Reporting and Analytics Glossary
Browse this list to get a deeper understanding of terminology used in business reporting. Check out the use cases and examples to see how they work within day-to-day operations.
To learn about Lightspeed-specific terms unrelated to reporting, visit the Lightspeed Glossary.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W XYZ
A
Examples: Coffee, sandwich, or bracelet sold at the register.
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Included in sales calculations and reports.
See Also: Liability Item
Use Case: Understand the quantity of items sold in a typical sale.
Calculation: (Total quantity of items sold) / (number of sales).
Example: Sale #1 = 2 apples and 1 orange. Sale #2 = 5 pears. The average number of items per sale is 4.
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on the Dashboard.
Use Case: Understand the dollar amount collected on a typical sale.
Calculation: (Total pre-tax sales amount of asset items – sales discounts) / (total sales count).
Example: Sale #1 = $10 before tax. Sale #2 = $8 before tax. The average sale value is $9.
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on the Dashboard.
C
Use Case: Used to determine how much profit a given sale will generate.
Calculation: (Total cost of sold items) – (Total cost of returned items)
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on several sales reports, such as the Dashboard.
Example: A merchant paid $1 to obtain an item for inventory.
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on the Items List and Stock Items Export.
Example: A merchant charges customers $5 for an item.
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on the Items List and Stock Items Export.
D
Use case: Use discounts to make pricing adjustments for special offers for customers.
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Total discount usage is available on several sales reports, such as the Dashboard and Sales by Discount report.
E
Example: An item is sold at a $10 cost. The item is sold again later at a $20 cost. The item’s effective unit cost for the date range of these sales is $15.
Calculation: (Total net cost / net quantity sold).
Example: An item is sold for $20. The item is sold again later for $30. The item’s effective unit price for the date range of these sales is $25.
Calculation: (Gross sales / quantity sold).
G
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Total gratuity amount collected on sales paid for with credit or gift cards, available by date range or by cashier.
Use Case: Understand the percentage of sales that are profit.
Calculation: (Net sales – costs) / (net sales).
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on several sales reports, such as the Dashboard and Sales by Item.
Use Case: Understand the dollar amount a merchant gets to keep for a given selling period.
Calculation: (Net sales) – (costs).
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on several sales reports, such as the Dashboard and Sales by Item.
Use Case: Use as a raw, top-line sales metric.
Calculation: (Price of asset item) * (quantity sold).
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on several sales reports, such as the Dashboard.
L
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Sales of liability items are not included in gross or net sales reports. However, tenders used to purchase liabilities are included in the total tendered amount. Upon redemption, the net liability amount is reduced and sales paid for with the liability are reported in gross and net sales reports.
Example: A merchant sells a $100 gift card for cash (Net Sales: $0, New Liabilities: $100, Cash Tenders: $100). Later, a customer redeems a $50 gift card (Net Sales: $50, Net Liabilities: $50, Cash Tenders: $100, Gift Card Tenders: $50).
See Also: Asset Item
N
Use Case: Understand how much revenue was brought in during a given period.
Calculation: (Total pre-tax sales amount) – (total pre-tax returns amount) – (net discounts amount).
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on several sales reports, such as the Dashboard.
Use Case: Understand the final amount received for each tender type.
Calculation: (Sales amount tendered) – (Returns amount tendered).
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on the Sales by Tender report.
Use Case: Understand item sales amounts not subject to tax, typically for tax reporting purposes.
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on the Sales by Tax Rate report.
P
Use Case: Add additional cash to the drawer to give change to customers.
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on the Pay ins and Payouts report.
Use Case: Remove cash from the drawer for staff gratuity, inventory purchases, etc.
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on the Pay ins and Payouts report.
Q
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on several sales reports, such as the Sales by Item report.
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on several sales reports, such as the Sales by Item report.
R
Use Case: Analyze top-line returns.
Calculation: (Quantity returned * price).
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on several sales reports, such as the Sales by Item report.
Use Case: Understand how many returns transactions were completed.
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on several sales reports, such as the Sales by Item report.
S
Use Case: Analyze top-line sales.
Calculation: (Quantity sold * price).
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on several sales reports, such as the Sales by Item report.
Use Case: Understand how many sale transactions were completed.
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on several sales reports, such as the Sales by Item report.
Calculation: (Sum of taxes on sales) – (sum of taxes on returns).
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on several sales reports, such as the Sales by Tax Rate report.
T
Use Case: Understand item sales amounts subject to tax, typically for tax reporting purposes.
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on the Sales by Tax Rate report.
Calculation: (Sales amount tendered) – (returns amount tendered).
Example: A customer purchases a sandwich for $5, pays $0.44 tax, and leaves a $1 tip. The total tendered amount for this transaction is $6.44.
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on the Dashboard and X/Z Reports.
Use Case: Understand how many transactions are run to adjust staffing or business hours.
Lightspeed Retail Reporting: Available on the Dashboard.
U
Example: A merchant purchases an item to add to inventory for $100.
See Also: Current Unit Cost, Effective Unit Cost
Example: The price a customer pays for an item is $100.
See Also: Current Unit Price, Effective Unit Price