Term	Definition
Acquiring Bank	The acquiring bank is the bank that receives all transactions from the merchant in an interchange. Example: NationsBank, Bank of America.
Activity Report	A management report that displays revenue, covers and other statistics for a predefined period.Example: Hourly sales and labor reports.
Add/Transfer Check	A function of POS Operations that allows a user to transfer all the items and totals of a guest check to another employee. For the totals to be permanently assigned to the receiving employee, they must go into operations and accept or pick-up that check.Example: Mary is getting ready to end her shift, but she still has guests that are ordering from her and appear as if they may hang around a while longer. She may choose to ask Jane if she can transfer the check to her, rather than ask the guests to pay this check and have Jane begin a new one.
Add-On Tax	A form of tax computing whereby tax is added on to the total of the sales transaction after sales is recorded.
Adjective	A modifier type entry that further defines a menu item. Adjectives are price modifiers.Example: Orange juice comes in two sizes, Small ($1.00) and Large ($1.50). An adjective would be used to increase the price of orange juice in increments from the base of $1.00.
AFNR	Automatic Form Number Reader (AFNR) - An optical reader that automatically identifies the sequential guest check number by reading the bar coded number on top of the physical guest check, and provides this number to be processed in a machine readable format. These devices usually also scan the check for the last entry imprinted on it, and will automatically advance the check to the next empty line
Allowance	A monetary reduction of the regular price of a menu item or group of menu items.Example: Discounts
Alphanumeric	A type of data consisting of both numbers and letters.Example: The VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) of your car, or your license plate number.
American National Standard Code for Information Interchange	A standard for computer languages that allows computers to exchange information. The code uses the numbers 0-9 to assign all letters and punctuation marks a number combination between 0 and 127. Extended ASCII will go up to 255 in order to accommodate special characters.Example: Uppercase D is coded as decimal 68, and an exclamation mark is coded as decimal 33.
API	Application Program Interface (API) - An interface that allows one program to communicate with another.
Application Program Interface(API)	An interface that allows one program to communicate with another.
ASCII	American National Standard Code for Information Interchange (ANSCII) - A standard for computer languages that allows computers to exchange information. The code uses the numbers 0-9 to assign all letters and punctuation marks a number combination between 0 and 127. Extended ASCII will go up to 255 in order to accommodate special characters.Example: Uppercase D is coded as decimal 68, and an exclamation mark is coded as decimal 33.
Asynchronous Communication	A communications protocol where transmission of data does not rely on an independent timing signal. In this mode, the communicating devices are free to send data in a continuous stream whenever both devices are ready. Most PCs operate in this mode.
Auto Cover Count	Function of the POS System where the counting of covers is accomplished by the counting of predetermined menu items. Example: Useful in tracking total numbers of guests served for sales forecasting records, labor and operations efficiency, and sales averages per guest
Auto Gratuity	Function of the POS System whereby a “tip” or gratuity is automatically charged to a sales transaction, usually in the form of a percentage of the total sale amount. This function is normally performed by a manager or other person with a higher level of privileges, but can be set to add automatically when a check has reached a certain, predetermined amount
Automatic Change Maker	A hardware device that is interfaced with a cashier terminal to automatically dispense coins at the time of tendering to cash when the operator has entered an amount larger than that of the total due. Normally holds coins of all varieties available in a countries monetary system.Example: If the total due from the guest is $4.35 and the guest gives the operator $5.00, the operator will enter $5.00 and the automatic change maker will produce $0.65.
Automatic Day Changer	A feature of the POS System that automatically advances the date when the internal time clock passes a predetermined mark on a 24-hour clock. The internal clock must be running in a 24-hour format, and not the 12-hour a.m./ p.m. format, for this feature to work.
Automatic Form Number Reader(AFNR)	An optical reader that automatically identifies the sequential guest check number by reading the bar coded number on top of the physical guest check, and provides this number to be processed in a machine readable format. These devices usually also scan the check for the last entry imprinted on it, and will automatically advance the check to the next empty line
Autosequence	A batch command that generates a series of reports or responses in the POS System without continued user interaction. Can be started by the user, or set to activate at a given time on a 24-hour clock.