Smart Terminals: Subscriptions, Apps, Used Devices, and Factory Reset

A smart terminal is essentially a stripped-down tablet with an internal fiscal module: it has its own app store, its own vendor account, and its own subscriptions on top of the regular OFD contract. This is convenient until you try to figure out what exactly you are paying for, what gets disabled without payment, and what happens to the registration when buying a used device or performing a factory reset. Let's break it down step by step.

1. Vendor Subscriptions and Plans — What You Are Actually Paying For#

Each vendor (Evotor, Sigma, aQsi, MSPOS, and similar) has its own pricing plans and terminology — rely on your vendor's personal account dashboard rather than articles on the internet. However, the payment structure is mostly the same for most of them:

The OFD subscription and the vendor's cloud service subscription are separate payments in different personal accounts: an overdue plan for one does not disable the other, but it is easy to confuse the cause.

2. Installing and Updating Applications#

Applications (labeling, EGAIS, inventory tracking, storefront) are installed from the terminal vendor's official app store — the equivalent of Google Play for a specific POS, rather than from a third-party APK file, unless explicitly supported by the vendor.

Safe update procedure:

1. Close the shift and wait until the counter of unsubmitted documents in the OFD reaches zero.
2. Update the application(s) and, if required, firmware from the vendor's store.
3. Run a test receipt to verify that printing and fiscalization work normally.

Critical updates — for FFD 1.2, permissive labeling mode, new categories of labeled goods — must be installed promptly, otherwise the POS will fail code verification or reject attributes (the same firmware/DTO coupling logic as for classic fiscal recorders — see "ATOL Errors"). Third-party software not from the vendor's store may fail joint certification with fiscal software.

3. Buying a Used Smart Terminal — Unlinking and Linking to Your Account#

1. Make sure that the terminal is actually deregistered by the previous owner with the tax authority — ask for confirmation or an FN closure report; otherwise, the POS is legally still registered to the previous legal entity.
2. Initiate the transfer of the device to your vendor account — usually through manufacturer support by providing the serial number and proof of purchase; or a full reset followed by linking to the new account will be required (section 4).
3. Install a new FN — using the old one linked to the previous owner is strictly prohibited under any circumstances (the same logic as when selling a business together with a POS register — “Backup POS, relocation, and updating company details”).
4. Complete a full registration with the tax authority under your TIN — from scratch, as if for a new POS, see “Registering a POS with the Tax Authority”.
5. Sign your own contract with an OFD.

If the seller has not deregistered the terminal, include this condition in the purchase agreement and demand confirmation of deregistration before payment, not after.

4. Factory Reset — What Happens to the FN and Registration#

A reset (hard reset) wipes applications, local settings, and the terminal OS cache, but cannot "undo" fiscalization — data is stored directly in the fiscal storage unit itself, not in the OS memory.

• After a reset, the terminal usually needs to be re-authorized in the vendor's account and the required applications reinstalled (Section 2).
• Registration with the FNS itself is not affected by an OS reset — provided the reset was not accompanied by physical removal or replacement of the FN.
• Performing a full reset without first closing the shift and verifying the zero counter in the OFD is a bad idea — the same principle applies as with any POS intervention (see "Replacing the Fiscal Storage Unit").

5. Smart POS Terminal Lags and Freezes — Prevention#

1. Cache clearing of non-essential applications — the terminal's overall memory gets overloaded with local logs, history, and service data from labeling modules.
2. Up-to-date versions of applications and firmware — conflicts between modules most often arise precisely due to version desynchronization.
3. Minimum background applications — track & trace (labeling), EGAIS, inventory management, and third-party POS simultaneously overload what is essentially a resource-limited Android device.
4. Periodic rebooting — resolves some issues with frozen background synchronization services (see also "Receipts not sending to OFD", section 3). Keep only truly necessary applications on the terminal — a smart POS is not a universal tablet for unrelated tasks.

6. Integration with Third-Party Inventory/POS: API and Limitations#

Most smart terminal vendors offer a cloud API for synchronizing the catalog, inventory, and order receiving — this is how the integration with Evotor works: the catalog, stock levels, register shifts, and staff are mirrored into a single history without installing any additional app beyond the official one.

Limitations: the API does not always cover 100% of terminal functions (some fiscal operations are unavailable programmatically); there are request rate limits, and API versions may change without backward compatibility; full two-way synchronization (catalog and register shifts) is usually available only through an official partnership with the vendor — for fiscal data security reasons, a "DIY" integration will not work without it.

7. Working Offline: What Keeps Working and What Fails#

Most smart terminals generate receipts locally without an internet connection, queuing them to be sent to the OFD — but an unsent document must not remain pending for more than 30 calendar days, otherwise the FN gets blocked (see section 5 of the article “Receipts Are Not Being Sent to OFD”).

Continuous operation without a connection is not a regular smart terminal temporarily offline, but a separate autonomous mode of the cash register with its own FN lifespan requirements (15 months, see “FN for 15 or 36 Months”). A standard POS cash register is designed only for temporary connection outages, not for continuous autonomous operation.

8. Example#

A store bought a smart terminal from a neighboring business that had closed down. The previous owner provided an FN closure report and proof of deregistration. The new owner linked the terminal to their vendor account, installed a new FN, and completed full registration under their TIN. A month later, the internet connection was lost for a few hours — receipts accumulated locally and were automatically sent to the OFD without exceeding the 30-day limit.

9. How to do this in Cenaly#

• The cloud part of Cenaly is independent of the specific smart terminal hardware used at the POS — when resetting or replacing the terminal, the account, menu, and settings are not lost; only the connection to the equipment needs to be re-established.
• Physical fiscal registers connect via Cenaly Hardware Bridge, rather than through specific terminal vendor apps — status and diagnostics can be found in the Hardware section.
• Integration with Evotor is a prime example of cloud synchronization of the catalog, shifts, and staff without an additional app on the terminal itself.
• Receipt history under POS → Receipts maintains its own copy of sales independently of the terminal vendor's cloud service — useful if the terminal was reset, replaced, or if access to the vendor account was temporarily lost.

10. Frequently Asked Questions#

Will resetting the terminal erase the catalog and sales history? Local data on the terminal may be lost; if the catalog and history are synchronized with a cloud service (its own or via an integration like Cenaly), they will be restored after re-linking the terminal.

Is it mandatory to buy a new FN when purchasing a used terminal? Practically yes — you cannot use someone else's fiscalization; registration is always performed anew for the new owner with their own fiscal storage drive.

Can a third-party app be installed from outside the vendor's store? Formally, it is not directly prohibited by law, but the vendor may not guarantee compatibility with fiscal software — use the official app store.

How long can you operate offline without consequences? Keep in mind the 30-day limit for untransmitted documents; for regular operation without connectivity, a dedicated offline POS mode is required, rather than a "temporarily offline" smart terminal.

Related articles: backup POS, relocation, and changing details · FN errors and reading the archive · receipts are not sent to OFD · Evotor — POS integration · Cenaly Hardware Bridge

The material is for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with the terminal manufacturer, your OFD, or an accountant. Primary sources: Federal Law No. 54-FZ "On the Use of Cash Registers", FNS methodological recommendations on operating cash registers and FN (kkt-online.nalog.ru), documentation and terms of service of smart terminal manufacturers.