Discounts and comps

On the iPad you can take a percentage or a peso amount off the whole check or off one line, and comp — give away — one drink or the whole check. This page also covers the reason list, the manager-approval switches, removing a discount, undoing a comp, where discounts and comps show, and what a comp does to stock.

Three words are used throughout:

• A discount keeps the drink or the check sold, at a lower price. Barform keeps it as an instruction ("10%", "$100") and works it out again every time the check changes.
• A comp gives the drink or the check away. The line comes off the bill, and the value given away is recorded as a comp. A comped drink was poured, so it still comes off stock.
• The subtotal is the sum of the check's lines — quantity × (price + modifier prices) — after each line's own discount, before any whole-check discount and before tax. If your prices include tax, it includes the IVA.

Removing a line rung by mistake (a void) is covered in Taking orders. Courtesy credit on a customer account is a different kind of comp, covered in Customer accounts.

Discount the whole check

Takes a percentage or a peso amount off the whole check, with a reason. Because it is kept as an instruction, a percentage discount also covers drinks added later, and an amount discount never comes to more than what is on the check.

Who can do this: anyone signed in. Applying it asks for a manager's PIN unless an admin or manager is signed in (they approve it themselves) or your venue has switched that approval off. A partial discount follows the Partial discounts switch; a 100% discount, or an amount at least the subtotal, follows Comps — and discounts that wipe a line or the check (see Manager approval).

1. Open the Discount sheet: tap Discount / Comp under the methods on the payment sheet, or on the check tap Table ▾ › Check discount / comp….
2. At the top, choose Percent or Amount.
3. Type the figure on the keypad.
   • Percent (%): whole numbers up to 100. A preview in pesos appears beside it ("= −$X").
   • Amount ($): pesos, up to seven digits; "." adds up to two digits of centavos.
4. Choose the Reason: tap one of your venue's reasons, or tap Other and type it (the keyboard opens; the field hints "e.g. birthday, VIP").
5. Tap Apply. When a PIN will be asked, the button reads Apply — asks for manager PIN, with a lock, and a manager enters their PIN on the Apply discount sheet ("Authorization required").
6. The sheet closes. The check shows a Discount row with −$X and the new total. On the payment sheet, the amount due changes at once.

Apply stays dimmed until there is a figure above 0 and a reason.

How a check discount is worked out

• A check holds one whole-check discount at a time. Applying another replaces the first.
• It is worked out again every time the check changes:
  • Percent: that percentage of the lines that have no discount of their own, rounded to the centavo. A line with its own discount is never discounted twice.
  • Amount: the pesos given, but never more than the subtotal. If voids shrink the subtotal below the amount, the discount shrinks with it.
• IVA is worked out on the discounted amount:
  • If your prices include tax: total = subtotal − discount, and the IVA is the part of that total that is tax at your rate.
  • If tax is added on top: IVA = (subtotal − discount) × your rate, rounded to the centavo, and total = subtotal − discount + IVA.
• A discount can go on a check that is open or partly paid, not on one that is paid or voided.

Good to know

• A discount after a payment can push the total below what was already paid. The check then owes $0 but can't close until a payment is voided: "Payments exceed the total — refund pending: …". See Taking payment.
• If another iPad has just settled the check — even at the same moment — the discount is refused: "This check is no longer open." A check that has just been paid is never re-priced.
• The preview "= −$X" is the percentage of the whole subtotal, rounded down. When some lines have their own discount, the discount applied is smaller, and rounding can differ by a centavo. The check's own Discount row is the real figure.
• A 100% discount is still a discount, not a comp: the lines stay on the check, and the money counts under discounts, not comps, in the reports. It does follow the comps approval switch.
• The reason is required. A typed reason is saved exactly as typed.

Discount one line

Takes a percentage or a peso amount off one line of the check. The line then shows its original price struck through and the price charged. No reason is asked.

Who can do this: anyone signed in. Applying it follows Partial discounts, or Comps — and discounts that wipe a line or the check when the discount is 100% or an amount at least the line's total. A signed-in admin or manager approves it themselves.

1. On the check, swipe the line to the left and tap Discount. Or tap the line, then tap the Discount row in the line sheet — it reads No discount, or for example "15% · -$45.00".
2. The Item discount sheet shows the drink's name and its line total.
3. Choose Percent or Amount and type the figure (percent: whole numbers up to 100, with a preview in pesos; amount: pesos, "." for centavos).
4. Tap Apply, or Apply — asks for manager PIN. The PIN sheet is titled Discount item.
5. The line shows the old price struck through and the new price below it.

How a line discount is worked out

• Line total = quantity × (price + modifier prices).
• Percent: that percentage of the line total, rounded to the centavo, never more than the line total. Amount: the pesos given, never more than the line total.
• It is worked out again whenever the line's quantity or modifiers change, and it comes off the subtotal.
• A whole-check percentage discount skips lines that have their own discount. A whole-check amount discount comes off the whole subtotal.
• A line rung at a happy-hour price is discounted from that price: 10% off a $60 happy-hour drink is $6. Happy hour is the drink's price, not a discount, so it never shows as a Discount (see Pricing).
• Tapping the same drink again never adds to a discounted line: it rings a new line at full price.
• Changing the modifiers of an unsent discounted line (tap the line › Modifiers) replaces the line, and its discount moves to the new line without a new approval. If the discount can't move, the iPad leaves the old line as it was: "The discount could not move to the new line, so the line was left as it was: …"

Good to know

• A line on a seat that has paid can't be discounted, and its discount can't be removed. The line is locked, and a discount sheet already open for it closes when the seat locks. If the change comes through anyway — from an iPad that hadn't caught up — Barform refuses it: "That seat has already paid — its lines stay put."
• A paid or voided check is refused: "This check is no longer open."
• If another iPad has just moved the line to another check (Move a seat…), nothing changes: "That check changed on another iPad — try again."
• A 100% line discount keeps the line on the check as a $0 sale. It is a discount, not a comp.
• Line discounts aren't counted in the back office's Discounts & voids panel. They are in Reports › Income, under Discounts.

Remove a discount

Takes a check discount or a line discount off, so the check goes back to full price.

Who can do this: removing follows the Partial discounts switch, even when the discount was 100%. A signed-in admin or manager removes it directly; anyone else needs a manager's PIN while the switch is on. With the switch off, whoever is signed in removes it, and that is recorded.

To remove a check discount:

1. Open the Discount sheet, from the payment sheet or Table ▾ › Check discount / comp….
2. Tap Remove discount at the top. It only appears while the check has a discount.
3. If asked, a manager enters their PIN (the Remove discount sheet, "Authorization required").
4. The sheet closes and the check is back at full price.

To remove a line discount:

1. Open the line's Item discount sheet (swipe the line › Discount, or tap the line › Discount).
2. Tap Remove discount and, if asked, a manager enters their PIN.

Remove discount doesn't undo a comp: after a comp there is no discount to remove, because the comped lines have left the check. To take a comp back, see Undo a comp.

Comp one drink

Gives one sent drink away. The line comes off the bill, the value given away is recorded as a comp, and the drink still comes off stock when the check is paid, because it was poured.

Who can do this: anyone signed in can open the Void Item sheet for a sent line. The comp follows the Comps — and discounts that wipe a line or the check switch (on by default): a manager's PIN is asked unless an admin or manager is signed in.

1. Swipe a sent line to the left and tap Void. Or tap the line and tap Void at the foot of the line sheet.
2. The Void Item sheet shows the line, for example "1× Mezcal Espadín · $170.00", marked sent.
3. Tap Comp · guest or Comp · staff.
4. The button turns amber and reads Comp, or Comp — asks for manager PIN. Tap it.
5. If asked, a manager enters their PIN. The PIN sheet names what is being approved — for example "Comp: 1× Mezcal Espadín · $170.00" — with "Already sent to the bar" and your name.
6. The line leaves the check and the total drops.

How a comp is valued

• The comp is worth how much the guest's bill drops when the line comes off: the subtotal less any whole-check discount, before and after. So it takes into account the line's own discount, and any whole-check discount, which is worked out again on the smaller check.
• That value is before tax if tax is added on top, and includes the IVA if your prices include tax.
• A drink rung at a happy-hour price is comped at that price: the comp gives away what the line was charged.
• A double tap, or a line another iPad already took off, records nothing more.
• The other reasons on the Void Item sheet — Guest sent back, Wrong item, Spilled and Other… — are plain voids: no comp is recorded and nothing comes off stock. See Taking orders.

Good to know

• Only sent lines can be comped. An unsent line is removed with one tap — Delete on the swipe, Remove in the line sheet — with no comp option. To give away a drink that hasn't been sent, send it first, or give it a 100% line discount (which counts as a discount, not a comp).
• A comp made by mistake can be taken back while the check is open: see Undo a comp. Don't ring the drink again instead — that leaves the comp in the night's comps and takes the drink off stock twice.
• A line on a paid seat is locked and can't be comped. If the comp comes through anyway — from an iPad that hadn't caught up — Barform refuses it: "That seat has already paid — its lines stay put."
• A settled check is refused: "This check is no longer open."
• If another iPad has just moved the line to another check (Move a seat…), nothing is recorded: "That check changed on another iPad — try again."

Comp the whole check

Gives the whole check away in one step: every line comes off, one comp records what the guest owed, and the check goes to $0, ready to close as a paid $0 check.

Who can do this: anyone signed in can open the Discount sheet. The comp follows the Comps — and discounts that wipe a line or the check switch (on by default); the PIN sheet is titled Apply discount.

1. Open the Discount sheet, from the payment sheet or Table ▾ › Check discount / comp….
2. Tap Comp at the top. There is no figure to type.
3. Choose the Reason. It is required.
4. Tap Apply, or Apply — asks for manager PIN and a manager enters their PIN.
5. The check total is now $0.

To close the comped check, either:

1. On the payment sheet, tap Close — no charge, or
2. On the check, which now has no lines, tap Close empty table.

Either way the check closes as a paid $0 check, prints a receipt with Comp as the method, and leaves the floor. See Taking payment.

On a check that already has payments

A check that already has a payment can't be comped whole. On such a check the Comp tab shows no reasons and no Apply, only: "This check already has payments, so it can't be comped as a whole. Comp the drinks still owed one by one: on the check, swipe a line, tap Void and choose Comp · guest or Comp · staff." Comp them as in Comp one drink.

If a payment lands on another iPad while the PIN sheet is open, Apply refuses with the same sentence — or, if this iPad hadn't heard of the payment yet, with "This check is partly paid — settle it first." Either way nothing is comped: comp the drinks still owed one by one.

How a whole-check comp works

• In one step, every line on the check is comped, any whole-check discount is cleared, one comp is recorded, and the total goes to $0.
• The comp is worth what the guest owed: the subtotal less any whole-check discount — before tax if tax is added on top, with IVA if your prices include tax.
• Lines rung onto the check after the comp are charged at full price.
• If nothing is left on the check to comp, nothing is recorded and the sheet closes.
• Closing the comped check records no payment, marks the check paid and takes the comped lines off stock. Close empty table gets the same result: a check with a comp on it closes as a paid $0 check, not as a voided one.

Good to know

• Remove discount doesn't undo the comp. Undo a comp… does, while the check is open, and every drink of the comp comes back at once (see Undo a comp). A whole-check discount that the comp cleared doesn't come back.
• With Auto-print receipts off, closing the comped check (either way) doesn't print its receipt, and no completion card offers it. Reprint it from Check history (see Check history).
• A check comped to $0 still blocks the end of the day until it is closed.

Undo a comp

Takes a comp back while its check is still open. The comped drink — or every drink of a whole-check comp — goes back on the check at its price, and the comp leaves the night's comps. Use it for a comp made by mistake: the wrong drink was comped, or the guest decides to pay after all.

Who can do this: a manager, every time. A signed-in admin or manager approves it themselves; anyone else needs a manager's PIN. The Comps — and discounts that wipe a line or the check switch doesn't change this.

1. Open the check and tap Table ▾ › Undo a comp…. Or, on the payment sheet, tap Discount / Comp and then Undo a comp… at the top. Both only appear while the check has a comp that can be undone.
2. The Undo a comp sheet lists the check's comps, one row each, with the price of what comes back:
   • a comped drink, for example "1× Mezcal Espadín", with its reason under it, such as Comp · guest;
   • a whole-check comp, "Whole check — " followed by its reason, with its drinks under it, for example "2× Mezcal Tobalá, 1× Raicilla".
3. Tap Undo on the comp. The list now shows only that comp.
4. Under Reason for undoing the comp, pick a reason. Comped by mistake is selected for you.
   • Comped by mistake
   • The guest will pay
   • Other… — type the reason in Specify the reason.
5. Read the note: "The drink goes back on the check at its price and the comp leaves tonight's comps." For a whole-check comp it says the same of the drinks and adds "A check discount the comp cleared is not put back."
6. Tap Undo comp, or Undo comp — asks for manager PIN. The PIN sheet names what is being approved, for example "Undo comp: 1× Mezcal Espadín · $170.00".
7. The bottom line says "Comp undone — the drink is back on the check." — or, for several drinks, "Comp undone — the drinks are back on the check." When no comp is left, the sheet closes. The drinks are on the check again and its total goes up.

What an undo changes

• Each drink comes back at the price it was rung at, with its own line discount if it had one. A whole-check discount that the comp cleared isn't put back: apply it again if it still applies.
• The comp leaves every figure at once, because its drinks are live on the check again: Comp and Voided items in the Discounts & voids panel on Today and Sales, Comps and Voids in Reports › Income, and Comps on the iPad's Close the day.
• Stock doesn't move. An open check hasn't taken anything off stock yet; when it is paid, each drink comes off once, as a sale.
• Each comp is undone on its own. With a comped drink and a later whole-check comp on the same check, undoing one leaves the other.
• Close the day › Voids and Comps lists it as "Comp undone — " followed by the reason.
• Nothing prints. The back office has no way to undo a comp.

When an undo is refused

• The check is no longer open. A paid or voided check is refused: "This check is no longer open." Undo a comp only works while the check is open or partly paid.
• The drink's seat has paid. A comped drink on a seat that has already paid stays comped: its row reads "Its seat has already paid — the comp stays." and Undo is dimmed.
• Undone on another iPad: "This comp was already undone."
• Changed on another iPad, for example by a table merge: "This comp changed on another iPad — check the list again."
• An older comp: comps given before Barform could undo them aren't listed. If one is reached anyway: "This comp was given before comps could be undone — it stays."

Set the discount and comp reasons

The one-tap reasons on the iPad's Discount sheet, for Percent, Amount and Comp. Staff tap a reason instead of typing, and the reports group on the exact words.

Who can do this: admins. Managers can open the page but can't change it.

1. In the back office, go to Settings › Venue, then the iPads and service tab.
2. In the Quick picks card, find Discount & comp reasons.
3. To add a reason, click in the field (Add a reason…), type it, then press Enter or type a comma, or click +.
4. To remove one, click the × on it. In the empty field, Backspace removes the last one.
5. Each change saves at once ("Changes save as you make them.").
6. Each iPad picks up the list the next time someone signs in on it.

Rules for the reason list

• A new venue starts with five reasons already saved, in the language chosen when it signed up — in English: Frequent customer, Promotion, Service issue, Manager comp and Staff. Until someone edits the list, it follows the iPad language if that changes; once edited, it stays as written.
• When nothing is saved, the iPad offers Barform's five built-in reasons in its own language — in English: Frequent customer, Promotion, Service issue, Manager comp and Staff. The back office shows them in your iPads' language.
• Up to 20 reasons, each up to 120 characters. Spaces at the ends are trimmed, and a repeat is ignored (capitals and spacing don't count). Removing every reason brings back the built-in reasons.
• A reason can't contain a comma: typing a comma adds the reason.
• The iPad saves the reason exactly as shown; Other saves what staff typed, as typed. Close the day shows the reason as saved.
• Only the whole-check Discount sheet uses this list. Line discounts ask no reason, and comping one drink uses the fixed Comp · guest and Comp · staff.
• If the iPad can't read the list, it uses its built-in reasons.
• The iPad's sheet is laid out for five reasons (two rows on an iPad mini). A longer list makes the sheet scroll — the field's hint says it: "The tap-to-pick chips on the iPad's discount and comp screen — keep the list short."

Manager approval

Two switches decide whether discounts and comps ask for a manager's PIN on the iPad. You can trust your floor with small discounts but still want a manager for every comp, or the other way round.

Who can do this: admins change the switches.

1. In the back office, go to Settings › Venue › iPads and service.
2. In Manager approval on the iPad, switch Partial discounts and/or Comps — and discounts that wipe a line or the check. Each saves at once.
3. Each iPad uses the new setting from its next sign-in.

On the iPad, when a PIN is needed, the button already says so ("— asks for manager PIN"), and a manager types their PIN on a sheet that names what is being approved.

The card's hint sums it up: "Each switch asks for a manager PIN before that action on the iPad. Off, the action goes through and records who did it." Voids of sent items and Merging tables requires a manager PIN are on the same card (see Taking orders and The floor and tabs).

How approval works

• A signed-in admin or manager never sees a PIN prompt: they approve their own actions. Everyone else gets the manager PIN sheet while a switch is on.
• Who is recorded as approving: the manager whose PIN was entered; the signed-in admin or manager when they approve themselves; the signed-in staff member when the switch is off.
• The PIN sheet only accepts the PIN of an active admin or manager of your venue.
• If the iPad can't read the switches, it asks for the PIN.
• The lock and "asks for manager PIN" only show when a PIN will really be asked.
• A changed switch reaches an iPad at its next sign-in, not in the middle of a session.

Where discounts and comps show

To see a night's discounts and comps:

1. In the back office, open Today, or Reports › Sales for a range, and look at the Discounts & voids panel.
2. In Reports › Income, look at the Discounts and comps card (Discounts and Comps, with their count) and the Voids card. In the day-by-day or month-by-month table, Show discounts, comps and drawer movements adds those columns.
3. On the iPad, open ··· › Close the day: Comps in the totals, and the Voids and Comps card.

What each place shows:

• On the check: a discounted line shows its original price struck through and the price charged. A whole-check discount shows as a Discount row, −$X, above the total. Comped lines are gone.
• On the payment sheet: with tax added on top, a Discount row among the subtotal and IVA rows; with prices that include tax, "discount −$X" on the second line.
• On the bill and the receipt: each line prints at its list price. A line discount prints as an indented line under it — "Discount 15% -$45.00" or "Discount -$20.00" — so the lines add up. A whole-check discount prints as a "Discount 15%" or "Discount" row with "-$X" after the lines (under the subtotal when the receipt shows one). Discounts always print, whatever Settings › Receipt says. Comped drinks print only when the receipt's Comped lines option is on: after the charged lines, with "comp" where the price goes — for example "1× Mezcal Espadín comp" — and no discount line. They change no figure on the paper. A check closed at $0 prints Comp as the method.
• On a seat's receipt: there is no whole-check discount row, because the seat's TOTAL already includes its part.
• iPad › Close the day: Comps is the value of the comps on checks opened since the drawer opened. The Voids and Comps card lists each void, comp, check discount and line discount recorded since the drawer opened, with its reason, in the iPad's language — for example "Comp — Comp · staff", "Discount — 10% — Frequent customer" or "Comp — Whole check — Birthday".
• Today and Reports › Sales: the Discounts & voids panel has a row for each kind — Percentage discount, Amount off and Comp — then Voided items, with their count and value. The two discount rows count the checks that carry that kind of discount: once each, however many times it was applied or changed, under the kind the check has now. A discount later removed doesn't count. Comp counts each comp given, with its value. Line discounts aren't in this panel.
• Reports › Income: Discounts are the check and line discounts on the bills paid in the range, each payment carrying its share. Comps are how many comps were given and their value, on the day they were given. Voids include comped lines (comps are "also counted as voids"). See Income.

What comps and discounts do to stock

A comped drink was poured, so its recipe still comes off stock. A discounted drink comes off like any sale. A plain void (wrong item, spilled, sent back) takes nothing off.

• Stock comes off once, when the check is paid: the final payment, Close — no charge, or Close empty table on a comped check.
• What comes off: every line still on the check, discounted or not, plus every comped line. Voided lines that weren't comped take nothing off.
• A check closed as voided (Close empty table with no comp on it) takes nothing off.
• Products without a recipe move no stock. The product's recipe (Menu › Recipes, on plans that include inventory) decides what comes off. See Recipes, wells and stock.
• The deduction waits for the check to close: a comped drink on a check that is still open hasn't come off stock yet.
• A comp undone while the check was open moves no stock at the undo. Its drink comes off once, as a sale, when the check is paid.

To see the deductions, open Inventory › Activity in the back office. They are listed with the reason Sale. The page opens on Everything except sales, so choose All reasons or Sale in the reason filter.

What is recorded

Every discount and comp leaves a record of what was done, who approved it (or who did it, when the switch is off) and why.

• On the iPad, Close the day › Voids and Comps lists voids, comps, check discounts and line discounts, along with house-account charges, table merges and payment corrections.
• No back-office page lists these records.
• Undoing a comp is recorded too, and the card lists it as "Comp undone — " with the reason.
• Removing a discount and closing a $0 check are recorded too, but the card doesn't list them.
• Reasons are kept in the words they were given. The card shows the built-in reasons in the iPad's language, and your venue's own reasons as typed.
• A comp is recorded in the same step as the comp itself, so the record can't be lost. A discount's record is written just after the change; if that fails, the iPad says "Could not record the audit log: …" and the discount stays applied.

Related

• Taking payment
• Payment corrections
• Taking orders
• Closing the day
• Recipes, wells and stock