Analytics and Reporting Troubleshooting

The Reports section of BackOffice is where you can find your transaction history, reports, and review register activity. This page focuses on solving issues related to the reporting found under Reports.

Table of Contents

Dashboard Issues

This section covers some common Dashboard issues.

My totals don’t match the Z Report or bank deposit.

Reporting discrepancies can occur as the result of an issue with the register’s internet connection. With a poor connection, sales from the register may be unable to sync to BackOffice.

  1. Sign into the Retail POS (S-Series) app as a register manager and open the Diagnostics screen.
  2. Make note of the number of items next to 'Pending Queue' or 'Delayed Queue'.
  3. Wait 10 minutes, then check the 'Pending Queue' again.
  4. Follow the set of steps below that reflect the queue's behavior.
    • If the number of items in the queue has decreased or is at 0:
    a  Wait until the queue reaches 0.
    If the queue is already at 0, go to the next step.
    b  Check the Dashboard, it should now be up to date.
    c  If the Dashboard still does not match the Z report or bank deposit, review possible explanations for this discrepancy below.
    • If processing online and mobile payments, you will receive separate bank deposits for these payments and for transactions run at the register.
    • Sales processed outside the Retail POS (S-Series) app, including those run in Lightspeed Pocket, do not appear on Z reports.
    • If using Lightspeed eCom (E) without online ordering enabled, orders that sync to BackOffice do not appear on Z reports.
    • If the number of items in the queue has not decreased and is more than 0:
    a  Make sure the register is connected to the correct WiFi network.
    b  Load a website or perform another function that requires internet.
    c  Ask someone familiar with your network setup to reboot the modem and router.
    d  Contact your internet service provider for help restoring the internet connection.

I tried to calculate tax on my own and it does not match Lightspeed Retail.

Tax is figured on a per-item basis and there is rounding involved, so multiplying a tax rate by total net sales may not always equal the true tax amount.

Here are some more reasons why your own tax calculations may not match the Dashboard:

  • Untaxed sales increase net sales, but do not add to the total tax collected.
  • New sales run in Lightspeed Pocket and Lightspeed Pay are non-taxable and do not add to the tax collected.
  • If you have multiple tax rates or tax groups, all items may not be taxed at the same rate.
  • If you have tax groups set up, some items may be taxed at multiple rates.

    • IMPORTANT: Sales tax figures in reporting are estimates based on how you have configured your tax rates and tax groups in BackOffice. For official filings, always verify your current local rates, then manually calculate tax using net taxable and non-taxable revenues. Be aware that tax laws can change at any time and you should contact a tax professional for specific tax advice regarding your business.

    To learn how tax is calculated in Lightspeed Retail, visit the Sales by Tax Rate Report article.

    The ‘Non-Cash Gratuity’ amount does not match the gratuity on my Z report.

    Gratuity discrepancies between the Dashboard and Z report can occur as a result of an internet connection issue or of not considering all sources of gratuity included in the Dashboard.

    1. Follow the steps here on each register to make sure all data has synced to BackOffice.
    2. If using multiple registers, add together the gratuity from the Z report of each register.
    3. If using Lightspeed eCom (E) with online ordering disabled, add gratuity from online orders to the Z report total.
      a  In BackOffice, run the Transactions Report.
      b  Follow the steps here to filter the report by the ‘eCommerce’ sales channel.
      c  Click ‘Export’, then select ‘Transactions’.
      Click to Enlarge
      d  Wait for the export to download.
      e  Open the export spreadsheet, and sum the ‘Tips’ column to get the total gratuity collected from online orders.

    Net COGS (cost of goods sold) looks wrong.

    As you receive inventory, Cost updates to a weighted average of an item’s current cost & its new receiving cost. If your COGS looks wrong, it is possible you have not accounted for this weighted average calculation. Visit the Weighted Average Cost article to learn more or to disable weighted average cost.

    It is also possible that some items have no Cost or the wrong Cost. Follow the steps below to check your costs and update them if necessary.

    1. Run the Stock Items Export.
    2. Open the export and look for items with no 'Cost' or the wrong 'Cost'.
    3. Use Bulk Management to modify the 'Cost' of your items.

      Bulk Management will override the average cost calculations for inventory items.

    4. Get updates on the iOS or Android register to sync the changes to the register.

    This ensures reporting on future sales is accurate, but does not fix existing reporting.

    Transactions Report Issues

    This section covers issues related to the Transactions Report.

    Some transactions did not show up on the Transactions Report.

    Transactions stop posting to BackOffice if the register’s connection to the internet is interrupted. Data is stored in the register’s internal memory until the connection is restored and syncing can resume.

    Follow these steps above for dealing with missing transactions.

    Why do I have duplicate rows on my Transaction Tenders Export?

    The Transaction Tenders export shows how each transaction was paid for: cash, credit, etc. A split tender sale has multiple payments.

    Here, one row looks to be a copy of the other, but each represents part of the same Split Tender sale.

    Click to Enlarge

    Here are the last few columns. Most fields are identical, but Tendered Amount, Tender Type, Card Type, and Last 4 Digits are each different. These match up with the details of each payment on the sale.

    Click to Enlarge

    The dates and times on my transactions are all wrong.

    This happens when a register is set to the wrong date, time, or time zone or the BackOffice time zone is incorrect. Fix these settings to ensure all sales have the correct information.

    1. On the register, open the 'Settings' app (iOS) or the 'Clock' app (Android).
    2. Verify that the date, time, and time zone are all correct.

      For help with date and time settings, visit one of the following articles:

    3. Open the Retail POS (S-Series) app and run a sale.
    4. Check the Transactions Report to make sure the sale's date and time are correct.
    5. If the problem persists, follow the steps here to update your time zone in BackOffice.

    “There was an error generating your receipt image”

    This message appears when there is an issue that prevents a specific receipt from being retrieved.

    1. Reprint the receipt at the register.

      View the steps to reprint a receipt here.

    Register Activity & Inventory Report Issues

    Consult this section for help with reports from the Register Activity and Inventory sections. This includes the Shifts Summary, Reorder Report, and Value Report.

    My drawer is always over or short according to the Shifts Summary.

    There are several reasons why cash drawer variances may occur on the Shifts Summary:

    1. Money was removed without performing a drop or payout.
    2. Money was added without performing a pay in.
    3. The shift was opened or closed for the wrong amount.
    4. Incorrect change was given to a customer.
    In making sense of variances, remember Lightspeed Retail uses this formula to calculate the expected drawer total:

  • Opening amount + cash sales + pay ins – cash returns – drops/payouts
  • The expected drawer is compared with the amount the shift was closed for to get the variance.

    • Transactions are missing from my Shifts Summary report.

    The Shifts Summary report displays sales activity by register shift. If transactions appear to be missing from a particular register shift, consider the following possible explanations:

  • The missing transactions may have been run during a register shift other than the one you are viewing.
  • The Retail POS (S-Series) app may not be syncing properly with BackOffice. To troubleshoot this issue, follow the steps here.
  • Sales processed outside the Retail POS (S-Series) app, such as in the Lightspeed Pocket and Lightspeed Pay apps, do not appear on this report.

    • The Inventory Value Report looks over or under the true value of my inventory.

    Each item’s value is calculated by multiplying its Quantity by its Cost. As you receive inventory, Cost updates to a weighted average of an item’s current cost & its new receiving cost. If your value looks wrong, it is possible you have not accounted for this weighted average calculation.

    It is also possible that some items have no Cost or the wrong Cost / Quantity. Follow the steps below to check the Cost and Quantity and update them if necessary.

    1. Run the Stock Items Export.
    2. Open the export and look for items with the wrong 'Cost' or 'Quantity'.
    3. Use Bulk Management to modify the 'Cost' and/or 'Quantity' of items.

      Bulk Management will override the average cost calculations for inventory items.

    4. Get updates on the iOS or Android register to sync the changes to the register.

    Some items don’t show up on my Reorder Report.

    A basic item appears on the Reorder Report if its current quantity on hand is equal to or less than its reorder trigger. If the basic item’s reorder trigger is equal to zero (0), the recommended order has to be greater than zero (0) in order for the item to appear on the reorder report.
    An item with variants appears on the Reorder Report if it has a reorder trigger greater than zero (0) and a current quantity on hand equal to or less than the reorder trigger.

    1. Export stock items and check the 'Quantity' and 'Reorder Trigger' values for items.
    2. Use Bulk Management to modify the 'Quantity' and 'Reorder Trigger' of items as needed.

    Other Analytics Issues

    This section covers miscellaneous reporting issues not included in the sections above.

    Items on the Stock Items Export have a negative quantity.

    When an item’s quantity reaches 0, there is nowhere else to go but into negative numbers. Negative quantities affect inventory value, but can be easily corrected. Simply adjust to the correct quantity using the ‘Count Inventory’ action, then receive inventory as more comes in.

    I cannot find the Sales by Location report.

    The Sales by Location report is available to the Business Owner & only visible if there are two or more linked stores. If you’re sure you already linked stores, sign out of BackOffice and back in as the Business Owner.

    1. Click the arrow at the top and select 'Logout'.
      Click to Enlarge
    2. Enter the Business Owner login information and click 'Log in'.

      The Business Owner login is the email and password used to create the store.

    3. If you still do not see the Sales by Location report, make sure you followed the steps to link your stores.

    A supplier is listed multiple times on the Sales by Supplier report when I run it for all locations.

    If multiple versions of a supplier exist in your account, assign all inventory items to one version of the supplier, then delete the other one(s).

    This ensures future sales are reported under the same supplier but does not fix existing reporting.

    1. Export stock items from each location’s BackOffice, then open the exports.
    2. Check each export’s ‘Supplier’ column to determine which items are assigned to each version of the duplicated supplier.
    3. Assign relevant items to one version of the supplier.
    4. Delete the other version(s) of the supplier.