This guide provides instructions on how to connect your Windcave payment terminal to Lightspeed and Xero. Correctly setting up this integration is essential for processing customer payments efficiently in-store and ensuring that all sales and payment data are accurately recorded and reconciled across your systems.
Prerequisites:
You must have an active Windcave merchant account and access to the Windcave Portal.
You must be logged into Lightspeed as a user with administrative permissions.
You need your Windcave credentials, including your
HitUser, HitKey, and StationID, which can be found in an email from Windcave.
Ensure that you are in the correct register (user) in Lightspeed before beginning the pairing process.
This guide outlines the critical steps for connecting Windcave to Lightspeed and mapping the payments to Xero. This integration allows your in-store sales transactions to be processed via the terminal and for that payment data to flow correctly to your accounting software.
One Poolwerx Way Policy Reminder:
A crucial policy is the one-to-one relationship between each terminal and a Lightspeed register. Pairing a single terminal with multiple registers can cause the terminal to freeze, disrupting your business operations.
If you experience a terminal freeze, you can restart the terminal and press and hold the
Yellow (clear) + Option key to fix it.
While it's possible to link a service outlet to the store terminal to accept field payments, this can also lead to freezing issues.
Step-by-Step Process
Lightspeed to Windcave Connection (Retail Stores Only)
Ensure your Windcave terminal is connected to the internet.
In Lightspeed, navigate to Setup > Payment Types.
Click Add Payment Type, select Windcave, and choose the option Already have a merchant account with Windcave.
Select the correct outlets and click the Pair Terminal button.Select the Lightspeed register you want to pair.
Enter your Windcave credentials:
HitUser: This is your
PoolwerxLocationHIT(e.g.,PoolwerxMiltonHIT).HitKey: This is found in the email from Windcave.
StationID: This is a 10-digit barcode number starting with "38..." found on the silver sticker on the back of your terminal.
Click Pair Register.
Once the "Terminal paired successfully" message is displayed, click the Save Payment Type button at the top of the page.
Map the Terminal to Xero
In Lightspeed, navigate to Setup > Apps > Xero.
Click Edit.
Go to the Payment types section and select Windcave.
Map it to "Undeposited funds - Lightspeed".
Key Considerations & Best Practices
Credentials: Your Windcave credentials, particularly the HitKey, are provided in an email from Windcave. If you cannot locate this email, you can log into the Windcave Portal using the username
your subsidiary_REST(e.g., Milton_REST) and click 'forgot password' if needed.Change of Ownership: The HITKey credentials remain the same even after a change of ownership.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: What if the terminal freezes after pairing?
A: A terminal can freeze if it's paired with more than one register. To fix this, restart the terminal and press and hold the Yellow (clear) + Option key.
Q: What is the difference between HitKey and Rest credentials?
A: When pairing your terminal, you must use the HITKey credentials, not the Rest credentials
Related Guides & Next Steps
Test your connection:
In Lightspeed, navigate to Sell and open the cash drawer.
Search for and select a product, then click Pay.
Select Windcave and click Complete Sale.
Verify that the sale appears in Lightspeed and that the payment link is on the Xero invoice.
Deep Dive: For any Windcave-related issues during setup, contact Windcave Support directly via email at support@windcave.com or phone at 1 800 006 254 (Australia).