Returns and refunds

A return takes goods back from a bill made at the till. You choose the items and the quantities. The app works out the amount. You pay the refund back the way the customer paid. Confirming the return lowers your sales and your VAT. It puts the goods back in stock at their original cost. It takes the refund out of the drawer, the card machine account or the bank.

Where

Point of sale › Return (next to Find bill). Or Find bill › the ⋯ menu on a bill › Return

Number

SR-000001 for a bill paid at the till. ARCN-000001 for a customer-account bill. Given when you confirm

Posts to

Sales Returns and Allowances, Output Tax Payable, the account the refund is paid from (the drawer’s cash account, Card clearing - ‹machine›, a bank account), Inventory, Cost of Goods Sold. Customer-account bills also Accounts Receivable

Who

Managers and admins

What it’s for

Two kinds of bill made at the till can be returned here. Find bill lists them in separate groups.

• A bill paid in full at the till. It is the first group in Find bill. The return gets a number that starts with SR-. The whole return value is money to pay back.
• A customer-account bill (a bill on account). It is listed under Customer-account invoices. The customer chose Pay later, or paid only part at the till. The return gets a number that starts with ARCN-. It is a credit note. See Credit notes.
• For a customer-account bill, the app first takes the return off what the customer still owes. Only the rest is money to pay back, and it goes to the payments the customer made at the till.

Other rules you should know:

• You never type an amount. The price, the discount and the VAT come from the original bill. For part of a line, the amount is shared out in proportion. The last return on a line takes whatever is left.
• The refund goes back to the way the customer paid. Cash comes from the drawer you have open. A card payment goes back to the card. A bank transfer goes back to the bank. A Pay by link payment goes back to the provider and never in cash.
• A return at the till does not make a customer advance. The unpaid part lowers what the customer owes. The paid part is refunded to the way the customer paid. A paid back-office invoice works differently: see Credit notes.
• Bills made in the back office are not returned here. They are listed under Back-office invoices. Their Return items action opens Credit notes in a new tab.
• Sales history starts the same return from its ⋯ menu, with the same screens. See Finding and editing bills and Sales history.
• To sell, see Selling at the till. To take payment, see Taking payment.

Making a return, step by step

1. Choose Return, next to Find bill. The window Find bill to return opens. You can also use Find bill and the ⋯ menu on the bill.
2. Search by bill number, customer, mobile, date, amount, or cash or card. Choose Return on the original bill.
3. Type a Return qty for each item that comes back. Or choose Return all remaining items.
4. For a customer-account bill, choose an Item condition for each stock item.
5. Choose a Reason for the return.
6. For a bill paid at the till, open More options only if you need another date.
7. Choose Review return. The app works out the amount. Check the amount, the stock and where the money goes.
8. If the customer paid in several ways, check how the refund is shared. The app fills it in for you. For a card payment you may be able to choose cash instead.
9. Tick each box under Please confirm. Choose Confirm return.
10. The result shows the return number. Choose Print… if you need the paper, then Done.

Nothing touches your accounts until you choose Confirm return.

Fields

On the items step

Field	What it means	What it changes
Sold, Returned before, Can return	The quantity on the bill, the quantity already returned, and what is left	Nothing. Can return is the most you can enter
Return qty	How many to take back. You can return part of a line	The refund amount, the stock that comes back and the VAT
Item condition (customer-account bills only)	Back in stock (the starting choice), Damaged – not back in stock, Not received, or Some back in stock…	Only goods marked back in stock are added to stock. The other goods are still credited, and their cost stays in Cost of Goods Sold
Back in stock qty	Shown for Some back in stock…. How many of the returned items go back	The stock that comes back
Reason for the return	Changed mind, Wrong item, Damaged or faulty, Wrong size, or Other with your own words (3 to 500 characters). Required	Saved with the return and shown in the refund list
Return date (bill paid at the till, under More options)	Starts as today. It cannot be after today. It cannot be before the date of the sale. A refund paid in cash is always dated today and the field is locked	The date of the journal entry, the stock movement and the VAT

A customer-account bill has no date field. Its return is always dated today.

On the review step

Field	What it means	What it changes
Return amount	The amount the app worked out for these quantities. It shows “Working out…” for a moment	The credit and the refund
Stock	For example “1 item back in stock”	The stock that comes back
What happens to the money	A short summary, for example “Refund due AED 105.00.” For a customer-account bill it also says how much is taken off what the customer owes	Nothing. It is a summary
Refund	One payment is shown as fixed text, for example “Refund to Cash (this drawer)”. Several payments show a Refund amount for each, filled in the order the customer paid	How the refund is shared between the payments
Bank transfer reference	Required for a bank transfer refund (up to 120 characters)	Saved with the refund
How is this card payment paid back?	Refund to card on the terminal or Refund in cash from this drawer. Shown only to people who may refund a card payment in cash	In cash, the money leaves the drawer. The card machine account is not touched
Please confirm	One box for each way you pay back, and one for the stock	You cannot confirm until you tick them
Accounting details	Closed at first. Account names and balances	Nothing

Note

The app records the return. It cannot hand over cash or refund a card for you. So each box asks you to confirm what you really did, for example that you handed the cash to the customer.

Buttons

Button	When you see it	What happens	Accounts
Return (next to Find bill)	You may make returns	Opens Find bill to return	No change
Return (on a bill)	The bill still has items to return. Otherwise it is off and says “Nothing left to return”	Opens the return window for that bill	No change
Return all remaining items	Items step	Fills each line with what is left	No change
Review return	Items step	Checks your entries and works out the amount	No change
Back	Review step	Returns to the items with every entry kept	No change
Confirm return	Review step	Records the return and gives it a number	Posts
Cancel	Before you confirm	Closes the window. If you typed quantities it asks first: “Discard this return? The items and reason you entered will be lost.”	No change
Print…	On the result, if you may print	Opens a preview. A bill paid at the till prints a return receipt. A customer-account bill prints the credit note	No change
View bill	On the result, when you started from Find bill	Opens the bill	No change
Done	On the result	Closes the window	No change
Try again	After a lost connection, in the box Confirm POS return	Sends the same request again. It cannot be saved twice	Posts once
Edit, then Edit return	On a posted return in the refund list, or under Returns and history on a customer-account bill. Managers and admins	Change quantities or how the refund is paid. Asks for a reason	Restated on its own date
Delete return	Admins, while the register of the return is still open	Asks for a reason. Removes the return	All effects removed
Cancel refund	Admins, on a return of a bill paid at the till, when Delete is not offered	Posts a correcting entry on the date you choose	Posts a correction

Statuses you will see. A bill shows Part returned or Returned, and Part refunded or Refunded. A customer-account bill shows Part credited or Fully credited. A refund in the list can show Refund cancelled or Deleted.

What gets posted

Confirming a return of a bill paid at the till writes one journal entry, dated on the return date. Lines with a zero amount are left out.

• Sales Returns and Allowances is debited with the sales you give back, after the bill’s discount.
• Output Tax Payable is debited with the VAT given back. A company that is not VAT registered has no VAT line.
• The payment account is credited with the refund. The next section says which account.
• For goods that go back in stock, Inventory is debited and Cost of Goods Sold is credited. The cost is the cost the sale recorded, not today’s cost. The goods go back to the stock location the sale took them from.

Example 1A cash refund of one item that goes back in stockBill paid in cash · VAT 5% · cost 60.00 each

• The bill: 2 items at 100.00 plus 5% VAT210.00
• Returned: 1 item at 100.00100.00
• VAT 5% on that item5.00
• Cash handed back105.00
• Cost of the 1 item that comes back60.00

Account	Debit (AED)	Credit (AED)	Why
4100Sales Returns and Allowances	100.00		Sales given back
2100Output Tax Payable	5.00		VAT you no longer owe the FTA
The drawer’s cash account		105.00	Cash leaves the drawer
1200Inventory	60.00		The item is back in your stock
5000Cost of Goods Sold		60.00	The cost of that sale is reduced
Total	165.00	165.00	Balanced

The cash line is the cash account of the drawer you refund from.

Which account the refund comes from

The customer paid by	The refund is credited to
Cash	The cash account of the drawer you have open
Card	The card machine account the sale went to, “Card clearing - ‹machine›”. You make the refund on the card terminal
Card, and you choose Refund in cash from this drawer	The drawer, as in Example 1. The card machine account is not touched. The shop keeps the card money and hands back cash
Bank transfer	The bank account the payment went to
Pay by link	“Pay by link - ‹provider›”. The provider takes the refund off its next payout. You also make the refund in the provider’s own app

Bills with a round-off

If your company rounds bill totals, only the return that leaves nothing on the bill takes the round-off with it. The refunds then add up to exactly what the customer paid. This example is a cash bill of two items. It came to 10.92 and was rounded down to 10.90.

Return	Refund	Round-off
Item A alone	6.30	None
Item B, which finishes the bill	4.60	0.02, reversed in Rounding Difference
Both items together	10.90	0.02, reversed in Rounding Difference

Customer-account bills

A return of a customer-account bill posts like a credit note, and then refunds the part the customer paid.

1. The credit note. Sales Returns and Allowances and Output Tax Payable are debited. Accounts Receivable is credited with the whole return. Inventory and Cost of Goods Sold move for goods that go back in stock. This is the same entry as on Credit notes.
2. The refund entry. It is made only when something was paid. Accounts Receivable is debited with the paid part. The payment accounts are credited, in the way you chose.

The refund entry first undoes the payments that are going back, so that money counts as owed again. The credit note then takes the whole return off. The result is simple. The customer owes less by the unpaid part, and the paid part has been refunded.

Example 2A bundle returned from a bill left on accountPay later · VAT 5% · the bundle's items cost 1200.00

• Bundle price1800.00
• VAT 5%90.00
• Taken off what the customer owes1890.00
• Cost of the bundle’s items that go back1200.00

Account	Debit (AED)	Credit (AED)	Why
4100Sales Returns and Allowances	1,800.00		Sales given back
2100Output Tax Payable	90.00		VAT you no longer owe the FTA
1100Accounts Receivable		1,890.00	The customer owes 1890.00 less
1200Inventory	1,200.00		The bundle’s items are back in your stock
5000Cost of Goods Sold		1,200.00	The cost of that sale is reduced
Total	3,090.00	3,090.00	Balanced

The app writes the sales lines and the two stock lines as two journal entries. Nothing is paid out, because the customer had paid nothing.

Example 3The refund entry when a customer-account bill was part paidBill 105.00 · whole bill returned · the card payment is paid back in cash

• Bill total105.00
• Paid at the till in cash25.00
• Paid at the till by card35.00
• Left on account45.00
• Taken off what the customer owes45.00
• Paid back60.00

Account	Debit (AED)	Credit (AED)	Why
1100Accounts Receivable	60.00		The two payments are released
The drawer’s cash account		25.00	The cash payment is paid back
The drawer’s cash account		35.00	The card payment is paid back in cash
Total	60.00	60.00	Balanced

This is the second entry. The credit note is the first and takes the whole 105.00 off Accounts Receivable. Because the card payment is paid back in cash, Card clearing is not touched. If it was refunded on the terminal, the 35.00 is credited to the card machine account instead.

The unpaid part is taken off first. Only the rest is paid back. Here are two examples.

	Bill 105.00	Bill 104.99
What the customer paid at the till	60.00 (cash 25.00, card 35.00)	100.00 (cash 50.00, card 50.00)
Left on account	45.00	4.99
What is returned	The whole bill, 105.00	1 of 3 items, 35.00
Taken off what the customer owes	45.00	4.99
Paid back	60.00	30.01

In the second bill, the customer owed 4.99. That is taken off first. The other 30.01 goes back to the payments. You choose how it is shared.

More rules

• Bundles. A bundle is returned as one line. Its items go back in stock at the cost they were issued at. A return that put bundle items back cannot be cancelled with Cancel refund. You can edit or delete it.
• Stock that was owed. If an item was sold while stock was owed, it goes back at the estimated cost recorded on that sale.
• Damaged goods. On a bill paid at the till, every returned item goes back in stock. If an item is damaged, record the return. Then someone who may adjust stock writes it off with a stock adjustment.
• VAT period. The VAT counts in the VAT period of the return date.
• A card paid back in cash. Cash leaves the drawer. The card payment stays paid to the shop. The register close shows the cash under Of which card sales refunded in cash.

Where it shows up

Place	What changes
The bill in Find bill	It shows Part returned or Returned, and Part refunded or Refunded. When nothing is left, Return is off
Find bill › Refunds chip	A new row in Posted refunds: the return number, the date, “From ‹bill›”, where it was refunded (“Refunded to Cash”), the reason and the amount
A customer-account bill	It shows Part credited or Fully credited. Under Returns and history › Returns on this bill, you can review each return
Customer statement and balance	The credit lowers what the customer owes. The refunded payments show as reversed receipts
Drawer and shift	Cash refunds lower the cash the drawer should hold. The register close shows Cash refunds
Stock reports	A sale return movement at the stock location of the sale
VAT return (Detailed Reports › Tax)	The VAT is taken off your output VAT for the period of the return date
Profit and loss	Sales Returns and Allowances lowers your profit. Cost of Goods Sold falls for goods that came back
Balance sheet	Inventory, Output Tax Payable, the payment accounts, and Accounts Receivable for customer-account bills
Day book	An entry for the return. A customer-account bill with a refund shows the credit note and the refund

What the app blocks

Most of these checks happen before anything is saved. A refused return leaves no half-written records.

Situation	What you see
No item chosen	Choose at least one item to return.
More than what is left	Only ‹n› left to return. or Nothing is left to return on this line.
Quantity is not a number, or is zero	Enter a quantity, for example 2. or Enter a quantity above zero, or clear the field.
Too many decimal places for the unit	‹unit› accepts whole-number quantities only. or ‹unit› accepts at most ‹n› decimal places.
Some back in stock… with no number or too many	Enter how many go back in stock. or Only ‹n› are being returned.
No reason	Choose a reason for the return., Describe the reason for the return. or Enter at least 3 characters.
Return date after today	Choose today or an earlier date in the company time zone.
Return date in a locked period	The accounting period is locked through ‹date›. Choose a later date, or ask an administrator to reopen the period.
Another sale or return is still being posted	Finish the pending POS operation first.
Someone returned the same items first	Some of these items were already returned. Check the quantities, then review the return again.
The amount could not be worked out	Couldn’t work out the return amount. Check the connection and try again.
A quantity too small to give an amount (customer-account bill)	This quantity is too small to be worth any money. Enter a larger quantity.
Cash refund bigger than the drawer holds (bill paid at the till)	The drawer has AED ‹amount› in cash. Refund the rest by card or bank, or add cash to the drawer first.
Cash refund bigger than the drawer holds (customer-account bill)	This refund exceeds the cash currently available in the assigned drawer.
Refund amounts do not add up, or are too big for a payment	The refund amounts must add up to ‹amount›., Only ‹amount› can go back to this payment method. or Enter an amount like 25.50.
Bank transfer refund with no reference	Enter the bank transfer reference for this refund.
A box under Please confirm is not ticked	Tick to confirm you have handed the cash to the customer., Tick to confirm the card refund has been made., Tick to confirm the bank transfer has been made., Tick to confirm the items are back and can be sold again.
Card paid back in cash, box not ticked	Tick to confirm you handed the cash to the customer and did not refund the card on the terminal.
Customer-account bill: goods going back, box not ticked	Tick to confirm the items going back into stock have arrived and can be sold again.
A card or bank refund that would take that account below zero	The message names the account and the date. For a card machine account: This would take ‹account› below zero on ‹date› (balance then ‹amount›). Record the card sales first, or choose another date. If a card payout already took this money, reverse the payout on its own date first.
Pay-later bill that was paid after the sale, when the return is worth more than what is still owed	This bill cannot be refunded here. Correct the payment in customer accounts, then try again.
Customer-account bill: no register open	Open a register in POS to record this return.
The same return was sent with other details	This return was already sent with different details. Close this window and check the bill before starting again.
Your connection drops when you press Confirm return	We couldn’t confirm this. It may already be saved. Try again sends the same request, so it cannot be saved twice.

Warnings that do not stop you

• On a bill paid at the till: “Returned items go back into stock.” The note adds that a damaged item is written off later with a stock adjustment.
• On a customer-account bill: “Only items marked Back in stock are added to stock.”
• When the bill was rounded: “Includes round off ‹amount› so the total refunded is exactly what was paid.”
• For a card payment you may pay back in cash: the screen reminds you that the card terminal is not refunded and the shop keeps the card payment.

Who can do it

Action	Admin	Manager	Cashier
Return a bill paid at the till	Yes	Yes	No
Return a customer-account bill made at the till	Yes	Yes	No
Pay a card payment back in cash from the drawer	Yes	Yes	No
Edit a posted return	Yes	Yes	No
Delete a posted return	Yes	No	No
Cancel refund	Yes	No	No

A cashier can find and reprint a bill but does not see Return. A cashier asks a manager.

These are the standard roles. Your administrator can give a custom role each action separately in Settings › Users & access.

Fixing a mistake

1. You have not pressed Confirm return yet. Press Back to change the items, or Cancel. Nothing is posted.
2. Your connection dropped. Press Try again. The app sends the same request. It cannot be saved twice.
3. A posted return has the wrong quantity, or the refund was paid back the wrong way. Open Find bill, choose the Refunds chip, and press Edit on the return. Then press Edit return.
   • For a customer-account bill, open the bill, choose Returns and history, Review return, then Edit return.
   • You review the changes and the effect, then give a reason of at least 3 characters. The change history keeps the before and after.
   • The return keeps its number and is restated on its own date.
   • You can move a card payment between the terminal and cash. You need the right to refund a card payment in cash, and your own drawer must be open.
   • If the register has closed, you can still edit. The close stays as counted. The cash difference is booked as an entry dated today, in Cash Over and Short.
4. The return should never have been made, and the register is still open. An admin presses Delete return and gives a reason. The return’s refund, stock and VAT are removed. The number stays and is never used again. For a customer-account bill, if the money was really paid out, edit the return instead.
5. The return should never have been made, and the register has closed. An admin presses Cancel refund on a return of a bill paid at the till.
   • Take the money back from the customer first. You must tick that it was never paid out or has been taken back.
   • You choose the date of the correcting entry, from the return date to today, and give a reason of 5 to 500 characters.
   • A refund that put bundle items back, a Pay by link refund, and a bank transfer refund cannot be cancelled this way. The screen says why.
6. You forgot an item. Make another return for the quantities that are left.
7. You put a damaged item back in stock. Write it off with a stock adjustment.
8. The customer wants their money in a different way. A refund can go only to the payments the customer used. A card payment can go back in cash if you may refund a card payment in cash.

When Edit return is not offered

The return shows the reason in place of the buttons. Delete is withheld in some cases where Edit is still offered.

Situation	What you see
The register’s business day has ended	Its register’s business day has ended, so it can no longer be changed here.
An old return, made before refunds could be split	This return predates split refund tenders and cannot be edited here.
The accounting period of the return is locked	The accounting period is locked through ‹date›.
Its VAT is already in a VAT return	Its VAT is included in the return for ‹from› to ‹to›.
A bank account of the refund is reconciled, or a cash account is counted, past the return date	A bank account this return settled to is reconciled through ‹date›. or A cash account this return settled to is counted through ‹date›. On a customer-account bill the words are A bank account in this refund is reconciled through ‹date›. and A cash account in this refund is counted through ‹date›.
Stock the return brought back was sold or moved	Stock from this return was already sold or moved, so it cannot be deleted or its quantities changed.
The register of the return has closed (Edit still works, Delete does not)	Its register has closed. You can still change this refund: it is fixed on its own date and a balancing entry dated today carries the cash difference. To delete it, an administrator can void it.
Another shift is open on the same cash drawer	Another shift is open on the cash drawer of this refund. Close that shift first, then change the refund.
The return was cancelled with Cancel refund	This return was voided and cannot be edited here.
Customer-account bill: its credit note already has a separate correction	Its credit note already has a separate correction.
Customer-account bill: a later return exists on the same bill	A later return or credit note exists for this invoice. Correct that document first.
Customer-account bill: stock the return brought back was sold or moved	Stock from this return was already sold or moved. Its movements cannot be rebuilt safely.
Customer-account bill: the register has closed	Its register has closed. You can still change this return: it is fixed on its own date and a balancing entry dated today carries the cash difference. It cannot be deleted now.