Process a Refund or Exchange From The Register

You may process a refund or exchange on the register screen either as a new transaction, or against a past transaction.

Process a Return/Refund as a New Transaction (No Prior Sale or Receipt Required)

Processing a refund from the register screen is similar to processing a sale, except instead of deducting inventory and collecting a payment you will be adding inventory back to your store and issuing a payment.  The first step to process a refund is the same as that for processing a sale: add your item(s) by scanning, searching, or tapping on a shortcut.  Once an item has been added, tap on it so that you can change the quantity.  The default quantity when you add an item is 1, to process a refund change this quantity to be a negative by tapping on the "-" sign.  If a customer is returning 1 unit of an item then the quantity should be -1 (as shown in the image below).

If you want the refund payment to be issued as Store Credit, then you must  add a customer to the order prior to proceeding with the refund.

To continue with your refund tap on the "Refund" button at the bottom right corner of the register screen.  This button will automatically change to display the word "Refund" as long as the order total is negative.  On the next page confirm your refund payment method.  The payment can be cash, store credit (only supported if a customer is attached to the order), or any of the custom "Other" payment types that you have set up in your store.  To proceed with the refund select your method of payment (in the same way that you would for a regular sale).

Process an Exchange as a New Transaction (No Prior Sale or Receipt Required)

An exchange is very similar to the refund outlined above, except the order includes both items being sold (positive quantity on the order) and items being returned (negative quantity on the order).  The order total on an exchange might be negative, zero, or positive.  If the value of items being returned exceeds the value of items being sold then the total order value will be negative - the order will be an exchange with regards to inventory and a refund with regards to payment.  If the value of the items being returned equals the value of items being sold then it is an even exchange with no payment being issued.  If the value of items being returned is less than the value of items being sold then the total order value will be positive - the order will be an exchange with regards to inventory and a sale with regards to payment. 

The image below displays an even exchange with one size of a product being returned (first item in the list) with quantity set to -1, and another size of the product being sold (second item in the list).  In this example there is no sale or refund but inventory is being updated (one size added back into inventory, another size removed).  If the prices on the items being exchanged did not match then this order would be a sale (positive order total) or a refund (negative order total).  The process to complete the exchange is the same whether its a sale, even exchange, or refund.  Tap on the "Charge" / "Refund" button and enter the method of payment on the Choose Payment Method screen.

Process a Return/Refund or Exchange Against a Prior Transaction

You may also process a refund/return or exchange from the register screen against a prior order.  First select your prior order:

  • Tap on the three blue dots at the top right corner
  • Tap on the "Refund/Exchange" button

Select the order from the list that appears.  You may scan a receipt or use the search and filter functions to locate your sale.  

  • Tap on the sale is being refunded.  An order detail will appear showing the line items on the sale.  Tap "Select" to confirm the selection of this sale.
  • A list of all line items on the sale will appear.  You may choose to refund by quantity or by dollar amount.  You may choose to refund an individual product on a sale or multiple.  Tap the "Full Refund" button at the bottom of the screen to refund all items.  Otherwise enter a refund quantity or refund amount for each line item (leave as 0 for a line item that should not be refunded). 

  • After selecting the item(s) to refund on the original order tap "Next".  This will bring you to the same refund view as displayed in the first image at the top of this article.  From here you can proceed with a refund by tapping on the "Refund" button.  You may also process an exchange by adding new items to this sale.  Proceed with your exchange/refund by tapping on the "Charge" / "Refund" button at the bottom right corner of the screen and enter the method of payment on the Choose Payment Method screen. 

Linked Orders

If you process an exchange from an original sale you will be simultaneously issuing a refund on one order (associated one specific order number) and creating a new sale (associated with another specific order number).  This will result in two orders having a link to each other.  If two orders are linked it will show on the orders.  

The following order show is a sale which was subsequently refunded.  The refund was processed under a new order number.  When viewing the order we see the original order number (201812091736533068668909) and in the line item detail view we see a "Refund Orders" line including the new order number (201812091830310955662216).

When looking at the new order we see the refunded product as well as the linked order number.