Returns & refunds

When a customer brings something back, you process a return against the original sale. Swann Retail works out the refund, records what comes back into stock, and pays the cash out of your drawer. You can refund a whole sale or just part of it.

Start a return

There are two ways in, and both open the same return form:

• From Orders — go to Sales → Orders, open the sale, and press Return items.
• At the register — press Returns in the register top bar, then search by item name, SKU, or order number and press Return on the sale.

You can only return against a completed sale. The Return items button is greyed out once everything on the order has already been returned.

Choose what’s coming back

The return form lists each line from the original sale with how many are still returnable (what you sold, less anything already returned). For each line, enter the quantity in one or both columns:

• Restock — goes back on the shelf (stock goes up).
• Damaged — written off; the refund is still given, but the stock is not put back.

You can split a single line between the two — say two back on the shelf and one written off. There’s an optional Reason / note box if you want to record why. When at least one unit is entered, press Review refund.

Confirm the refund

The next step shows exactly what’s coming back, with a Restock or Damaged tag on each line, and totals the cash refund (subtotal, any discounts, and VAT are broken out). The amount is worked out for you from the items and quantities you chose — it can’t be typed over.

Press Refund $X.XX to finish. You’ll see Refund processed with the return’s number, and you can Print or Email the refund receipt, just like a sale.

What a refund does

• It’s cash, from your drawer. Swann Retail is cash-only at the counter, so the refund is paid out in cash. If a till is open it’s deducted automatically and shows on your Z-report as a cash refund, so the drawer still reconciles at close. (If no till is open, pay it from the drawer by hand and record a paid-out on your next register session.)
• Stock follows your choice — Restock puts it back, Damaged doesn’t.
• Reports count it as a return — the refund is subtracted from your sales for the day it falls on.

Good to know

• A refund is final. There’s no “undo” — if you got it wrong, the only fix is another return or a fresh sale.
• Partial is fine. Return one line, some quantities, or the whole sale — and you can come back later for the rest, up to what was sold.
• Permission required. Processing a return needs the Process returns permission — a cashier without it won’t see the Returns or Return items buttons. And because a refund moves money back out of the till, it’s one of the sensitive actions that asks you to confirm with a two-factor check before it goes through (see Two-factor authentication).