prices and layaway terms can't quietly change between visits).

Layaways: payments over time

A layaway accepts a payment whenever the customer comes in:

1. Open Suspended Sales, find the layaway, and press Unsuspend.
2. Enter the payment in the payment section (Add Payment) — any tender type works.
3. Press Suspend Sale → Layaway again to store it with the new payment recorded, or Complete Sale if this payment clears the balance and the goods are leaving.

If the customer takes some of the goods before the balance is paid — two of a layaway's four chairs, say — record it on the sale: whenever you re-open a sale that already has a receipt (an unsuspended layaway or an edited completed sale), each line's details show a Quantity Picked Up field (its inline editor is titled "Quantity received") where you enter how many units of that line have left the store. The count is stored with the sale each time you re-suspend it and rolls up into the Quantity Picked Up column of the Detailed Work Orders report — see work orders. It is bookkeeping only: a layaway's stock was already deducted at suspend time, so the field never moves inventory, and completing the sale records every line as fully picked up.

Each receipt shows the payments made so far and the remaining balance, and payment confirmations read like "has made a payment of ... The balance of the sale is ...". For statements you can send without the customer visiting, run Reports → Layaway Statements — printable statements of every open layaway balance, with the option to email them to customers; the message text is set in Store Config → Suspended Sales/Layaways → Layaway Statement Message. See emailed reports and statements.

Reporting: open layaways appear in the suspended sales report (Reports → Suspended Sales, filterable to completed layaways, or all open layaways, estimates and other suspended types). If you don't want layaways counted in sales reports until completed, enable Hide layaways sales in reports.

Estimates: quotes that convert

There are two ways to make an estimate, and they meet in the middle:

• Estimate register mode — switch the register mode dropdown (next to the item search) to Estimate and ring the items. Estimate mode never touches stock and skips out-of-stock checks. Print or email the quote from here, and if the customer accepts on the spot, just add payment and Complete Sale.
• Suspend as an Estimate — press Suspend Sale → Estimate to keep the quote on record.

When the customer accepts later, unsuspend the estimate and complete it as a normal sale — no retyping, and no drift between the price you quoted and the price you charge. Both routes require the Can Create Estimate permission. Two settings matter when estimates sit for a while:

• Do not recalculate cost price when unsuspending estimates — by default, unsuspending refreshes item costs to current values for accurate margins; enable this to keep the costs from the day the estimate was written.
• Lock prices when unsuspending sale even if they belong to a tier — keeps the quoted prices even if the customer's price tier would recalculate them.

Let customers pay online

With an integrated processor (PHP POS Payments, Stripe, Braintree, Valor or Dejavoo), enable Store Config → Sales → Allow Customers to Pay Suspended Sales Online. Emailed receipts for a suspended sale with a balance due then include a Pay button that takes the customer to a secure payment page — useful for deposits, layaway installments and approved estimates alike. See PHP POS Payments and setting up credit card processing.

Settings reference

All in Store Config → Suspended Sales/Layaways (defaults: off / empty):

• Additional Suspended Sale Types — your custom types, each with its own Remove Quantity When Suspending checkbox.
• Require customer for suspended sale
• Only show suspended sales owned by employee by default
• Do not recalculate cost price when unsuspending estimates
• Override Layaway Name / Override Estimate Name
• Hide layaways sales in reports
• Change sale date when suspending sale / Change sale date when completing suspended sale
• Show receipt after suspending sale
• Do NOT allow employee to Un-Suspend Sale Created By Someone Else
• Layaway Statement Message
• Do NOT lock suspended sales to prevent duplicate access
• Hide Item Description On Suspended Sales — leaves descriptions off suspended-sale receipts.
• E-Mail Receipt When Suspending Sale
• Lock prices when unsuspending sale even if they belong to a tier

Permissions involved (Sales module): Suspend Sale, Can Create Estimate, Edit Suspended Sale (unsuspend), Edit Suspended Sale Details, Delete Suspended Sale, View Suspended Receipts. See permissions and templates.

Common questions

What's the difference between a layaway and an estimate? Inventory. A layaway removes the quantities from stock the moment it is suspended, because the goods are set aside for the customer. An estimate removes nothing — it is only a priced quote. Custom types behave whichever way their Remove Quantity When Suspending checkbox says.

How do I take a deposit on a layaway? Add the payment on the register (payment section → Add Payment) before pressing Suspend Sale → Layaway. The payment is stored with the suspended sale and every later receipt shows the remaining balance.

Why can't I open a suspended sale — it says it's open on another register? Someone else has unsuspended it; the lock prevents two registers editing the same sale at once. Ask the named employee to finish or re-suspend it, or disable locking with Do NOT lock suspended sales to prevent duplicate access.

Can I rename "Layaway" to something else? Yes — Store Config → Suspended Sales/Layaways → Override Layaway Name (and Override Estimate Name for estimates). The new name appears on the Suspend Sale menu, the suspended list and receipts.

How does the customer know their layaway balance? Every layaway receipt shows payments and the balance, you can E-Mail the receipt from the suspended list at any time, and Reports → Layaway Statements prints or emails statements for all open layaways in one pass.

Do suspended sales show up in my sales reports? Suspended transactions have their own report (Reports → Suspended Sales). Layaways appear in regular sales figures unless you enable Hide layaways sales in reports, in which case only completed sales count.

Someone deleted a suspended sale — did we lose the stock? No. Deleting a suspended sale returns any reserved quantity to inventory. Deletion is gated by the Delete Suspended Sale permission, so grant it sparingly.

Can a customer pay their layaway from home? Yes — with an integrated processor and Allow Customers to Pay Suspended Sales Online enabled, the emailed receipt carries a Pay button for the open balance.