top of page
Beacon logo landscape positive new.png

User Group Maintenance: Refunds

  • Chris Holst
  • Jun 17, 2021
  • 2 min read


Beacon has the ability to restrict user access by group. One of the items controlled by this function is the ability to do refunds on the POS.


There are two options that relate to refunds: Performing refunds on stock items and Performing refunds on Wetstock items. You can choose to allow all POS users to perform refunds, or you can restrict this to Managers only.


Why would my staff need access to refunds?

The most common reason we see the need for a refund is when a customer is charged for the wrong Pump. 


ie, The customer comes in and pay for Pump 5, when they were actually parked at Pump 2. In this situation the Console Operator would refund the incorrect sale from Pump 5 and charge the customer for the correct sale.


What are the advantages and disadvantages of locking down this feature to Staff?

Advantages

  • Restricts the ability to commit potential fraud

  • All refunds need to be approved by a manager


Disadvantages

  • ALL refunds need to be approved by a manager, including during after hours. This will mean refunds can only be performed when a Manager is on site - Beacon Support will not be able to assist with this, the Console Operator will need to call the Manager if they are not on site.

  • If you have a 'Ghost Sale' Beacon will only be able to return it and cash it off, the corrective refund of the fuel sale would need to be done by the manager in the back office. If this correction is not done at a later time there will be a discrepancy in both the cash and the fuel reconciliation.


What can I do if I am concerned about potential fraudulent refunds, but I do not want to lockdown refunds through User Group Maintenance?

We recommend a two pronged approach to ensuring that no fraudulent refunds are perfomed.

  1. Utilising the Pump Reconciliation feature during the Shift Reconciliation. This process involves taking your pumps meters each day (either at the end of the day, or prior to commencing trade the next day) and entering them into the day books. This will tell you if the sales that have gone through your pumps are equal to the sales reported in Beacon.

  2. Regularly running reports on refunds and manual fuel transactions:


Reports > Transactions > Sales Restrict by date rangeFinalisation (Left Hand side drop down menu) = "Any Refund"


This will bring up a list of ALL refunds performed on the POS, both Wetstock and non-wetstock.


Reports > Transactions > Sales Restrict by date rangeFinalisation (Left Hand side drop down menu) = "Manual Fuel Sales"


This will bring up a list of all manually created fuel sales that have not originated from your Forecourt Controller

 
 
bottom of page