Tutorial 8.1: Understanding Transactions and Payment Status

Introduction

Every time money changes hands in your salon - whether for a haircut, product sale, or gift voucher - Luminate creates a transaction. Understanding how transactions work, their lifecycle, and payment statuses is fundamental to managing your salon's finances accurately. This tutorial explains transaction anatomy, status transitions, payment tracking, and how appointments link to billing.

Who this is for: All salon staff, especially those processing payments and managing finances.

What you'll learn:

• What a transaction is and what it contains
• Transaction statuses (draft, pending, completed, refunded, cancelled)
• Payment statuses (unpaid, partial, paid, overpaid)
• How transactions link to appointments
• Reading transaction details and history
• Transaction numbering and tracking

Time to complete: 15 minutes

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Prerequisites

Before you begin:

• You should understand basic appointment and customer concepts
• You should have processed at least one transaction to see examples

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Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: What Is a Transaction?

A transaction is a financial record of goods or services sold to a customer. Every transaction in Luminate contains:

Component	Description	Example
Transaction Number	Unique identifier	TXN-20241210-0001
Customer	Who purchased (or Walk-in)	Sarah Johnson
Date & Time	When it occurred	10 Dec 2024, 14:30
Items	Services/Products sold	Women's Cut, Styling Product
Amounts	Financial breakdown	Subtotal, Tax, Discounts, Tip, Total
Payments	How customer paid	£50 Card, £10 Cash
Staff	Who served (per item)	Jane (service), Tom (product)
Status	Transaction state	Completed
Payment Status	Payment state	Paid

Transactions vs Appointments:

• An appointment is a booking for future service
• A transaction is the financial record when payment happens
• One appointment can generate one transaction (most common)
• Multiple appointments can be billed on one transaction
• Transactions can exist without appointments (walk-in product sales)

Step 2: Understanding Transaction Statuses

Transactions move through a lifecycle with five possible statuses:

Draft

What it means: Transaction started in Quick POS but not finalised yet.

Characteristics:

• Auto-saved while you work in Quick POS
• Can be edited or abandoned
• Not included in reports or transaction list
• Linked to an appointment until finalised

What you can do:

• Continue editing items and payments
• Abandon (delete) the draft
• Finalise to create a completed transaction

Pending

What it means: Transaction created but not yet completed.

Characteristics:

• Visible in the transaction list
• Can be edited or cancelled
• Items can be added or removed
• Hasn't affected revenue reports yet
• May or may not have payments recorded

What you can do:

• Take payment (edit transaction)
• Apply discounts
• Complete the transaction
• Cancel entirely

Completed

What it means: Transaction finalised and recorded in the system.

Characteristics:

• Counted in revenue reports
• Linked appointments marked as "Billed"
• Stock decremented for products

What you can do:

• View transaction details
• Download or print invoice/receipt
• Process refunds (Owner, Admin, or Manager only)
• View in reports

Note: Completed transactions are locked to preserve the audit trail. To correct a completed transaction, process a refund and create a new transaction with the correct details.

Refunded

What it means: Transaction reversed - money returned to customer.

Characteristics:

• Original transaction preserved for records
• Revenue subtracted from reports
• Product stock restored (if applicable)
• Cannot be un-refunded

What you can do:

• View refund details
• See who processed the refund
• Download or print refund receipt

See Tutorial 8.2 for refund process details.

Cancelled

What it means: Transaction voided before completion.

Characteristics:

• Never counted in revenue
• No financial impact
• Cannot be uncancelled

What you can do:

• View cancellation details
• Transaction retained for audit trail

Step 3: Understanding Payment Statuses

Payment status is separate from transaction status and tracks how much has been paid:

Unpaid

What it means: No payments recorded yet.

• Outstanding balance equals total amount
• Common for pending transactions

Transaction total: £100.00 Payments received: £0.00 Outstanding balance: £100.00

Partial

What it means: Some payment received but not full amount.

• Outstanding balance remains
• Shows in accounts receivable reports

Transaction total: £100.00 Payments received: £30.00 Outstanding balance: £70.00

Paid

What it means: Full payment received.

• Outstanding balance is £0.00
• May have been paid in one or multiple payments

Transaction total: £100.00 Payments received: £100.00 Outstanding balance: £0.00

Overpaid

What it means: Payment received exceeds the total amount.

• Outstanding balance is £0.00
• Indicates extra payment was recorded (e.g., rounding or split payments)

Transaction total: £100.00 Payments received: £105.00 Outstanding balance: £0.00

Note: A transaction can be completed and still be unpaid or partial - completion refers to finalising the sale, payment status refers to money received.

Step 4: How Transactions Link to Appointments

Standard flow:

1. Customer books appointment
2. Appointment takes place
3. Staff marks appointment as "Completed"
4. Create transaction from appointment (via Quick POS)
5. Services pre-loaded from appointment
6. Payment processed
7. Transaction completed
8. Appointment shows as "Billed"

Billing status on appointments:

Billing Status	What It Means
Unbilled	No transaction created yet
Billed	Fully billed on transaction
Partial	Deposit paid, balance outstanding

Finding linked transactions:

1. Open appointment details
2. Look for "Transactions" section
3. Click transaction number to view details

Step 5: Anatomy of Transaction Items

Each line item in a transaction records:

Field	Description	Example
Item Type	Service, Product, Deposit, Gift Voucher, or Colour Overage	Service
Description	What was sold	Women's Cut & Blow Dry
Quantity	How many	1
Unit Price	Price per item	£45.00
Staff	Who performed service	Jane Smith
Commission Rate	Staff commission %	40%

Item calculations:

Base Price:     £45.00
Quantity:       × 1
Subtotal:       £45.00

Special item types:

• Deposit — records a deposit payment against an appointment (Tutorial 8.4).
• Gift Voucher — records a gift voucher purchase (Tutorial 8.3).
• Colour Overage — records an automatic charge when a colour formula used more than the service's included grams (Full colour mode only). Colour overage lines are staged by the formula, not entered manually in POS; see Tutorials 12.5 and 20.8.

Deposit, Gift Voucher, and Colour Overage items are polymorphic — they don't point at a service or product, they point at the underlying deposit, voucher, or formula record. Editing the source record updates the transaction line automatically while the transaction is still on a draft. Once the transaction is completed, the line is frozen for accounting integrity and the source (e.g. the formula) becomes read-only.

Step 6: Understanding Transaction Totals

A transaction breaks down finances like this:

Items Subtotal:             £80.00
  - Item 1: Women's Cut     £45.00
  - Item 2: Styling Product £35.00

Discount (10%):             -£8.00

Subtotal after Discount:    £72.00

Tax (10%):                  +£7.20

Tip:                        +£5.00

TOTAL AMOUNT:               £84.20

Key amounts explained:

Amount	Description
Subtotal	Sum of all items before discount, tax and tips
Discount Amount	Total discounts applied (fixed or percentage)
Tax Amount	Tax on taxable items
Tip Amount	Gratuity for staff
Total Amount	Final amount customer should pay

Step 7: Viewing Transaction Details

From the Transactions page:

1. Navigate to Transactions in the sidebar
2. Find the transaction using filters:
   • Search by transaction number
   • Filter by customer, staff, status, payment status, or date range
3. Click on a transaction row to open its details

Transaction detail view tabs:

Tab	Shows
Details	Customer info, items, payments, staff, timestamps, and linked appointments
Invoice	Professional invoice format for sending to customers
Receipt	Thermal receipt format suitable for printing
Rebook	Shown after completion when a rebook is available — quick way to book the customer's next appointment

Actions available (depending on status):

Action	When Available	What It Does
Take Payment	Pending transactions	Opens the transaction for editing to record payments and finalise the sale
Refund	Completed transactions	Opens the refund dialog to reverse the transaction
Cancel	Pending transactions	Voids the transaction entirely
Download	Invoice or Receipt tab	Downloads the current view as a PDF
Print	Invoice or Receipt tab	Prints the current view

Step 8: Payment Methods

Luminate supports four payment methods:

Method	When to Use
Cash	Physical cash payment
Card	Debit or credit card
Gift Voucher	Redeeming a gift voucher
Other	Bank transfers, cheques, or any other method

Split payments: Customers can pay using multiple methods. For example:

• £50 by Card
• £30 by Cash
• £20 by Gift Voucher

All payments are recorded separately and sum to total paid.

Step 9: Transaction Permissions by Role

Action	Owner	Admin	Manager	Staff	Receptionist
View all transactions	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Create transactions	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Edit/complete transactions	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Process refunds	✓	✓	✓	✗	✗
Cancel transactions	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓

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Common Pitfalls

"Transaction shows as completed but unpaid"

This is correct behaviour. Completed means the sale is finalised. Unpaid means no payment recorded yet. You can have a completed transaction with unpaid or partial payment status. Record payment when received.

"I can't edit a completed transaction"

Completed transactions are locked to preserve an accurate audit trail. To correct a completed transaction:

• Process a refund for the original transaction (Owner, Admin, or Manager)
• Create a new transaction with the correct details

Pending transactions, in contrast, can be edited at any time by clicking Take Payment on the transaction detail page.

"Payment status is still showing unpaid after I recorded payment"

Check:

• Did the transaction save/complete after adding payment?
• Is the payment amount greater than zero?
• Payment status updates automatically when payments are added

"Can't find a transaction I know exists"

Check:

• Date range filter (may be too narrow)
• Correct customer selected
• Transaction status filter (might be hiding cancelled/refunded)
• Try searching by transaction number

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Tips and Best Practices

1. Complete transactions promptly - Don't leave transactions in pending status unnecessarily. This affects reporting accuracy.

2. Record payments immediately - When customer pays, record it straight away.

3. Use transaction notes - Add notes for unusual circumstances ("Customer paid next day", "Manager approved discount").

4. Check payment status before closing - Before saying goodbye to customer, verify payment status shows "Paid".

5. Link to appointments when possible - Transactions linked to appointments provide better data for service reports.

6. Understand the difference - Transaction status (draft/pending/completed/refunded/cancelled) is about the sale lifecycle. Payment status (unpaid/partial/paid/overpaid) is about money received. They're independent.

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Related Tutorials

• Tutorial 8.2: Handling Refunds and Cancellations - Reversing transactions
• Tutorial 8.3: Gift Vouchers - Selling and Redeeming
• Tutorial 8.4: Deposits and Pre-Payments
• Tutorial 8.5: Managing Outstanding Balances - Tracking unpaid transactions
• Tutorial 12.5: Colour Formulas - How colour overage lines are staged
• Tutorial 20.8: Overage Billing Explained - The full colour overage lifecycle across draft → completed

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can a transaction have multiple payments?

Yes. Customers can pay with multiple methods (e.g., £50 cash + £30 card). All payments are recorded separately and sum to total paid.

What's the difference between refunded and cancelled?

Refunded: Transaction was completed and counted in revenue, then money was returned. Cancelled: Transaction was voided before completion, never counted in revenue.

Do I need to complete a transaction before recording payment?

No. You can record payments on pending transactions. However, transaction must be completed to appear in revenue reports.

How long are transaction records kept?

Transaction records are kept indefinitely for financial and legal compliance. They cannot be deleted, only refunded or cancelled.

Do pending transactions appear in revenue reports?

No. Only completed transactions count in revenue reports. Pending transactions are work-in-progress.

What happens to a colour overage line when a transaction is completed?

Colour overage lines are rebuilt automatically from the linked colour formula while the transaction is on a draft — if you adjust the formula (e.g. change products or weights), the overage amount updates on the draft. Once the transaction is finalised, both the overage line and the source formula become read-only. To correct an overage after finalisation, process a refund and create a new transaction. See Tutorial 20.8 for the full overage lifecycle.

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Last Updated: April 2026