Returns (Admin)
Use this page to refund a customer from the admin panel, and to complete or reject returns that are waiting.
Quick steps
- Click Orders in the top menu and open the sale. Click Process Return.
- Set the Return Qty for each item coming back. Tick Remove (or set 0) on items that aren't.
- Choose the Refund Method. Leave Restock Items ticked if the items can be sold again. If more than one drawer is open, pick the drawer a cash refund comes out of.
- Click Process Return. The return is saved as Pending.
- On the return's page, click Complete Return to carry it out, or Reject Return to turn it down.
Completing a Card return only records it in BrotherPOS. Refund the card yourself on the terminal or in your payment gateway.
Common questions
Where's the list of all returns? Type "Returns" into the admin search. The list shows every return with its status, and you can click Complete next to a pending one.
Can I return an order that hasn't been paid? No. A pending or ready order was never paid — cancel the order instead.
The cash refund won't complete. A cash refund needs an open cash drawer. Open one at the register, then complete the return.
Is it quicker to do returns at the register? Often, yes, when the customer is at the counter. See Returns on the register.
More detail: statuses, reasons, refund methods and restocking
Returns Overview
Return Status
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | The return has been created but not yet completed. Nothing has been restocked or credited yet. Returns created in the admin panel start here. |
| Completed | The return has been carried out. Returns processed on the POS register are completed straight away. |
| Rejected | The return was turned down. Nothing was refunded or restocked. |
Return Reasons
Returned items can carry one of these reasons: Defective/Faulty, Damaged, Wrong Item, Changed Mind, Expired or Other. Reasons are chosen on the POS register. In the admin form you can type a free-text Return Reason for the whole return and Item Notes for each item.
Refund Methods
| Method | What completing the return does |
|---|---|
| Cash | Records a cash refund against the open cash drawer session, so it comes off that drawer's expected cash. A cash return cannot be created or completed without an open drawer. |
| Card | Records the refund in Brother POS only. The admin panel never refunds the card — see the warning below. |
| Store Credit | Adds the refund total to the store credit balance of the customer on the original sale. A store credit return can't be saved for a sale with no customer. |
| Gift Card | Puts the refund back on the gift card the sale was paid with. Only for a sale paid (fully or partly) by gift card. If that card has since been voided, a new gift card is issued with the refund on it. |
| Exchange | No money is paid out. The refund total is added to the store credit balance of the customer on the original sale (the history line reads "Exchange" and the return number), so it can pay for the replacement items. Like Store Credit, it can't be saved for a sale with no customer. |
A sale paid entirely by gift card, store credit or house account can't be refunded as Cash or Card — saving says the refund method "can't be cash or debit for a sale paid by gift card, store credit or on account — refund it as store credit, or back onto the gift card". Choose Store Credit (or Gift Card for a gift card sale).
Restocking
Each return has a Restock Items setting. When it is on, completing the return adds the items back to stock — onto the Sales Floor at a store that splits its stock, so they can be sold again. A weighed product that was poured heavy puts back what was actually poured. Leave it off for damaged items or products that cannot be resold under your regulations.
Completing any return also — whether or not you restock:
- takes back the loyalty points earned on the returned items,
- gives back, in proportion, any points the customer spent on the sale (a reward or points cashed out),
- lowers the customer's total spend by the refund, and
- reduces what you owe a consignor for consigned products.
More detail: processing a return from the admin panel
Returns can be processed on the POS register (gear icon → Report Issue / Process Return → Process Return) and in the admin panel. This page covers the admin side. Only managers and admins can open the admin Returns pages.
Processing Returns from the Admin Panel
A return is always raised against a completed, paid sale. It can't be raised against:
- a pending or ready order that was never paid — saving says the sale "hasn't been paid yet — cancel the order instead of returning it",
- a voided sale — "was voided — there is nothing left to refund", or
- an item that was already voided off the sale, which was refunded by the void.
The refund can never go over what the sale was worth, and tax is never refunded beyond what the sale collected. Cash rounding doesn't count toward that limit. The returned product and the customer who gets any credit always come from the original sale.
To process a return:
- Open the sale's detail page from Orders and click Process Return. (This button shows for managers and admins on completed sales.) Or click Process Return at the top of the Returns list, scan or type the receipt number under Find the sale to return, and click Find Sale.
- The Process Return page shows the original sale and lists all its items. Set the Return Qty for each item and add Item Notes if needed. To leave an item out, tick Remove on it or set its Return Qty to 0.
- Choose the Refund Method, tick or untick Restock Items, and fill in Return Reason and Additional Notes if you like. When more than one cash drawer is open, a Cash drawer (for cash refunds) list appears — pick the register the cash comes out of (the first open drawer is picked unless you change it). With only one drawer open, the cash refund comes out of that drawer.
- Click Process Return. The return is saved as Pending and you are taken to its detail page. The total is worked out automatically from the items and quantities, including tax at the rates the original sale was charged.
- Click Complete Return to carry it out, or Reject Return to turn it down. You can also click Complete next to a pending return in the Returns list.
If every item is removed or set to 0, the form asks you to "Select at least one item to return (untick Remove, or set a quantity above 0)." If no sale matches the receipt number you typed, the lookup says "No sale found with receipt …".
To find the Returns list, type "Returns" into the admin search. The list shows the return number, date, customer, original sale, items, total, refund method and status, with counts of pending, completed and rejected returns. You can filter by status and refund method.
A return can only be completed or rejected while it is pending. Once one person completes it, a second Complete (or a Reject) on the same return is refused with "This return is no longer pending — it was already completed or rejected, so nothing was changed.", so the refund cannot go out twice.
If a return can't be completed, a message at the top of the page says why:
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| "This cash refund can't be completed because no cash drawer is open…" | Open a drawer on the POS, then complete the return. |
| "This store credit return can't be completed because the sale has no customer to credit…" | Reject the return and refund the customer another way. |
| "The return couldn't be processed: …" | The rest of the message names the problem. |
The admin panel cannot send money back to a card — a terminal refund needs the customer and their card there. When you complete a return whose refund method is Card, Brother POS restocks the items (if chosen) and reverses loyalty points, and the confirmation says: "The card has NOT been refunded — process the card refund on the terminal or in your payment gateway." Do that step yourself.
You can also process returns directly on the POS register (see POS Returns), which is useful when a customer is at the counter. There, card refunds for sales paid through Helcim or Kort are sent to the processor automatically.
More detail: how returns show in reports
Return Impact on Reports
- Daily Close — Completed returns for the day are shown with their count and total, broken down by refund method and by employee. See Daily Close.
- Cash drawer sessions — Completed cash refunds are counted against the drawer session they were paid from.
What's Next?
- Order Management — Browse and manage all sales orders.
- Online Orders — Manage WooCommerce orders synced to your admin panel.
- Cash Drawer Sessions — Understand how returns affect cash sessions.
- Sales Reports — See how returns impact your sales numbers.