This feature is only available for Lightspeed Retail merchants on select pricing packages.

Sales by Department Report

Check out the Sales by Department report to see how each of your departments are doing: which generate the most sales, discounts, returns, and more!

Table of Contents

Run the Report

From BackOffice, run the Sales by Department report for an overview of departmental sales activity.

  1. In BackOffice, click 'Reports' and select 'Departments'.
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  2. Click the date icon to choose a preset or custom range, then click 'Retrieve'.
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  3. (Optional) Click the drop-down to select whether to run the report for the current location only or for all linked locations.

    This setting is available to merchants with multiple linked locations and is only visible to the Business Owner. Visit our New Store Setup article to learn how to create a new linked location or our Multi-Store Management guide to learn how to link existing locations.

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Read the Report

Learn to analyze the Sales by Department report to maximize its data to benefit your business. Knowing your best-selling departments can help you pick items to put on sale and decide which types of items to feature.

Bar Charts

The charts at the top show the top 10 best performing departments by quantity sold & total sales amount.

Sales are attributed to departments based on the department assigned to each item at the time it was originally sold.

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The term Other is a combination of all departments outside the top 10.

  1. Hover over or tap on a bar to see the quantity/amount and percent of total for that department.
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Table View

The table provides detailed information about all departments with sales activity over the selected time frame.

Sales and returns are attributed to departments based on the department assigned to each item at the time it was originally sold.

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Totals | The total amount of each column.

Department | Name of the department.

Quantity Sold | The total number of items from that department that were sold.

Sales Amount | Total sales amount before discounts, returns, gratuity, and tax.

Quantity Returned | The total number of items from that department that were returned.

Returns Amount | Total amount refunded before tax, gratuity, and discounts.

Costs | The cost of all sold items minus the cost of the returned items.
Cost is calculated using the weighted average cost of an item at the time of sale.

Discounts | The discounts on all sold items minus discounts on returns.
Want to see more detail on discount usage? Check out the Sales by Discount report.

Gross Margin | Percentage of revenue left after accounting for cost and discounts.

Net Sales | The Sales Amount, minus the Returns Amount, and minus Discounts.

  1. Click any header with arrows to sort the table ascending. Click again to sort descending.
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  2. Click any row to view the sold and returned items for that department.
    • This feature is only available when running the report for a single location. Visit the Run the Report section to learn how to toggle between running the report for a single location or all linked locations.
    • Items appear with the names currently entered in BackOffice for them.
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If you found the Sales by Department report useful, check out the related Sales by Category report next. Visit the Sales by Category article to learn how to access and read this report.

Filter the Report

Filter the report by department to hide departments you don’t want to see or to display only specific departments. Filter by column to customize which table columns appear on the report.

  1. Click 'Filter'.
  2. To hide a department, uncheck its box.
    • To show the department again, recheck the box.
    • Use the filter controls to search for a department, select all departments, and clear all selections.

    Department filters apply to the Bar Charts, Table View, Export, and Print View.

  3. To hide a table column, click 'Show/Hide Columns' and uncheck its box.
    • To show a column, recheck the box.

    Column filters apply to the Table View and Print View.

Export the Report

Download a copy of your report to analyze and filter the data using spreadsheet software.

  1. On the Table View, click 'Export'.
  2. Wait for the export to be generated. Check the box to be notified by email when exports are ready for download (optional).

    Exports ready in a few seconds will automatically download to your computer. Click ‘Close’ to close the message box.

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    Exports that take more than a few seconds to generate are downloadable via the Export Center when ready. Click ‘OK’ to close the message box.

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  3. After downloading, the export is ready to open in any spreadsheet software.
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Use the Print feature to optimize the report to print from any printer connected to your computer.

  1. Click 'Print'.
  2. Wait for the report to open in a new tab in your browser.

    The report is displayed based on the filter and sort parameters applied.

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  3. Select 'File' from your browser’s menu and choose 'Print'.