Returns, reprints and A4 invoices

Sales lists the branch's bills, and each bill opens on its own page. From a bill you take returns against it, reprint its receipt, or save it as an A4 invoice. Returns lists the returns taken, each on its own page too. BooksPOS never edits or deletes a saved bill: a return is its own document, with its own number, that points back to the bill it corrects.

Finding a bill

1. Open Sales (under Sales in the menu). It opens on today.
2. Choose the period: Today, Yesterday, This week, This month, Last month or Custom (type the two dates as day-month-year, for example 01-09-2026, and choose Apply). The arrows beside it move to the day or period before or after.
3. To find one bill on any day, type part of its number or the customer's name in Bill number or customer and press Enter.
4. Narrow the list with All bills, On khata (something put on a customer's account), With returns, and, while FBR POS integration is on, Not yet with FBR. When the shop has more than one counter or cashier, choose one of them too. Clear goes back to today's bills.
5. The cards at the top add up every bill that matches, not only the page shown: Net sales (tax included, after returns), Bills with the average bill, On khata, and Gross profit (before tax, after the cost of the copies) for those who may see reports.
6. The list shows each bill's Bill number, When, Customer, Cashier, Counter, its status (Khata, Returned, and where it stands with FBR), Lines, what was Returned and the Total, 50 bills to a page with Previous and Next.
7. Click a bill (or press Enter on it) to open it.

Who sees which bills. Every bill of every counter needs the reports permission, which owners, managers, accountants and auditors have. A cashier sees only the bills they made themselves, to find one and reprint it; the page then says your bills after the period. Opening someone else's bill is refused on the store server too, not only hidden on the screen. Warehouse staff do not bill, so the menu does not offer them Sales.

Bill numbers carry the branch and counter, for example MAIN-C1-S000042: bill 42 of counter C1 in branch MAIN. Returns are numbered in the same way with an R: MAIN-C1-R000003.

A bill's own page

The page shows the bill as it was saved: its Total, Discount, what went On khata and what was Returned; each item with its quantity, price, discount (with the reason when one was given), tax and total, and where its price came from, for example List price, Price list, Quantity price, Promotion or Changed at the till; how it was paid, with each payment's reference; the cashier and counter, and how often the receipt was printed again. The receipt, exactly as the printer lays it out, is on the right. Returns against this bill lists every return taken against it; click one to open it. Customer's khata opens the customer's account. The arrow at the top left (or Alt+←) goes back to the list as you left it.

How to take a return

1. Open the bill and choose Return items. Or open Returns, choose New return, and type the bill's number or scan the barcode printed on its receipt; part of the number is enough when only one bill has it. The window Return against MAIN-C1-S000042 opens.
2. For each item coming back, type the Return qty. The Sold · returnable column shows how many can still come back.
3. Change the Unit if the customer returns part of a pack, for example one pencil from a box of 12.
4. Tick Damaged for a copy that cannot be sold again. It goes into damaged stock, not back onto the shelf ("Restock as damaged (not sellable)").
5. Choose how to refund under Refund by.
6. Type the Reason (required), for example wrong edition or damaged copy.
7. Choose Post return. A cashier, who may not take returns alone, gets the Manager approval window first: a manager chooses their name and types their PIN, and the return is saved with both names. See PIN sign-in and manager approval.

BooksPOS shows, for example, "MAIN-C1-R000003: refunded Rs 450.00 (Cash)". If receipts print automatically, a return receipt prints too. A return taken from New return opens on its own page straight away.

How the refund is paid

For a walk-in bill, the list offers only cash, card, bank transfer and the wallets: a walk-in sale cannot be refunded to a customer account or advance.

The Returns page

Returns (under Sales) lists the returns of a period (this month when it opens), found by the return's number, the bill's number or the customer. A cashier sees the returns they took. The cards add up every return that matches: how many, Refunded, paid back From the drawer, and taken To khata or advance. Each row shows the bill it was taken against (or Without a bill), the reason, how it was refunded, whether the copies went back on sale or were kept as damaged, and who took it. A return's own page shows its items, where the copies went, how the money went back, the original bill (click it to open the bill), FBR's credit note when FBR POS integration is on, and Reprint the return receipt.

Returns. Every return with its refund, how it was paid back and where the copies went. Screenshot of the current build (28 Sep 2026), synthetic demo data.

What a return uses

• The original price and cost. The refund is what the customer paid for those copies, including any discount and their share of the bill's tax, never today's price.
• Never more than was sold. Two returns against the same bill, even at two counters at once, can never take back more than the bill had. Anything beyond is refused.
• An open shift. Like a bill, a return goes through a counted drawer: "Open a shift on Counter 1 before taking a return."
• The returns permission. Owners and managers take returns themselves. A cashier takes one with a manager's approval by PIN for that return; it carries the cashier's name and the manager's.

When everything on a bill has already come back: "Everything on MAIN-C1-S000042 has already been returned."

Exchanges

An exchange is a return and a new bill. Take a return for the item coming back, then make a new bill for the one going out. If the customer is swapping one edition for another of the same price, refund in cash and take the cash on the new bill, so the drawer balances.

Reprints and A4 invoices

• Reprint prints the bill's receipt again as a copy, marked DUPLICATE COPY with its number. It never opens the drawer. The bill's page counts how often it was printed again. See Held bills, unsaved bills and reprints.
• A4 PDF saves the bill as a full-page invoice (for a school or an office that wants one) that you can print on any printer or send by email or WhatsApp. It shows the tax when the bill has any. A bill made for FBR POS reporting carries the same FBR block as its receipt: the FBR Invoice No. and its QR code once FBR has accepted it, with the POS ID, NTN and STRN; otherwise OFFLINE INVOICE or NOT YET ACCEPTED BY FBR, and never a number FBR did not give. It is saved to the folder you choose, named after the bill.

Rules worth knowing

• Returns of consigned copies (sale-or-return stock from a supplier) go back into the shop's own stock at the bill's cost. The copy was already owed to the supplier when it was sold. See Consignment (sale or return).
• FBR. When FBR POS integration is switched on, a return is reported to FBR as a credit note against the original bill, once FBR has the sale. The Not yet with FBR filter lists only the bills FBR does not have yet, from any day, and Send to FBR now on a bill's page tries it at once. See FBR POS integration.
• Voids. A bill can be voided only on the day it was made, only while nothing on it was returned, and only by an owner or a manager, with a reason. Void this bill on the bill's page asks for the reason, then says what will happen: every copy goes back to stock, cash is paid back from the drawer, the khata and any advance are restored, card and wallet payments are reversed in the books (pay those back the same way), and FBR gets a credit note if it had the bill. The bill is never deleted: it stays on record marked VOIDED on Sales (the Voided filter lists them), on its page, on every reprint and on the A4 invoice, and counts in no sales total. After that day, or once something was returned, the correction is a return.

A voided bill. The bill stays on record, marked VOIDED with who voided it, when and why. Screenshot of the current build (28 Sep 2026), synthetic demo data.

Common questions

A customer returned a book without the bill. Can I still take it back?

First search Sales by the customer's name, or choose the day it was sold and look for the time: a return against the bill refunds exactly what was paid. If it cannot be found, use Return without a bill on the Returns page, which refunds today's price. See Returns without a bill.

Can a cashier take a return?

Yes, with a manager's approval. The cashier chooses Return items as usual; before the return is saved, a manager chooses their name and types their PIN. The approval covers that return only.

Why does a cashier see only some of the bills?

A cashier sees the bills they made, which is enough to find and reprint one. Every counter's bills are for those who review sales: owners, managers, accountants and auditors.

The customer returned a book bought on khata. How is it refunded?

Choose On account under Refund by: their khata balance goes down by the refund. No cash leaves the drawer.

Why can I not return more than 2 when the bill had 3?

One copy was already returned earlier, so only 2 are still returnable. The bill's page lists that earlier return under Returns against this bill.

Related guides

• Billing at the till
• Held bills, unsaved bills and reprints
• Khata: customers, credit limits and recoveries
• Stock adjustments: opening stock, found, lost and damaged