Play area: time billed via NFC wristband¶

For indoor playgrounds, trampoline parks, climbing halls and parent-and-child cafés: the child is given an NFC wristband at the entrance, the clock runs, and on the way out the wristband is held up once more — so the play time appears on one receipt together with the parents' coffee and cake.

Everything runs at the direct till. No customer account is needed, the guest does not have to sign in, and no separate table is needed per child.

In short

Hold up the wristband → tap the rate → the child plays → hold up the wristband → take payment. Several children are held up one after another; the family's café table is added via Settle table.

What you need¶


Card reader	An NFC reader at the till. Both designs work: a reader that types the number like a keyboard, and an NFC reader supported by the device.
Wristbands or cards	Standard NFC wristbands or cards. They do not have to be created or registered beforehand — the till recognises an unknown card and asks for the rate.
At least one time article	Your rate, for example “Child from 3” at €6.00 per hour. Without an active time article the play area does not appear at all.

Wristbands are consumables and move from guest to guest — they carry no name and no guest data. On the receipt and on screen only the card number appears, shortened to its last four characters: “Card 1234”.

Setting it up¶

1. Create the rates¶

A rate is an ordinary article of the type time article (Articles & Groups → Time articles). Create one per rate:

Example	Price	Intended for
Child from 3	€6.00 / hour	Standard rate
Toddler	€4.00 / hour	Up to 3 years
Accompanying adult	€0.00 / hour	Counted, not charged

Everything a time article can do applies here as well:

Tiers — the first hour more expensive than every following one.
Time windows — cheaper in the morning than in the afternoon. If the window changes while the clock is running, the new price applies from that minute on; nobody has to stop anything.
Maximum amount — the day pass through the back door: above this amount the price stops growing, no matter how long the child stays.

Billing is to the minute.

How many rates?

Every active time article appears in the rate list at the entrance. Two to four stay readable; with twenty the till takes too long at the door. Set rates you no longer offer to inactive — they then disappear from the selection without old receipts losing their name.

2. Wristband deposit (optional)¶

Under Administration → Settings → Operation → Bonus → Play area wristband deposit you enter an amount. 0 = no deposit (default).

With an amount the till puts a deposit item on the ticket at the entrance and the refund on the way out. The deposit is not revenue: it is booked without VAT and does not count as returnable packaging. What is refunded is always exactly the amount that was paid at the time — even if you have raised the deposit since.

How it works at the till¶

Entrance¶

Hold up the wristband. The till sees that no clock is running for this wristband yet and opens the dialog “Card 1234 — select rate” with your active time articles.
Tap the rate (or select it with the arrow keys and press Enter).
The clock runs. The till reports “Card 1234 · Child from 3 · time running”. The ticket stays empty — payment happens on the way out.

If a wristband deposit is set, the line “Wristband deposit · Card 1234” is then on the ticket. Take payment for the deposit right away at the entrance with Cash or Card.

The deposit only counts as paid once the payment has gone through

If you remove the deposit line beforehand, no deposit is recorded for this wristband — and on the way out there is consequently nothing to refund.

Several children of one family: hold them up one after another, each gets its own rate.

The card belongs to a regular customer

If a wristband is held up that is registered as a customer card, the rate dialog shows “Use as customer card instead” at the bottom. Everything then works as usual (balance, points, house account) and no clock starts.

During the stay¶

Nothing to do. The clock keeps running in the background, even while the till handles other transactions, the screen is locked or the shift changes.

If you want to know in between how much has accrued for a wristband: open Settle table — all running wristbands are listed there with their current amount.

Leaving and paying¶

Hold up the wristband. The time line appears in the basket, for example “Card 1234 · Child from 3 · 1 h 42 min” with the current amount. The amount is refreshed every 30 seconds as long as the line is on the ticket.
Hold up further wristbands of the family one after another. Holding up the same wristband a second time does not create a second line.
Add the café table (if the parents ordered at a table) — see below.
Add drinks, ice cream or retail articles as usual.
Take payment with Cash, Card or Options.

Only when Cash, Card or Options is pressed does the till stop the clocks and turn the running time into a fixed item. From that moment the amount is settled, and exactly that amount is charged. If it has grown by another minute since the wristband was held up, the till briefly shows the new amount — a second press is not needed.

Deleting a time line does not stop the clock

The minus symbol on a time line only removes the line from the basket — the wristband's clock keeps running. That is intentional: a wristband held up too early should not give the guest free time. If Cash, Card or Options has already been pressed, the clock is stopped; the time then stays open and is paid at the next checkout.

Refunding the wristband deposit¶

If a deposit was paid for a wristband, the till automatically adds the line “Wristband deposit refund · Card 1234” with a negative amount at checkout — and does not take payment immediately, so that you see the new amount first.

If a wristband is not returned, remove its refund line from the ticket. The deposit then stays with you. Afterwards press Cash, Card or Options again.

Settle table: adding the café table¶

The parents ordered at table 7 in the café, the children were in the play area — and it is paid for once. That is what the button Settle table (cutlery symbol) in the bar above the basket is for at the direct till. It is visible as soon as the business uses time articles.

Tap Settle table.
The list shows all open tables with name, group and open amount. A running clock is already included in the amount. Wristbands are marked with “Card”.
Tap the table (or arrow keys and Enter). Its open items appear in the basket, with the table name above them.
Hold up wristbands, book further articles, take payment.

Rules that apply here:

Only one table can be attached to the basket at a time; a second one replaces the first.
Detach removes the table again, its items stay open at the table. After Cash, Card or Options has been pressed, the wristbands have been transferred to the table — it can then no longer be detached, only paid.
If you select a wristband from the list, its time line appears exactly as if you had held it up. Handy when a wristband has gone missing.
Anyone who may only settle their own tables (staff permission “Settle all tables”) also sees only those in the list.

What is on the receipt

Café items and play time appear as separate lines on one receipt. For accounting, day-end closing and the cash register this is an entirely ordinary sale — the play time runs through the revenue of the respective time article, the deposit without VAT.

What cannot be combined¶

While wristbands or a table are in the basket, no chain vouchers can be sold and no returnable packaging can be taken back — neither runs through the table payment route. Complete the transaction first, then book them as a separate sale.

Likewise not provided for (deliberately, because the Disco module already does it in full): booking consumption onto the wristband and a balance per wristband. If you want guests to pay cashlessly at the bar, use the Disco module with its NFC card system.

Problems and special cases¶

Case	What to do
Wristband is not recognised	Hold the card still and centred. With a keyboard-style reader the number briefly lands in the search field — that is normal. If that does not work either: select the wristband from the list under Settle table.
Wristband lost	Look for it in the list under Settle table (marked “Card”, last four characters of the number) and select it. If a deposit was paid, remove its refund line from the ticket.
Wrong rate selected	Hold up the wristband so that the time line is on the ticket, take payment — and let the guest in again with the correct rate. A running clock cannot be switched to a different rate afterwards.
Payment cancelled at the card terminal	The clocks stay stopped, the time is fixed. Simply take payment again — no money is charged twice, and no further minute is counted either.
Till crashes or is closed	Running clocks keep running; they are held on the server, not in the browser. After the restart, hold up the wristband again.
Child stays beyond the day-end closing	The clock keeps running. It is billed on the day of the checkout.

Frequently asked questions¶

Does every wristband have to be created beforehand? No. An unknown wristband triggers the rate prompt when it is held up — nothing more is needed.

Can several tills hand out wristbands at the same time? Yes. The clocks are held on the server; every till sees the same running wristbands.

Does the play area count as a separate table? Behind the scenes every wristband creates its own guest table, which the till dissolves again at checkout. It does not clutter the table plan, and it does not appear in the day-end closing.

Can I pause the clock at the till? No — only time billing at the table can be paused (billiards, bowling lane, Time billing at the table). In the play area the clock runs from the entrance until checkout.

What about accompanying adults? Create a time article at €0.00. You then see who is in the building without charging anything.