Returns and Refunds

Standard return — cash back

Return Item puts the register in return mode before you ring the item. A grey Return label appears above the input bar, and the next item you ring comes in as a return.

1. On the Register, click Return Item in the button panel. The Return label appears.
2. Scan or type the item being returned. It comes in with a negative quantity and price, and the label clears.
3. For more than one returned item, click Return Item again before each one.
4. Add the customer to the sale so the return shows in their history.
5. The Balance Due is now negative. Complete the tender: click Cash to give the cash back.

Clicking Return Item a second time before you ring anything turns return mode back off.

Return from the original receipt

When you can find the original sale, return straight from it so the return is linked to that receipt:

1. Open the original sale with Find Receipt (the menu next to the register name) or Reprint Receipt.
2. Select the line or lines being returned.
3. Click Return Item, then press Enter with the input bar empty.
4. VMX starts a new sale with those lines as returns, with the same customer. After you tender, the new receipt shows Based on Receipt # and the original receipt number.

Return as store credit

1. Complete the return so a negative balance shows
2. Add the customer to the sale
3. Click Store Credit → Issue
4. A receipt prints with the store credit number — give this to the customer
5. The customer uses the number on a future purchase via Store Credit → Redeem

See the full Store Credit guide for details.

Return to credit card

Contact VMX support at help@vmxllc.com if you need to refund to the original credit card, as the steps vary by card processor.

Refunding a deposit

Returning a customer's deposit (money held before a sale, not a purchased item) has its own flow — ring Return Item, type the amount, then click the Deposit button. See Deposits — Returning a Deposit for the step-by-step, including the common mistakes to avoid.

Refunding to a house account — read this first

Refunding with the House Charge tender puts the money on the customer's account as open credit — it does not pay down the original invoice, so the account will show an open invoice alongside the credit until the two are matched up. That, and undoing payments recorded by mistake, are covered in Fixing A/R Mistakes.

Validated return — linked to original receipt

A validated return picks the items from the customer's purchase history, so each return is tied to the receipt it came from. This feature is enabled per-client by VMX. Contact help@vmxllc.com if you would like it.

1. Add the customer to a new sale. A validated return needs a customer.
2. Click Return Item (Validated).
3. The Validated Return window lists what the customer bought in your return window, with what they have already returned.
4. Enter the Qty To Return and choose a Reason: Return puts the item back in inventory, Warranty does not (use it for dead or damaged plants).
5. Click Continue. Each line comes onto the sale at the price they paid, with a blue Validated tag.

See Validated Returns for the full walkthrough.

Return without a receipt

Use the standard Return Item button: click Return Item, then ring the item. The return is recorded but not linked to an original transaction.

Warranty returns — dead or damaged plants

A warranty return refunds the customer without adding the item back to your inventory on hand.

1. Ring the return (any of the methods above).
2. Select the returned line.
3. Click Warranty Item. A flame icon (Warranty Replacement) appears on the line.

Warranty Item only works on lines that are already returns. CAN ONLY REPLACE RETURNS means the selected line is a regular sale line. MUST SELECT ITEM FIRST means no line is selected. If you don't see a Warranty Item button on your register, contact help@vmxllc.com.

Void vs. return — which to use

Situation	Use
Sale is in progress, not yet posted	Void button (or Delete key)
Sale has already been posted	Return Item on a new sale

Void removes an item from an open sale. Return reverses a completed sale.

Partial returns

To return only some items from a sale, return only those items: either select just those lines on the original receipt and use Return Item + Enter (see "Return from the original receipt"), or click Return Item before ringing each returned item. Add the customer and tender. You do not need to re-ring the entire original sale.

Fixing a sale rung with the wrong tender (Change Tender)

If a completed sale was tendered as the wrong type, for example a check keyed as a card, you do not have to return the whole sale and ring it again. Pull up the completed sale (Find Receipt or Reprint Receipt) and click the word Tendered in the totals on the right. It is underlined and the pointer changes when you can use it; if it is plain text, the sale cannot be changed or your login does not have the permission.

1. Pick the tender that was rung wrong. Only cash, check and card tenders are listed.
2. Choose what it should have been. For a check, enter the check number.
3. Enter a reason. It is written on the sale.
4. Click Change Tender. The sale reloads with the corrected tender, and a line is added to the sale's note showing who changed it, when, and why. The amount does not change.

Limits, so the books stay right:

• Cash to check, check to cash, or a check-number fix can be done on any day.
• A change to or from card can only be made on the day of the sale, before that day's sales are posted to the ledger. After that, use Return Item to reverse and re-ring the sale.
• Gift cards, store credit, house charges, deposits, coupons and card charges made through a card terminal cannot be changed here. Use Return Item for those.
• If the drawer has already been Z'd, changing a cash tender changes that drawer's expected cash for that day.

PERMISSION DENIED means your login does not have the Void Sales permission. That day's sales are already posted to the ledger means the change involved a card and the day has closed. This feature is enabled per-client by VMX. Contact help@vmxllc.com if you would like it.