How Pricing Works
This section explains why a total is what it is. It is the reference to reach for when a figure on the screen does not look right, when a customer questions a receipt, or when you need to explain a number to your accountant.
The Ordering & Checkout pages tell you how to apply a discount or a surcharge. These pages tell you what the POS does with it afterwards.
The order things are applied in
Every bill is worked out in the same seven steps, always in this order. Change the order and the answer changes, so the POS never varies it.
| Step | What happens | Worked out on |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Subtotal - add up every line in the cart | the menu prices |
| 2 | Order discount, then the coupon | the subtotal, with deal items left out |
| 3 | Surcharge | the subtotal after the discount and coupon |
| 4 | Tax on each item | each item's price after its share of the discount |
| 5 | Tax on the surcharge and delivery | those amounts themselves |
| 6 | Delivery, service charge, platform fee | added on, then shared across the items |
| 7 | Tip | added last, never taxed |
INFO
A cash discount is not in this list. It is not a property of the goods - it depends on how the bill is paid, so it is worked out at payment time, per person. See Cash Discount and Split Payment Pricing.
A full bill, worked through
Two items, a discount, a surcharge and GST:
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Burger | $50.00 |
| Pizza | $40.00 |
| Subtotal | $90.00 |
| Order discount (flat) | − $20.00 |
| Discounted subtotal | $70.00 |
| Surcharge (10% of $70.00) | + $7.00 |
| GST (10%, on the discounted goods) | + $7.00 |
| Surcharge GST (10% of $7.00) | + $0.70 |
| Total | $84.70 |
Two things to notice, because both surprise people:
- The surcharge is worked out after the discount, not before. 10% of $70.00, not of $90.00.
- The GST follows the discount down. The customer is buying $70.00 of goods, so they pay GST on $70.00.
Where to read more
| Page | Covers |
|---|---|
| Discounts & Coupons | Flat vs percentage, deal items, what happens when a discount and a coupon are both on the order |
| Charges & Tax | Surcharge, delivery, service charge; inclusive vs exclusive tax; why tax falls with a discount |
| Rounding & Cents | Why a split bill lands on $3.34 / $3.33 / $3.33, and why that is correct |
| Split Payment Pricing | How each person's share is priced, and what happens when the order changes after someone has paid |
The promises the POS keeps
Whatever the bill contains, these always hold. They are worth knowing because they are what you can rely on when checking figures:
- Every item's share of the bill adds back to the order total exactly - no stray cents.
- Any grouping of items adds up correctly, so a split bill never differs from the whole bill.
- Adding a tip never changes an item's price.
- One person paying cash and six people paying cash collect the same total, to the cent.
TIP
If a total does not match what you expect, work down the seven steps in order. Almost every surprise comes from a step being applied to a different base than expected - most often a surcharge or a tax being worked out after a discount rather than before it.