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Once the check is paid, the sale is final: it can no longer be edited or deleted — that’s a legal requirement. To correct a sale (entry mistake, returned item, goodwill gesture), you issue a refund: a separate document with its own number that leaves the original sale untouched. Refunds work the same way in restaurant mode and retail mode.

What you need to refund

  • Be on the main register. On a secondary device, the Refund row shows Main register only.
  • Have internet. A refund is the only register operation that requires an internet connection: without one, the row shows Unavailable offline. Try again once the connection is back.
  • Be signed in as a manager. The Refund row is visible to the whole team but locked for non-managers: it then carries the Manager PIN badge. To use it, a manager signs in from the lock screen with their PIN.
Actions tab of a paid order — the Refund row at the bottom, in its three states (enabled for a manager, Manager PIN badge, Unavailable offline)

Opening the refund screen

1

Find the paid order

Open the orders list and tap the order in question.
2

Open the Actions tab

At the bottom of the panel, tap the red Refund row. If the order had several checks, one row shows per receipt (Refund #12, Refund #13…) — pick the sale to refund.
3

The Refund screen opens

On the left, the sale’s items with the summary (Total paid, Already refunded, To refund). On the right, the refund options.

Refunding items

This is the default mode (Refund items): you point at the items the customer is returning.
1

Select the items

Tap each line to refund — it gets checked with its full remaining quantity. Adjust the quantity with the and + buttons (the counter shows, for example, 2/3). Select all selects everything at once.
2

Check the amount

The right panel shows the computed amount under Refund, with the Max refundable cap right below.
Every line is priced at what was actually paid. If the sale carried a discount, the original price shows struck through beside it (for example 100.00 90.00): the figure on the right is what goes back to the customer. An already-refunded item appears struck through with the label Refunded; a partially refunded item carries a badge such as 1 of 3 refunded. You can refund a sale in several rounds, until nothing is left.
Refund screen in Refund items mode — two lines selected with the quantity counter, To refund summary at the bottom left

Refunding a free amount

For a goodwill gesture or a refund that doesn’t map to specific items, tap Refund amount at the top of the right panel. Enter the amount on the keypad, or tap a quick chip (All for everything remaining, or a common amount). Items are not marked as refunded — only the money is returned.
Whatever the mode, the total refunded on a sale can never exceed what the customer paid. The Max refundable cap accounts for every refund already issued; an amount above it turns red and cannot be submitted. If the sale carried a discount, the cap is the net-of-discount amount: an 800 sale brought down to 720 by a discount refunds up to 720, not 800.

Choosing how the money goes back

Under REFUND TO, the payment-method column — the same one as at checkout — lists your configured methods. The original payment method is pre-selected, but you can change it — for example, refund a card payment in cash. If you pick a method that was not used to pay this sale, the register asks for an override reason (mandatory): why the money goes back a different way. That reason is written on the credit note.
NowOS is not connected to your card terminal: for a Card refund, process the refund on your terminal as usual, then confirm in the register. NowOS records the amount.

Return items to stock

If the sale contains products whose stock is tracked (retail mode), the refund screen shows the Return items to stock option, on by default. Leave it on when the customer brings the goods back — each tracked item is then credited back to stock. Turn it off when the goods are damaged, lost, or kept. The option doesn’t appear for a free-amount refund, which never restocks.

Giving the reason — mandatory

Under REASON · REQUIRED, tap a reason: Wrong item, Quality, Returned or Other. No reason is preselected, and the refund button stays unavailable until you pick one. If you pick Other, a text field appears and must be filled in. The reason shows on the refund ticket and feeds your reports — it’s what lets you track why money leaves the drawer.

Submitting

Tap the red Refund button followed by the amount. The register sends the refund, which is checked and numbered before being confirmed. If the refund is rejected (a Refund rejected message with the explanation), fix the selection — the most common case is an amount above Max refundable.
A confirmed refund is final: it can neither be edited nor deleted, exactly like a sale. If you make a mistake, talk to your accountant — don’t try to “compensate” with another untracked refund.

After the refund

The confirmation screen shows Refund #N issued, with the amount, the refund method and the reason. Depending on the case, it also confirms:
  • Cash drawer pay-out recorded — for a cash refund, the register automatically records the matching pay-out (labelled Refund #N) on the current business day. Your evening blind count stays correct without writing anything down. If no business day is open, the register asks you to record the pay-out manually.
  • Refund ticket sent to printer — the refund ticket prints automatically for the customer. Print again prints another one. If the message No receipt printer configured for this device. shows, see Receipts and printing.
Tap Done to return to the register.
Refund #N issued success screen — Cash drawer pay-out recorded card and Refund ticket sent to printer card with Print again

Where refunds show afterwards

On the register (main register):
  • the paid order shows a REFUNDS block under its totals, with each refund and the remaining Net — the original items and totals never change;
  • in the orders list, the order keeps its Paid status with a ↩ marker;
  • for a cash refund, the pay-out appears in the day’s cash movements, visible at close of day.
In the backoffice:
  • each sale shows its refund history;
  • Reports → Refunds sums up refunds over the period, with gross and net revenue and the breakdown by reason and method — see Reports.
The backoffice can also issue refunds — see Orders, sales, and refunds. Careful: a cash refund issued from the backoffice does not record the drawer pay-out automatically — remember to record it on the register so the evening count stays correct.