Sales & POS FAQ
Common questions about sales, returns, and the till.
What's the difference between a sale return and a purchase return?
A sale return is a customer bringing something back to you — handled from the Sales Menu's Returns screen. A purchase return is you sending something back to a supplier — handled from that specific purchase order's own page. They're separate flows because they move stock and money in opposite directions. See Processing a return and Purchase returns.
I don't see Orders, Picking Queue, Control Tower, or Discrepancy Holds under Sales — where are they?
Those screens only appear once your workspace is switched to controlled sales orders — most workspaces use the instant checkout instead, which doesn't need them. Ask your Owner, or see Switching between the instant checkout and controlled sales orders.
My sales order's reservation expired — did I lose the stock or the sale?
Neither. An unpaid reservation running out just returns its stock to being available to everyone else — nothing about the customer or what they wanted is lost. Create a fresh order for the same customer whenever you're ready; if any payment or credit had already been recorded on the expired order, it stays on that order's own record. See Reservations and how long they last.
Why can't I release a sales order that's fully paid and picked?
Check whether it's only partly picked — the requested quantity and the picked quantity aren't always the same if a shortage was found earlier. A release only ever ships what's actually been verified; the rest needs its own picking pass first. See Releasing goods on a sales order.
Sales POS and Add Sale say this business uses controlled orders — where did they go?
They're switched off on purpose. Once your workspace is using controlled sales orders, the instant checkout can't create new sales — every sale has to go through the order → pick → release flow, so stock is always verified and payment always confirmed before goods leave. Select New sales order from that message, or go to Sales → Orders. A sale you recorded before the switch is untouched and can still be opened, paid, or returned as normal.