How to Cancel or Void a Sale

How to Cancel or Void a Sale

There are different ways to cancel a sale depending on whether it has been saved and whether payments have been made.

Cancelling an Unsaved Sale (Not Yet Saved)

If you've been adding items but haven't processed any payments yet and the invoice hasn't been saved:

Standard POS:

1. Click the Cancel Sale button (or press Ctrl+X or F8)
2. A confirmation dialog asks if you want to cancel
3. Click Yes
4. The grid clears completely
5. No record is created in the database

Compact POS:

1. Click the Cancel Sale button (red button in the action grid)
2. Confirm the cancellation
3. The screen resets

Alternatively, click New Invoice to start fresh — the unsaved sale is discarded.

Voiding a Saved Unpaid Invoice

If the invoice has been saved to the database but no payments have been made:

1. Click the Cancel Sale button
2. The system marks the invoice status as "Cancelled"
3. The cancellation is logged in the invoice history
4. No inventory changes occur (items were not "sold" yet)

What About Paid Invoices?

If the invoice has payments already applied, you cannot cancel it directly. Instead:

1. First, process a Return Items to bring items back to inventory
2. Then, process a Refund to return the money to the customer
3. The invoice will show both the original payments and the refunds in its history

This two-step process maintains a complete audit trail and keeps your financial records accurate.

Permission Required

Cancelling a sale requires the Void Sale permission. If you don't have this permission:

• A Manager Authorization dialog appears
• A manager can enter their credentials to approve the cancellation

After Cancellation

• The invoice status changes to "Cancelled"
• The cancellation appears in the invoice history log
• Cancelled invoices are excluded from sales reports (they still appear in audit reports)
• You can still view cancelled invoices through Invoice Search