Discounts and Vouchers in the POS

• About Discounts
  • If an Automatic Discount is Configured
• Creating a Discount in the POS
  • Configuring a Discount to be Automatically Applied
• Preventing Discounts from Being Applied to a Category
• How a Percentage Discount is Calculated
  • Refund of Item on Day of Sale
• How a Dollar Value Discount is Calculated
  • Refund of Item on Day of Sale
• FAQs: Discounts
  • Does the system support variable discounts (i.e., discount amount is entered upon checkout)?
  • The Discount button is inactive (i.e., cannot be selected) for an item?
  • I have Also Available (AA) menu items available for selection on POS. Can I prevent AA menu from being discounted?
• How to Use Vouchers in the POS
  • Applying a Voucher Discount to Individual Item
  • Applying a Voucher Discount to Whole Ticket

About Discounts

Discounts can be set up in POS that allow for a percentage or dollar amount reduction to be applied against individual items/products or the whole ticket.

For the end-user article on how discounts are applied, see POS Dining Room Location - Applying Discounts.

If an Automatic Discount is Configured

If an automatic discount is configured, then the discount is automatically applied on the ticket without the user having to do anything to apply it.

Note: When an automatic discount is applied, the system does not allow additional manual discounts to be applied. 

Creating a Discount in the POS

To create a discount in the POS, complete the following steps:

1. From Touch Admin, click POS Settings > Discounts & Vouchers. The Discount Management screen appears.
2. In the Discounts section, click the Add a Discount button. The screen refreshes accordingly.
3. Enter or select the following:
   • Name - enter a name for the discount (e.g., 10% Off)
   • Expense GL Account - select the expense GL account to be associated with the discount for tracking in the facility's external accounting system. Note that GL accounts are set up by MealSuite staff. If you are MealSuite staff, see the following internal article: Setting Up External Account System Parameters in the POS > GL Accounts. 
   • Discount type - select if the discount is a dollar or percentage type.
   • Discount amount - if the discount type is dollar, enter the dollar amount. If the discount type is percentage, enter the percentage.
4. Click the Create Discount button. You are returned to the Discount Management screen, where the newly-added discount is listed in the Discounts section. 

Configuring a Discount to be Automatically Applied

When a discount is created (as per above steps), it can then be configured to be automatically applied to diners of a diner category (i.e., people group) on the POS ticket. To configure a discount to be automatically applied, complete the following steps:

1. From Touch Admin, click POS Settings > Discounts & Vouchers. The Discount Management screen appears.
2. In the Automatic Discounts section, click the Add Auto Discount button. The Add Automatic Discount screen appears. 
3. Select the following:
   • Choose a Discount - select the discount that will be automatically applied
   • Choose a People Group - select the diner category (i.e., people group) the automatic discount will apply to. 
   • POS Locations - select the POS location(s) the automatic discount is enabled for. 
4. Click the Create Auto Discount button. You are returned to the Discount Management screen, where the newly-added automatic discount is listed in the Automatic Discount section. 

Preventing Discounts from Being Applied to a Category

By default, a discount is associated with each category in the system (i.e., menu category and product category). Any items/products assigned to a category can then have a discount applied against it. 

An item/product cannot be individually configured to not have a discount apply to it. Rather, a category can be configured to not have a discount apply, meaning any items/products in that category cannot be discounted. To not have the discount apply to a category, complete the following steps:

1. If preventing a discount from being applied to a menu category, open the menu category. If preventing a discount from being applied to a non-menu category (for products and services), open the non-menu category. 
2. Select the Cannot be discounted button.
   
   
    
3. Click the Update Category button to apply your changes.

How a Percentage Discount is Calculated

POS allows you to apply a percentage discount to an individual item or to the whole ticket. When a discount is applied to the whole ticket, system handles this by applying the percentage discount to the base price of each item to calculate the new item prices, which are then taxed according to each item’s tax rate.

Assume a 10% discount is being applied to the whole ticket:

Refund of Item on Day of Sale

Void - If an item is returned within the same day (i.e., before close time) and can go back to inventory (e.g., it was not consumed or damaged), then the item is voided from the original ticket and the calculations redone. Assume the chips from the ticket are voided:

100% Discount Refund - If the item being refunded cannot be returned to inventory, then a 100% discount is applied to the item, as this will allow for cost and inventory tracking. Assume the chips from the ticket are 100% discounted:

Note: The category of an item (e.g., alcohol category for a beer item) can be configured not to be covered by meal plans and discounts. This is accomplished in Touch Admin via POS Settings > Categories and selecting the Cannot be discounted checkbox.

How a Dollar Value Discount is Calculated

POS allows you to apply a dollar value discount to an individual item or to the whole ticket. When a discount is applied to the whole ticket, the system handles this by prorating the discount value across all items to calculate the new item prices, which are then taxed according to each item’s tax rate.

The prorate formula is as follows:
The individual item price divided by the total price of all items multiplied by the discount value.

Assume the discount value being applied is $10.00. The calculations are as follows:

Refund of Item on Day of Sale

Void - If an item is returned within the same day (i.e., before close time) and can go back to inventory (e.g., it was not consumed or damaged), then the item is voided from the original ticket and the calculations redone. Assume the chips from the ticket are voided:

100% Discount Refund - If the item being refunded cannot be returned to inventory, then a 100% discount is applied to the item, as this will allow for cost and inventory tracking. Assume the chips from the ticket are 100% discounted:

Note: The category of an item (e.g., alcohol category for a beer item) can be configured not to be covered by discounts. This is accomplished in Touch Admin via POS Settings > Categories and selecting the Cannot be discounted checkbox.

FAQs: Discounts

Does the system support variable discounts (i.e., discount amount is entered upon checkout)?

No. Variable discounts are not supported by the system, so as to prevent misuse. For example, you would not want your staff to provide a 100% discount. 

The Discount button is inactive (i.e., cannot be selected) for an item?

If the Discount button is inactive for a selected item (screenshot below), it indicates that the category of that item is configured to not allow discounts. See Preventing Discounts from Being Applied to a Category above for more information. 

I have Also Available (AA) menu items available for selection on POS. Can I prevent an AA menu from being discounted?

If AA menu items are selected for a ticket, and discounts are not to be applied to those AA menu items, then the POS operator would not apply the discount to the whole ticket, but rather select the individual menu items from the standard menu to apply discounts to, and not select the AA menu items to apply discounts to. See Applying a Discount to an Individual Item above.  

The only way to configure a discount from being applied to an item by a POS operator is if you configure an item's category to not be discounted (see Preventing Discounts from Being Applied to a Category). Because AA items share the same menu categories of standard menu items, they will still be available to be discounted if their category does not prevent it. 

How to Use Vouchers in the POS

The system does not support the creation and physical printing of vouchers. However, a facility can create its own in-house vouchers and associate the voucher with a discount that is configured in the POS. When a diner presents the voucher upon checkout, the discount associated with the voucher will be applied by the POS operator as per the standard steps of applying a discount.

For example, assume your facility creates and distributes "$2 Off Entree" vouchers. When a resident presents the voucher upon checkout, the POS operator will apply the discount and keep the voucher. 

Because a discount can be applied either to an individual item or to the whole ticket, a voucher therefore can be created to apply to either an individual item or to the whole ticket.

Applying a Voucher Discount to Individual Item

When a voucher for an individual item is presented by a diner, the POS operator applies the associated discount as follows:

1. Tap the item the voucher is applicable to.
2. Tap the Discount button. The Discounts pop-up appears.
3. Tap the Add button of the discount to be applied. The discount is applied to the item. 

Applying a Voucher Discount to Whole Ticket

When a voucher for a whole ticket is presented by a diner, the POS operator applies the associated discount as follows:

1. Tap the Discount button. The Discounts pop-up appears.
2. Tap the Add button of the discount to be applied. The discount is applied to each item on the ticket (unless the item is configured not to receive a discount; see Preventing Discounts from Being Applied to a Category for more information).