Negative Sale Item

[CraigH1978]

Ive read discussions and seen this is not available but really wish it would as its becoming a nightmare for us!!!! I need an easier solution if people can help

We run a large sports club and for most things square is great.

We hire out equipment and in this hire is a bond that is returned when the equipment is returned unharmed or destroyed.

Most times its easy to do the refund for the bond if the person uses their credit card.

However!!!! When they pay cash trying to find a cash sale from a busy club can take a long time!!! Also if they pay using apple pay you can not find the sale again if they tap with their phone you have to find this manually.

Would love to have a negative sale tile that we can just push to give their bond back once things are returned!!!!

Is there another way we can do this? 

[Laurie_ · Accepted solution]

Hi @CraigH1978! 👋

Thanks for reaching out! Totally understand how challenging this can be, especially in a busy club setting!

While Square doesn’t currently support a negative sale item, there are a few workarounds that could help:

1. You can create a specific “Bond” item in your item library to track bond payments and make refunds easier to find. You can create a variably-priced item if this isn't a fixed amount each time. Alternatively, if the bond is always the same amount, you could add it as a modifier that you always attach to hire sales.

2. For cash bond returns, some sellers create a $0 “Cash Bond Return” item and use the notes field to log key info like the customer name and date (which can be used to search for transactions).

3. If someone pays with Apple Pay or tap-to-pay, it can be hard to locate the original sale, so we recommend adding a short note at checkout (e.g., "Bond-July11-JSmith") to help with future searches.

4. Collecting customer contact info at checkout can also make it much easier to locate their transaction later.

5. Many sellers use Square Invoices to accept deposits or bonds ahead of time, as it provides a clear record and makes returning or adjusting the amount much simpler. Square Contracts can also be helpful for tracking hire agreements more formally.

Of course, workarounds aren't going to be the perfect fit for everything, and you're not alone in wanting this feature! I'll continue to pass the feedback we do receive to our Product Team.

In the meantime, let us know if you’d like help setting up any of the above!