Refunds & returns

When a customer brings something back, you process a return so the money goes back and your stock and books correct themselves.

Before you start

You need the Returns permission. If you don't see the Refund button, ask a manager.
Have the original receipt handy when you can — it makes finding the sale faster.

Refund the last sale

The quickest path when a customer changes their mind right after buying:

On the POS screen, open the drawer/menu and choose Refund last sale.
The previous sale loads with its lines.
Choose which lines (and quantities) to return — all of it, or just part.
Choose where the money goes (see below), then confirm. A return note is recorded against the sale.

Card sales: refund to the card or in cash

If the sale was paid by card through Paystack or Stripe, the refund screen asks Refund to:

Original card (Paystack / Stripe) — chosen by default. The money goes back to the customer's card through the provider. Refund from account is filled in for you and cannot be changed: it is the account that card payment was paid into on the sale, so the refund reverses exactly that payment. The screen shows how much of that card payment is still left to refund. If the provider refuses (for example the account balance is too low), nothing is recorded and you see the provider's message — you can then refund in cash instead.
Cash — choose the Refund from account yourself, as on any return. It starts at the till's cash account; pick another cash or bank account if the money is paid from there.

Card refunds can take a few days to reach the customer's bank; that is the provider's timing, not the till's.

Very occasionally a card refund fails at the provider days later (for example the card was cancelled). Business Sensor is told automatically: the return is switched to no refund (marked "CARD REFUND FAILED"), its refund entries are removed from the books, and the customer is left with a credit you still owe them — pay it another way. See Returns inward for details.

Refunding a discounted sale

If the sale had a discount, the customer gets back what they actually paid, not the full price:

A line that had its own discount is refunded less that discount.
A discount on the whole sale (Discount (header) at checkout) is shared across the lines by their value, and each returned line gives back its share. For example, a 51,000 bill with 15% off cost the customer 43,350, and returning all of it refunds 43,350.
Returning part of a line gives back the same part of its discount.

The screen marks those lines (discounted) and shows the discount under the Refund total. A service charge on the sale is not refunded.

Returns and your books

A return reverses the original sale automatically:

The revenue and tax from those lines are reversed, and so is the discount the sale gave on them.
For stock items, the goods come back into stock.
The refund is recorded against the customer/payment method.

You don't post anything by hand — the system handles the accounting.

Partial returns

You don't have to refund the whole sale. Pick only the lines and quantities the customer is bringing back; the rest of the sale stays as it was.

Tips

Refunds count against the cash drawer in your shift — your Z-report at end-of-day already accounts for them.
For older sales (not the last one), use Sales → Returns Inward to find the original invoice and process the return there.

Common problems

No Refund button → you don't have the Returns permission, or it's disabled for your till. A manager can grant it.
"Nothing to refund" → there may be no recent sale on this till, or the last sale was already refunded. Use Returns Inward to locate the original invoice.
"Can't find the bank account this card payment went into" → the sale has no payment line for the card and the payment method has no destination account. Refund in cash, or set the destination under Setup → Payment Methods.
The card option is greyed out → the items you picked cost more than is left to refund on that card payment. Return fewer items, or choose Cash.
"… did not accept the refund" → the provider refused. Nothing was recorded; try again later or choose Cash.
The refund is less than the item's price → the sale was discounted; the customer gets back what they paid. See Refunding a discounted sale.