Exchange of goods in the store: the correct algorithm for conducting in Torgsoft

Retail entrepreneurs often face situations where a customer wants to exchange a product — for example, the size, color, or style did not fit. The main problem is that owners or salespeople look for a single “magic” Exchange button in accounting systems, trying to simply replace one item with another. However, such direct “substitution” without proper financial and warehouse processing inevitably leads to chaos: product mix-ups, negative stock balances, discrepancies between the actual cash register and the program, as well as problems with fiscal reporting. This workflow requires a clear understanding of the movement of goods and money.

The Torgsoft system is based on a fundamental rule of correct accounting: there is no such operation as “exchange”; any exchange is always a return of the previous product and the sale of a new one. If you accidentally sold a product in the wrong size or the customer simply wants to exchange it, you must first process the return of the “wrong” product and only then sell the product in the required size or color. This is related not only to warehouse discipline, but also to the Law of Ukraine “On Consumer Rights Protection”, according to which the buyer has the right to exchange or return goods of proper quality within 14 days, excluding the day of purchase.

Below is a complete step-by-step algorithm for correctly processing this procedure in the Torgsoft program.

Stage 1. Processing a product return from the customer

Before issuing a new product to the customer, you need to return the old product to your store’s warehouse and record the refund.

1. Opening the return mode. Go to the main menu item of the program “Document” — “Return”.

2. Receipt identification. If the buyer provides a receipt printed from Torgsoft, simply scan its barcode into the corresponding field on the form. The return document will be created automatically. If the scanner cannot read the barcode, you can manually enter the numeric receipt code from the keyboard.

3. Product selection. After the receipt is read, a window with the list of purchased goods will open. Select the product the customer wants to exchange by checking the box to the left of its name (or by highlighting it and clicking the “Select” button or pressing the Space key).

4. Quantity adjustment. If the customer bought several identical items but exchanges only one, click the “Set return quantity” button (F2) and specify the exact quantity.

5. Returning the product to the warehouse. Click the “Return product” button (the Enter key).

6. Refunding the money. Next, on the return form, be sure to click the “Return money” button (F6) and confirm the operation in the window by clicking “Money returned”.

7. Payment form. It is very important to refund money in the same form in which the product was paid for. If the customer paid through a bank terminal (to the settlement account), on the return form you need to select the option “Return in the same form in which the product was paid for” or “Return everything from the settlement account”. If the payment was made in cash, the program will refund the money from the cash register.

8. Printing the return receipt. Check the “Print return receipt” box to give the customer documentary confirmation of the operation.

Stage 2. Selling the new product

After the old product has been returned to the warehouse status and the money has nominally been returned to the customer (or actually handed back to them), you process a regular new sale.

1. Go to the menu “Document” — “Sale” (or use the return button directly from the sale form).

2. Scan the barcode of the new product selected by the buyer for the exchange.

3. If the price of the new product matches the old one, the customer simply gives you the money they have just received as a refund, and you close the receipt. If the new product is more expensive — the customer pays the difference; if it is cheaper — you give them the change from the refunded amount.

4. Process the payment through the cash register or bank terminal and issue the customer a new fiscal or sales receipt.

Exception: exchange of warranty goods by serial numbers

Although the “Return + Sale” rule applies to standard goods, for complex equipment that requires strict warranty accounting by serial numbers, Torgsoft has a separate mode — “Repair”.

If a customer brings a defective or warranty product and you agree to exchange it for a new one (with a different serial number), the following is done:

• You accept the product through the menu “Document” — “Repair”, selecting the product from the sale receipt and specifying its serial number.

• This mode has a special “Exchange product” button.

• When it is clicked, the program will ask you to enter the new serial number of the product that you are issuing to the customer from the warehouse.

• The system will automatically create three linked warehouse documents in the background: the return of the broken product from the customer, the return of this old serial number to your supplier (so that you do not pay for the defect), and a new sale to the customer of the product with the new serial number. At the same time, no cash movement occurs at the cash register, which significantly simplifies the work of the service manager.

Summary: following the “return + sale” algorithm during an exchange guarantees that your warehouse balances will always be 100% up to date, there will be no shortages or unclear surpluses in the cash register, and tax reporting for the PECR will be generated flawlessly.