Cash Discount
The cash discount is a percentage taken off the bill when the customer pays in cash. The POS works it out automatically - you never calculate it yourself.
On a normal order the whole bill has to be paid in cash. On a split payment each person earns the discount separately, on their own share, whenever they settle their part wholly in cash.
INFO
🔒 Manager only - the cash discount percentage is set per venue in the Admin portal. If your venue has no cash discount, none of the prompts on this page appear.
How you see it on the POS
When a cash discount is set up, the POS shows the cash price everywhere you need it:
- Cart summary - a green Cash Payable (X% off) line shows the discounted total under the normal total.
- Payment screen - a blue banner reads "X% Cash Discount available - pay $Y with cash to get discount", and the Cash button shows the discounted amount.
Take a cash payment with the discount
- Tap Pay from the cart to open the payment screen.
- Tap the Cash payment button. The POS fills in the discounted total for you.
- Check that the banner turns green: "X% Cash Discount Applied".
- Take the cash from the customer and enter the amount given, if it differs.
- Tap Pay to complete the order.
The discount is applied to the order automatically and shows on the receipt.
What the discount is calculated on
The cash discount percentage is not taken off the grand total. It is taken off the item value only, after any other discounts have already come off.
The POS works through the order in this order:
- Start with the item subtotal - the total of every item in the cart.
- Subtract the order discount, if there is one - flat amount or percentage.
- Subtract the coupon discount, if there is one.
- Apply the cash discount % to whatever is left. That figure is the cash discount base.
What the cash discount does not apply to
The cash discount is never calculated on:
- Tax
- Surcharge
- Delivery charge
- Tip
- Platform fee / service charge
The POS adds all of these after the cash discount has come off, so the customer still pays them in full.
TIP
Think of it as a discount on the food and drink, not on the bill. Charges added on top of the food - delivery, surcharge, tip - are not discounted.
The surcharge does not shrink
A percentage surcharge is worked out on the item value before the cash discount comes off, so the surcharge is the same whichever way the customer pays.
On a $100 order with a 20% surcharge and a 5% cash discount, the surcharge stays at $20.00 - it is not recalculated down to $19.00. The customer saves the $5.00 cash discount, and nothing more.
INFO
This keeps a split bill honest. Each person's surcharge share is fixed when their items are assigned, before anyone has said how they will pay - so a cash payer later in the queue cannot shrink a surcharge share that someone else has already been charged.
Effect on tax
Because the cash discount lowers the item value, the POS recalculates tax on the reduced amount. So the customer pays slightly less tax as well.
This is why the cash discount is not simply subtracted from the final total - the total drops by the discount plus the tax saved on it.
Worked example
A $100 order with a 10% order discount, a $5 coupon, a 5% cash discount, 10% tax, a $5 delivery charge, and a $3 tip:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Item Subtotal | 100.00 |
| Order Discount (10%) | − 10.00 |
| Coupon Discount | − 5.00 |
| Cash discount base | 85.00 |
| Cash Discount (5% of 85.00) | − 4.25 |
| Taxable amount | 80.75 |
| Tax (10%) | + 8.08 |
| Delivery Charge | + 5.00 |
| Tip | + 3.00 |
| Grand Total | 96.83 |
INFO
The tip is calculated on 85.00 - the amount before the cash discount - so the tip stays the same whichever way the customer pays.
When the discount applies
- Cash only. The full outstanding amount must be paid in cash.
- Any other payment method removes it. If any part of the bill is paid by card, gift card, or another method, the POS removes the cash discount automatically and the full price is due.
- On a split, each person is judged on their own share. See Cash discount on a split.
- It applies as soon as the cash covers the discounted total. You do not tap anything extra - enter or accept the cash amount and the banner turns green.
- Changing the tip or the payment method resets it. The discount has to be re-triggered by entering the cash amount again.
WARNING
If the customer changes their mind and pays by card after you entered cash, clear the cash amount first. The POS removes the discount automatically, and the total goes back to the full price - tell the customer the new amount before they tap their card.
WARNING
If you add or change the tip after the discount has applied, check the banner is still green before you tap Pay. Changing the tip resets the discount, and the customer will be charged the full price if you do not re-enter the cash amount.
FAQs
Why doesn't the cash price show?
Two common reasons:
- The cart is empty - add at least one item and the Cash Payable line appears.
- Your venue has no cash discount percentage set. The setting lives in the Admin portal, so ask your manager whether a cash discount is configured for your venue.
Can I give the cash discount on a split payment?
Yes. On a split payment the discount is earned per person, not for the order as a whole. Anyone who settles their own part wholly in cash gets the percentage off their share, even if the person next to them pays by card and gets nothing.
See Cash discount on a split for the detail.
The customer pays half cash, half card. Do they get half the discount?
No. On a single bill there is no partial cash discount - the discount applies only when 100% of that bill is paid with cash. A mixed payment is charged at the normal full price.
This is per bill, not per order. If the table is on a split payment, each person's share counts as their own bill, so the cash payers still earn their discount.
The total dropped by more than the discount percentage. Is that right?
Yes. The cash discount reduces the item value, and tax is then recalculated on that lower amount. So the customer saves the discount and the tax on it.
In the example above, a 5% cash discount on a base of 85.00 takes off 4.25, and the tax drops from 8.50 to 8.08 - a further 0.42 saving. The grand total falls by 4.67 in total.
Does the cash discount come off the delivery charge or the surcharge?
No. The cash discount is calculated on the item value only. Tax, surcharge, delivery charge, tip, and platform or service fees are all added after the discount, and the customer pays them in full.
A percentage surcharge is worked out on the value before the cash discount, so it does not shrink when the customer pays cash. A 20% surcharge on a $100 order stays $20.00 whether they pay by cash or by card.
Does the tip change when the cash discount applies?
No. The tip is worked out on the amount before the cash discount, so it is the same whether the customer pays by cash or by card.
The customer already has a manual discount and a coupon. Do they still get the cash discount?
Yes. All three can apply to the same order. The order discount and the coupon come off first, and the cash discount percentage is then calculated on what is left - so the cash discount is smaller than it would have been on the full subtotal.
Related
- Discounts - manual, automatic, and approval rules
- Coupons & Promotions
- Surcharges
- Delivery Orders & Charges
- Payments