[LSX] How to Configure General Settings and Contact Information

In this article, learn more about configuring your store, tax, barcode, SKU, user, and customer settings as well as your contact information.

General settings determine how your POS will interact with other areas of your business, such as taxation, security, and printing, and up-to-date contact information ensures you never miss important communications.

Navigate to "Setup" > then "General" to configure General setup to suit the needs of your retail operation.

This article is separated into six sections listed below.

• Store Settings
• Tax Settings
• Barcode and SKU Settings
• User Settings
• Customer Settings
• Contact Information

Store Settings

Store name

The full name of your business.  This is used for receipt printing and customer emails sent from Retail POS.

Private URL

Your store URL was created during signup.  This is not customer-facing information and will only be used for login purposes.  This cannot be edited.

Default currency

This is the currency you trade in.  You can only use one currency per Retail POS account.  For businesses that have outlets across multiple countries that trade in different currencies, it is recommended that you have individual Retail POS accounts.

Time zone

Your Retail POS store uses the local time on your computer or iPad to record the payment time and date of sales.  This needs to be set to the correct time zone for your store.

To edit your time zone for specific outlets, click "Setup", then click "Outlets and Registers", then click "Edit Outlet", and finally adjust the time zone.

Time zones can impact your register closures and integrated services.  Make sure the time zones are set to the same zone for all integrations as well.

Tax Settings

The way you set up taxes in Retail POS depends on whether your store has the tax amount included in the displayed price (tax inclusive) or if it’s added during purchase (tax exclusive).  Generally, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and countries in the EU are tax inclusive and Canada and the US are tax exclusive.

Default sales tax

Use the dropdown to set the "Default Sales Tax" for your store.  There will be options for the suggested tax(es) for your country or region.

You can set custom tax amounts by clicking "Add sales tax" and entering the tax name and tax rate or navigating to "Setup" and then "Sales taxes".

VAT (Value Added Tax)

If you’re a VAT-registered business in a country where VAT is used, select the "I’m registered for VAT" checkbox and enter your VAT account number (VAT number) to ensure compliance, transparent pricing, and accurate reporting.

Barcode and SKU Settings

SKU generation

SKUs are automatically generated when you manually create a product in Retail POS.  You can override this SKU if you want to use another code, like the universal barcode, and choose whether it's based on the name or a sequence number.

If you plan on printing barcodes, we recommend you choose "Generate SKUs by number".  Otherwise, your barcodes may be too long and not print correctly.

If you choose the "Current sequence number" option, you can pick the number to start assigning SKUs from.  Retail POS will increase the SKU numerically from the value entered.  Note you cannot choose a number you've already picked.  The sequence number you input must be a larger number than the largest number assigned to an existing product.

Automatic SKU generation will not apply for products imported from a CSV file.  You must set up the SKU before importing the file.

Labels and barcodes

When choosing a Label printer format, consider the type of information you need to include on the labels and the available formats your label printer supports.

• Label printer format options

Embedded barcodes settings define how barcodes are interpreted and processed when scanned or entered into Retail POS.  Some settings may not be compatible with all barcode scanners (check the manufacturer's instructions for details).

• Embedded barcodes options

User Settings

The "User switching security" setting is important to maintain the security of your store.  You can choose from four permissions options required when switching between users: 

• "Never require a password when switching between users" does not restrict users from switching.
• "Always require a password when switching between users" will require a password on any user switch.
• "Require a password when switching to a user with more privileges", for example, a password would be required when switching from Cashier to Manager or Admin.
• "Don't require a password to switch users when switching with a barcode" tells Retail POS not to ask for a password when using a quick switch barcode to switch users.

Customer Settings

Checking "Automatically add customers from emailed receipts to the sale" will automatically create a customer profile or add a customer to a sale when you email a receipt.

Contact Information

Basic information

• "First name", "Last name", and "Email address" will be populated when you create your account.  This information should pertain to the account owner and may be used for verification purposes when contacting Lightspeed about your Retail POS account.
• "Phone", "Website", and "Twitter" are optional information fields.

Physical address

These fields allow you to record the address of your store or other selling location and if applicable, a separate record for the mailing address for your business.  "Use different address for postal address" if your store’s physical address and mailing address differ.