How to use Comp/Void?

[luhanna]

I am trying to learn how to comp or void an item? Is it before or after the sale? I am just not seeing the option anywhere. Thank you.

[EJ_ · Accepted solution]

Hi there and welcome to the Seller Community!

When you Void an item, you remove the item from the bill entirely. This is used often in restaurants when a mistake is realized after an order is already prepared. 

When you Comp an item, you remove the cost of the item, but the item itself is still on the bill and usually still given to the customer e.g. you make an extra dessert by mistake, but still bring it to the customer as a goodwill gesture or a drink took longer than expected to arrive so you comp the drink to make up for the wait time. 

This Support Center article goes into detail about the Comp & Void feature and how to use it within your Point of Sale app:

Comp and Void

Hopefully this helps, and let me know if you have any other questions. 

[EJ_ · Accepted solution]

Hi there and welcome to the Seller Community!

When you Void an item, you remove the item from the bill entirely. This is used often in restaurants when a mistake is realized after an order is already prepared. 

When you Comp an item, you remove the cost of the item, but the item itself is still on the bill and usually still given to the customer e.g. you make an extra dessert by mistake, but still bring it to the customer as a goodwill gesture or a drink took longer than expected to arrive so you comp the drink to make up for the wait time. 

This Support Center article goes into detail about the Comp & Void feature and how to use it within your Point of Sale app:

Comp and Void

Hopefully this helps, and let me know if you have any other questions. 

[FCAspen]

Is there a way to comp a certain portion instead of the whole item? Because we can't use discounts for dollar amount without also discounting commission to our team. 

[FCAspen]

I also don't see how to enable comp/void anywhere on dashboard anyway. 

[EJ_]

Hi @FCAspen

The Comp/Void features can be enabled and setup in the Items tab of your Square Dashboard. 

The Comp feature is meant to remove the total amount of an item price from the bill so that the item becomes complimentary, so there's not a way to comp partial amounts of an item. 

You can try calculating the commission from your employee net sales report, which are the sales calculated before any discounts or comps. 

[mikesclub]

I give my employees a certain amount of store credit each month. They can use the credit to "buy" anything in my store, which includes items being sold by other vendors. 

When an item is consumed by an employee, I still have to treat it as a sale, because at the end of the month I have to pay my vendors for their sold items. If I simply discount the price 100% when an employee consumes it, the amount I owe that particular vendor will be incorrect. 

I use categories to identify each vendor (the owners of the merchandise). I can record the sale to my employees without collecting any payment, but how do I track the cumulative totals for each employees' use of their credit?

[Joe]

Hi there, @mikesclub! Good to hear from you again! 

I've gone ahead and merged your post with a thread of Sellers who might find our Comp/Void feature useful. The Comp & Void features are used to remove cost of an item within a sale, but still designating the transaction for reporting and inventory purposes. You can learn all about its benefits and details here. 

Let me know if this answers your question! I want to make sure we find a solution that is best for you. 

[manousheh]

Ummm... not quite.  That might be how square uses it, but a Void means that the item has not been removed from inventory.  So for example, you put a soda on a ticket, print the ticket, but the customer changes their mind and no longer wants the soda.  You then void the item (since it didn't leave inventory), and everything is alright.  If the drink was opened already, you would Comp it, because it has left inventory, and what you choose to do with that drink is entirely up to you.  You could give it to the customer, you could pour it out, or drink it yourself.  Important thing is what happened with inventory.  Sorry I know this is old, but its still valid.

[tomasguitarra · Accepted solution]

I had the same question. I received 995 copies of a new CD from the manufacturer today. I saw my musician neighbors in the elevator and gave them a copy. I wanted to manage my inventory within Square and I wanted to record this comp in Square.  It took me a while to figure this out.  

The Support Article says: Once you have enabled Comp and Void in your Square Dashboard, you’ll be able to start using this feature right away in your Square Point of Sale app. To comp an item: Tap an item in your cart/Tap Comp Item/Select a reason/Tap Comp in the top-right corner.

After struggling with this for a bit, I realized that within the "Current Sale" panel, I had to click on the item name in order to bring up the "Comp Item" option.  For me it appears on the lower left side (not on top right). So either I am slow or the support article could be a little clearer. Or both.

[Helen]

Thanks for bringing this to our attention @tomasguitarra!

It looks like this Support Center article currently describes how to comp an item if you're using the Point of Sale app on a smartphone. It sounds like you're using the app on a tablet/iPad where the layout of the app is different! I went ahead and shared this thread with the Content team directly so that we can make this article clearer. 

I really appreciate that you took the time to describe how to comp your CD from your tablet. I'm sure this will help some sellers while we update the Support article online! ✅ 💿

[Coach_Wilson]

Thank you for your explination - I too cannot find the comp button and I'm using a tablet with the square stand. Can someone post a screenshot of where to look? I have activated comp/void (I think) by creating "reasons" under the dashboard "items" but when I go to "checkout" and remove an item from inventory under the comp option, I cannot find the button anywhere. I currently have to use a 100% discount to remove items. But if comp/void is an option, I want to use that! Please help! 

[Chad]

Hey @Coach_Wilson! Have you made sure to turn on Open Tickets on your Point of Sale App? You can find this under settings. 

To comp a ticket you'll need to create one first! So I recommend taking a look at Use Open Tickets with Square. Once you've created a ticket you will find the comp option under Edit Ticket. 

Please let me know if you still need help! 

[LizR]

How do you enable comp ? I see it on the dashboard but not on app. I have open tickets enabled. Using tablet.

[Joe]

Hi there, @LizR 👋Once you've enabled the comp/void feature from your dashboard, you should be able to see the option with the Point of Sale app when you select your open ticket - it should be under the 'Edit' button option.

Let us know if that gets you where you need to be!

[blackbird1]

Thank you. That was the little, but very important, detail that was missing from all the explanations.

[MBAurora]

Recently one of my employee took an order while working alone at front on his late night shift. He printed the order ticket and gave it to the kitchen for making it. However, when the customer came he took the money in cash from her and put it in his pocket rather than depositing it in the register. 

I found about this transaction only in the morning when by chance I saw that order ticket lying on the floor. However, to my surprise I didnt find that order details in the transaction report or on the POS when I checked. When I confronted the staff he admitted that he stole and kept the money himself after taking the order. According to him he saved the order, printed it and later voided the order after the kitchen guys started making it.

My question is if he had voided that ticket, how come it is not appearing in that transaction report for that day. I wouldn't have found out about this transaction if I hadn't found that order ticket lying on the floor as my employee did everything right to cover his tracks except he couldn't or was unable to get rid of the order ticket.

I am baffled and am not sure how many times this person has done the same in the past as like this transaction I cannot pull up details of all previous similar transactions. So far he himself has admitted doing the same on at least 3-4 occasions but I wont be surprised if he has done it more than that. 

Need help and assistance how to stop this happening again. 

[JustinC]

Eek, sorry to hear you're going through this with your employee. Although Voids are recorded in Transactions,  they do not appear Sales Reports since it's considered an incomplete transaction.

Typically voids are used when an item is ordered but not yet prepared, so then it's remove it from the customer bill. 

Visit Void Reports in Dashboard to see a breakdown. @MBAurora