Getting started with Rowan

Everything you need for your first day. Questions? Contact support.

1. Install Rowan

Install Rowan from your CRM's app marketplace and approve the permissions it asks for. Rowan adds a Point of Sale section to your menu with the Register, Sales, Services, Products, Cash drawer, Staff, Reports and POS settings.

Choose your business type

The first time the account owner opens the Register, Rowan asks what kind of business it is: nail salon, hair salon or barbershop, med spa or day spa, general retail, clothing boutique, or record store. It suggests a starter menu with typical prices, durations and rebook timing. Untick what you don't offer, change prices to yours, and pick the automations you want. Nothing you already have is changed. You can run it again from POS settings (the setup checklist); when switching business type, you can move your current items to Archived.

2. Card payments and your terminal

Rowan takes cards on Dejavoo terminals. If you process with DropTheFee, we do the setup for you, and POS settings › Card terminals shows where it stands:

1. Apply for a merchant account. Your DropTheFee rep sends the application; underwriting usually takes one to three business days.
2. Approval. When the processor approves you, they issue your account details (the VAR sheet). We load them into Rowan; there's nothing for you to type.
3. Payment processing set up. We set up your account on Dejavoo with the pricing program in your agreement (dual pricing, surcharge or traditional).
4. Terminal registered. Your terminal gets its TPN and is shipped or set up on site.
5. Terminal connected to Rowan. Rowan connects the terminal for you and assigns it to your station. Plug it in, open the drawer and run a small test sale.

Already have a Dejavoo terminal from another provider? Go to POS settings › Card terminals and add its TPN, auth key and register ID (your provider can give you these), then choose it for your station in Stations. Card prices, cash prices, surcharges and tips are handled by the terminal's own setup, so they always match your processing agreement.

3. Set up stations and drawers

A station is a register position, like Front desk. Each one has a cash drawer and a default terminal. Go to POS settings › Stations, then open the drawer with your starting cash from Cash drawer.

Safe drops and the end-of-day deposit

Use Safe drop on the Cash drawer page to move cash to the safe during the day; it comes off what the drawer should hold and is added to the day's deposit. In POS settings › Stations, set the amount that reminds staff to make a drop and how much to leave in the drawer at close. When you close the drawer, Rowan shows the deposit (what you counted minus what you leave), and the next open suggests the amount left. The sales summary shows safe drops, deposits and the total cash for the bank.

Receipt printers and cash drawers

Rowan prints over the internet to Star printers with CloudPRNT (for example TSP143IV or mC-Print3) and Epson printers with Server Direct Print (for example TM-m30III). In POS settings › Receipt printers, add the printer, choose its station, and copy the server address Rowan shows. Open the printer's setup page in a browser (type its IP address), turn on CloudPRNT or Server Direct Print, paste the address and save. Within a minute Rowan shows it as Online; press Test print. A cash drawer plugged into the printer opens on cash sales, paid in, paid out and no sale.

4. Add your team and PINs

In Staff & payouts › Team, add each person, choose their role, and give them a 4 to 6 digit PIN. PINs are used to clock in and out and to approve things like discounts and refunds. Set pay rates and commission on the same screen.

5. Services and products

Services are what you book and perform; they have a duration and price. Products are what you sell off the shelf; they can track stock, cost and reorder points. Add photos so the Register is quick to scan.

Packages and memberships

On the Services page, + Package sells prepaid sessions of one service (for example 5 facials for $400, expiring after a year). + Membership sells a period of member pricing (for example $49 a month for 15% off services and 10% off products). Choose the client before ringing either one up. When a client with a package is on the ticket and you add that service, tap Use package and the line rings at $0; the session comes off when the sale completes. Member prices apply on their own. To renew a membership, ring it up again and the new period starts when the current one ends. If a client wants to tip on a package visit, tap Add a tip on card: they choose the tip on the Register screen and the terminal charges just that amount, credited to the staff on the ticket. Cash tips are declared at clock-out as usual. A void or full refund gives sessions back. Reports › Packages & members shows sessions still owed and active members.

Sales tax and tax-exempt sales

In POS settings › Business & receipts, add each tax that applies (for example State and City). Receipts and Reports › Tax show each one. Taxable items pay every rate marked “All taxable items”; an item can pick its own rates in the item editor. For a tax-exempt customer (a disabled veteran, nonprofit, government agency or resale), tap Tax exempt sale… on the ticket, choose the type and enter the exemption ID from their card or certificate. Add a photo of the certificate and keep it on file so it applies automatically next time. A new exemption needs a manager (or the “Make a sale tax exempt” permission). Every exempt sale is saved with the type, ID, name, expiry, who approved it and the tax not charged, and is listed in Reports › Tax for filing and audits.

Options at checkout

Give a service or product priced choices staff pick when ringing it up, like hair length (Short, Medium +$10, Long +$20), toner +$25 or extra product. In the item editor, under Options at checkout, add a group, mark it required or let staff pick several, and list the choices with their prices. At the Register, tapping the item asks for the options; the ticket shows them and they can be changed. Reports › Item sales lists how often each option was picked.

Discounts and commission

In POS settings › Discounts, save the discounts you use, like Senior 10% or Friends & family $20. Each can apply to the whole ticket, services only or products only, and can require a manager PIN. Staff pick them with one tap from Discount on the ticket, and the sales summary shows how often each was used. Commission comes from each person's rate on Staff › Team; to pay differently for one service or product (for example $10 per color correction), set Commission on that item.

6. Appointments

On the Register, Check out an appointment lists the day's bookings. Rowan fills in the client, service and stylist. If a calendar books a specific service, set it once in POS settings › Calendars.

7. Your first sale

1. Tap services or products, or check out an appointment.
2. Find or add the client.
3. Choose Charge card, Cash or Gift card. To split, use Part cash, part card in the card window.
4. The client picks a tip on the terminal. The receipt is ready when it's approved.

8. End of day

Close each drawer from Cash drawer and count it. Then run Reports › Sales summary for the day. Team members declare cash tips when they clock out.