This guide explains how to access and interpret the Store Credit Reports within LightSpeed. While retail store credit should ideally be applied during the next in-store sale, regularly reviewing these reports is crucial for tracking issued, redeemed, and outstanding credit. Understanding these reports provides a clear overview of your store's store credit activity,
Overview
LightSpeed serves as your Point of Sale (POS) system for all retail transactions. Retail Store Credits are issued and managed entirely within LightSpeed.
It's important to note that while store credit is a valuable tool for managing returns or adjustments in LightSpeed, it is not visible in Xero on the individual client's account overview. When sending client statements from Xero, these LightSpeed-specific credits will not appear. Xero only receives summary postings of liabilities from LightSpeed, not client-specific credit details.
Prerequisites
- Access to Lightspeed with appropriate permissions to access and report on store credit
- Understanding of basic reporting navigation within the system
Key Considerations & Best Practices
- Incorporate reviewing LightSpeed Store Credit Reports into your weekly financial checks. This helps identify discrepancies promptly.
- Periodically reconcile your outstanding store credit balance in LightSpeed with Xero (acknowledging Xero only receives summary postings) to ensure accuracy.
- Ensure all retail staff are proficient in both issuing and redeeming store credits to maintain accurate balances from the point of transaction.
Step-by-Step Instructions
This section outlines how to access and interpret your store credit reports in LightSpeed to effectively manage client credits.
- Navigate to Reporting
- From the reporting menu, select Store credit reports
- The Store Credit report page will load, displaying two main sections: "Summary of store credit totals" and "Store credit list".
Summary of Store Credit Totals
- Total value issued: Displays the cumulative total value of all store credit that has ever been issued in the business.
- Total value redeemed: Shows the cumulative total amount of store credit value that has been successfully redeemed by clients in the business to date.
- Outstanding balance: Indicates the total amount of store credit that has been issued but is yet to be redeemed. This is your active liability for store credits.
Store Credit List:
- Total issued: This column displays the total amount of store credit that has been issued to each specific client listed in the report.
- Total redeemed: This column displays the total amount of store credit that each specific client has redeemed to date.
- Balance: This column lists the current outstanding store credit amount that each specific client has left to redeem.
- In the "Store Credit List" section, click on any part of the row corresponding to the client whose history you wish to view.
- You will see a detailed breakdown of the client's store credit activity, including the date and time any store credit was issued or redeemed, and the value associated with each individual transaction.
- Note: Clicking directly on the client's name will take you to their general client profile instead of their credit history.
My store credit balance in the LightSpeed report does not match my expectations. What should I do?
Review the "Total value issued" and "Total value redeemed" in the report summary to confirm the overall figures. Then, investigate individual client histories in the "Store Credit List" for specific discrepancies. Check if any credits were incorrectly issued or if redemption transactions failed.
During the early migration period to the Evolution platform, a workaround was used in LightSpeed to manually add store credit. How do I correct the overstated revenue posted to Xero due to this workaround?
You will need to void the store credit Journal, delete the associated payment record and apply credit correctly. For detailed instructions see: Correcting Overstated Revenue in Xero Due to Lightspeed Store Credit Workaround.
Related Guides and Next Steps
What's Next? Once you have reviewed & corrected any store credit discrepancies you can proceed with your daily financial reconciliations.
Deep dive:
- Issuing and redeeming store credit in Lightspeed
- Correcting Overstated Revenue in Xero Due to Lightspeed Store Credit Workaround
See also: