How to Process a Return at the POS

How to Process a Return at the POS

Returning items brings products back into your inventory and reduces the sale total. A return is different from a refund — a return handles the items, while a refund handles the money.

When to Use Return Items

Use the Return Items feature when:

• A customer wants to return one or more items from a completed sale
• An item was sold by mistake
• You need to correct inventory quantities

Steps to Process a Return

Standard POS:

1. Load the original invoice (use Invoice Search to find it if needed)
2. Click the Return Items button (or press Ctrl+R or F9 in some configurations)
3. The Return Items dialog opens, showing all items from the invoice
4. For each item you want to return:
   • Enter the quantity to return (you can return the full quantity or a partial amount)
5. Click Process Return
6. The returned items appear in the grid with negative quantities
7. Inventory stock is updated — the returned items are added back to your inventory

Compact POS:

1. Load the original invoice
2. Click the Return button in the action grid
3. Follow the same steps as above

After the Return

After items are returned:

• The Items Returns total in the totals panel shows the value of returned items
• Inventory quantities are increased (items are back in stock)
• The invoice record shows the return in its history log
• You can then proceed to issue a Refund to give the customer their money back

Partial Returns

You can return a portion of the items:

• If a customer bought 5 shirts and wants to return 2, enter 2 as the return quantity
• The remaining 3 shirts stay on the invoice
• Stock is increased by 2

Restrictions

• You cannot return items from a cancelled invoice
• You cannot return more items than were originally purchased
• You need the Refund/Return permission to process returns
• If you don't have permission, a Manager Authorization dialog will appear
• Items that are part of a package/kit may need to be returned as a complete set

Return vs. Refund

Typically, you process a return first (to restore inventory), then process a refund (to give money back). However, you can process a refund without returning items if the product is defective and you don't want it back in stock.