Glossary
A glossary of POS and inventory terms for shops, in English and Arabic
This glossary explains 39 terms a shop owner meets when running a till and a stockroom, from the X and Z reports to blind counts, stock cards, SKUs and VAT. Each term has its Arabic name beside it and a definition in one or two plain sentences, and each group links to the guides that cover it in full.
What do the till and shift terms mean?
The words a cashier uses every day, from opening the drawer to closing the shift. More in shifts and the Z report and closing the shift.
| Term | In Arabic | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| POS (point of sale) | نقطة البيع، برنامج الكاشير | The system a shop sells with: the till screen, payments and receipts, and the stock and sales records behind them. |
| Till, register | الكاشير | The screen where the cashier rings up sales and takes payment, usually with a drawer, a receipt printer and a barcode scanner beside it. |
| Shift | الوردية | The period a drawer is in use, from the opening float to the closing count. In PointLit a branch has one shift open at a time. |
| Opening float | رصيد البداية (الفكة) | The cash counted into the drawer at the start of a shift, mostly small notes and coins for change. |
| Cash in, cash out | الإيداع والسحب النقدي | Money put into or taken out of the drawer that is not a sale or a refund, such as change brought from the safe or a supplier paid in cash. |
| X report | تقرير X | A reading of a shift's totals while it is still open. It changes nothing and can be printed as often as needed. |
| Z report | تقرير Z | The report that closes a shift: the final sales, payments and tax, the cash counted, the cash expected and the difference. Its figures do not change afterwards. |
| Blind close | العدّ الأعمى للدرج | Closing a shift by counting the drawer before seeing how much cash the system expects, so the count is honest. PointLit closes every shift this way. |
| Over and short, cash variance | زيادة وعجز الدرج | The difference between the cash counted at the close and the cash expected: over when there is more, short when there is less. |
| Void | إلغاء الفاتورة | Cancelling a whole bill: the full amount goes back and every item returns to stock. In PointLit a void cannot be undone. |
What do the sales, payment and customer terms mean?
What happens to a bill after the basket: how it is paid, taken back or put on a customer's account. More in taking payment and refunds and returns.
| Term | In Arabic | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Split payment | تقسيم الدفع | One bill paid in more than one way, such as part cash and part card. PointLit takes up to 4 payments on a bill. |
| Return, refund | المرتجع (الاسترجاع) | Goods a customer brings back, and the money paid back for them. In PointLit a refund is a new document against the sale, never an edit of it. |
| Exchange | الاستبدال | Taking an item back and giving the customer another in its place. In PointLit an exchange is a refund followed by a new sale. |
| Selling on account | البيع بالآجل (الشكك) | Letting a customer take goods now and pay later, with the amount added to what they owe. |
| Credit limit | حد الائتمان | The most a customer may owe at once. In PointLit a sale on account that would pass the limit is refused. |
| Customer statement | كشف حساب العميل | The list of a customer's sales on account, payments and corrections, with the balance after each one. |
| Loyalty points | نقاط الولاء | Points a customer earns on purchases and spends on a later bill. In PointLit they are a way of paying, not a discount. |
| Receipt, invoice | الإيصال، الفاتورة | The receipt is the slip the customer takes from the till; an invoice is a fuller document, usually with the buyer's details and the seller's tax number. Many shops use the two words for the same slip. |
What do the stock and stock count terms mean?
The words of the stockroom, and of the count that checks it. More in our guides to the stock card and how to do a stock count.
| Term | In Arabic | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Stock on hand | المخزون المتاح (الرصيد) | How many pieces of an item a branch holds now. In PointLit it is the sum of every stock movement, never a number typed over another. |
| Stock card | كارت الصنف | The full history of one item: every quantity in and out, with its date, its document and the balance after each line. In PointLit it is the Stock movements report. |
| Stock count, stocktake | الجرد | Counting what is really on the shelves and comparing it with the system, item by item. |
| Blind stock count | الجرد الأعمى | A count in which the person counting cannot see the system's quantity, so they write what they find, not what they expect. |
| Stock over and short | العجز والزيادة | The difference a count finds: short when fewer pieces are on the shelf than recorded, over when there are more. |
| Stock adjustment | التسوية | A stock movement that corrects the recorded quantity, for breakage, a loss or stock found. In PointLit an adjustment asks for a reason. |
| Dead stock | البضاعة الراكدة | Stock that has sat for a long time without a sale, often 90 days or more, holding cash the shop cannot use. |
| Reorder point | حد إعادة الطلب | The quantity at which an item should be ordered again. In PointLit the stock reports suggest refilling an item that falls to its reorder point. |
What do the product, barcode and buying terms mean?
How products are named, coded and priced, and how stock comes in and moves between branches. More in products with sizes and colours and receiving stock.
| Term | In Arabic | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| SKU (stock keeping unit) | كود الصنف (SKU) | The shop's own code for one item, often one size in one colour. It is written for people to read, unlike a barcode. |
| Barcode | الباركود | Bars a scanner reads as a code, to find the item at the till. Packaged goods carry the maker's barcode, and a shop can print its own for the rest. |
| Variants | الصنف بالمقاسات والألوان | The combinations of one product, such as a shirt in size M and the colour navy. Each variant has its own stock and barcode. |
| Collection, season | المجموعة (الموسم) | A group of products bought for one season, such as summer. In PointLit a collection is Planned, Open or Closed. |
| Price list | قائمة الأسعار | A set of prices that differs from the base prices, such as higher prices at a mall branch. |
| Goods receipt | إيصال الاستلام (إذن الاستلام) | The document that records a delivery from a supplier: the items, the quantities and the unit costs. It is what brings the stock in. |
| Supplier return | مرتجع المشتريات | Goods sent back to a supplier, recorded against the same supplier and the original delivery. |
| Stock transfer | التحويل بين الفروع | Moving stock from one branch to another. In PointLit the stock leaves when the transfer is sent and arrives only when it is received. |
What do the tax, printer and hardware terms mean?
Tax on the bill and the devices around the till. More in selling in Egypt and hardware.
| Term | In Arabic | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| VAT (value added tax) | ضريبة القيمة المضافة | The tax on most sales in Egypt, at a general rate of 14%. A price can include it, or it can be added at the till. |
| E-receipt | الإيصال الإلكتروني | A receipt registered with the Egyptian Tax Authority's e-receipt system. PointLit does not issue e-receipts yet. |
| Thermal receipt printer | طابعة الفواتير الحرارية | A printer that prints receipts with heat on a paper roll, usually 58 or 80 mm wide, with no ink. |
| Barcode scanner | قارئ الباركود | A device that reads a barcode and types its code into the till, like a keyboard, then presses Enter. |
| Selling offline | البيع دون إنترنت | Ringing sales while the internet is down. In PointLit an open till keeps selling for cash and card, holds up to 200 sales and sends them when the line returns. |
Questions and answers
- What is the difference between a POS and a cash register?
- A cash register records sales and holds the cash. A POS does that and also keeps the stock, the customers and the reports, so every sale changes the stock on hand and shows up in the owner's figures.
- What is the difference between an X report and a Z report?
- An X report reads a shift's totals while it is open and changes nothing. A Z report closes the shift, with the counted cash, the expected cash and the difference, and it does not change afterwards.
- What is the difference between a SKU and a barcode?
- A SKU is the shop's own code, written for people to read and search. A barcode is a code printed as bars for a scanner. One item can have both, and PointLit shows a SKU column when We use SKUs is switched on in Business settings.
- What does selling on account mean?
- The customer takes the goods now and pays later, and the amount is added to what they owe, up to a credit limit the shop sets. Egyptian shops call it آجل or شكك.
- What is the difference between a blind count and a normal count?
- In a blind count the person counting cannot see the quantity the system expects, so they write what is on the shelf. In a normal count they can see it, and a figure that is nearly right tends to be confirmed rather than counted.
Put these terms to work in your shop
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