Selling is half of it. The other half is knowing what you've actually been paid. Tabs keeps a running record of the money that has come in against each order, so at any moment you can see who has paid in full, who still owes you, and how each payment was made.
Recording a payment
Tabs doesn't take the money for you. The customer pays the way they always do, and you record it.
Open the order and press Record payment. The window opens on the balance still owed.
- Enter how much was paid, or press the button to pay the full balance.
- Pick how they paid: Cash, Transfer or POS.
- Add a reference if you have one. For a transfer, the bank reference or the sender's name. For POS, the receipt number.
The payment is recorded straight away and listed on the order.
The reference is optional, and it's the field you'll be most glad you filled in. When a customer says "I sent it on Tuesday", the reference is how you find it on your bank statement.
A sale paid at the counter
For a simple counter sale you don't need this step at all. When you create the order, mark it paid and handed over, and it's recorded as completed in one go.
Part payments and money owed
A customer can pay in parts. This is how to handle deposits and credit sales.
Say a customer orders ₦60,000 of goods and pays ₦25,000 now. Record ₦25,000. The order shows as Part paid, with a balance due of ₦35,000. When she pays the rest next week, open the same order and record ₦35,000. The order now reads paid in full.
Each payment is listed on the order with its date, amount and method. That list is your record of the debt. Nobody has to remember it, and nobody can dispute it.
To see who owes you, look through the Orders page for orders marked part paid or still open.
Fixing a wrong payment
Mistakes happen. Someone records ₦15,000 when the alert said ₦1,500, or puts a payment on the wrong order.
Open the order, find the payment and choose Void payment. The amount comes off what's been paid, and the balance goes back up.
Voiding corrects the record only. It doesn't move any money. If cash actually changed hands and has to go back, give it back yourself.
A voided payment isn't erased. It stays in the order's list of payments, crossed out, so a payment can't quietly disappear.
Receipts
Press Print receipt on an order, or from the order's row on the Orders page.
The receipt carries:
- your business name and logo, in your brand colour
- the items, with the size or colour of each
- who served the customer
- whether it was collected in store or is to be delivered
- the total, what's been paid, and either "paid in full" or the balance due
It's laid out 80mm wide, so it fits a thermal receipt printer. On an ordinary printer it prints centred on the page.
To send a receipt by WhatsApp or email, choose Save as PDF in the print window and share the file.
Add your logo and brand colour under business settings. A receipt with your name and logo on it looks like it came from a proper business, because it did.
Returns
A return is a customer bringing back something they bought from you.
- Open the order and choose Start a return.
- Tick what's coming back, and how many of each.
- Add the reason, such as wrong size, damaged or changed mind.
You can return up to what was bought on that order, less anything already returned. If everything has come back, Tabs says so and there's nothing left to pick.
When you save:
- The return is recorded on the order, with the reason.
- The goods go back into stock.
- The order's figures update. If the customer has now paid more than they owe, the order shows the difference as owed to customer.
That last figure tells you what to refund. As with voiding, Tabs records it and you hand over the money.
A worked example
A customer bought 2 shirts at ₦9,500 each and paid ₦19,000. Two days later she brings one back because it doesn't fit.
Open her order, start a return, tick one shirt and write "wrong size". The shirt goes back into stock. The order now comes to ₦9,500 against ₦19,000 paid, so it shows ₦9,500 owed to customer. Refund her ₦9,500, or let her pick something else on a new order.
If the returned item can't be resold
A return puts the goods back into stock. If what came back is damaged, take it out again with a stock adjustment and the reason "broken, expired or lost". See inventory. That way your stock count stays honest and the loss is on record.
Returns to your supplier are different
Sending faulty goods back to the business you bought them from is a separate thing. It's done from the product's page. See suppliers.
Cancelling an order that's been paid
If you cancel an order, items that haven't gone out go back into stock. Any payments recorded on it stay in its history. Void them if the money was returned, so the record matches what happened.
Who can do what
Taking payments, voiding them and recording returns are separate permissions.
That lets you set things up sensibly. Sales staff record payments. Voiding, which is how money leaves the record, is kept to a manager or the owner. Returns can go to whoever handles customer complaints.
Set this under roles.