Cannabis retail reports: reconcile sales, tenders and margin

Start with a matching scope

A busy Saturday can produce several correct totals that answer different questions. Sales describe what the store sold. Tenders describe how transactions were paid or refunded. A drawer count describes physical cash. Comparing them without their context can turn an ordinary difference into an unnecessary investigation.

Before opening another report, write down the selected locations, dates, time basis and currency. A late sale can belong to a different day when viewed in another time zone. Use the same scope for your comparison and export. Keep currencies separate: a Canadian-dollar total and a US-dollar total are not one combined money figure. PURP separates mixed-currency reporting rather than treating different denominations as interchangeable.

Read gross, discounts, refunds and net separately

For a simple merchandise sale, gross sales are the value before discounts, while net sales reflect discounts and returns. Tax belongs in its own measure. Fees and deposits can introduce additional differences, so inspect those separately where they apply.

Consider this fictional Canadian-dollar example, with no fees or deposits. A basket has C$100 of merchandise, a C$10 discount and C$4.50 of recorded tax. Net merchandise sales are C$90; the customer pays C$94.50, split between C$40 cash and C$54.50 card. The tax amount is an illustration, not a rate recommendation.

The next day, an approved return reverses C$18 of merchandise and C$0.90 of tax to the card. Across both days, net merchandise sales are C$72, tax is C$3.60 and net tenders are C$75.60. Cash remains C$40; card collection less the refund is C$35.60. The return is not a second sale. On a report covering only the return day, those reversals appear without the original sale, which is why the date range matters.

Separate collection from drawer reconciliation

In that example, expecting C$90 or C$94.50 in the drawer would be wrong: only C$40 was paid in cash. Start the cash reconciliation with the opening float, add recorded cash takings and cash-ins, and subtract cash refunds and cash-outs. Include the applicable cash-rounding adjustments. Then compare the expected amount with the actual count.

Card tenders also answer a different question from a bank deposit. Settlement timing, provider fees or adjustments may require separate evidence from your payment provider. Use PURP transaction detail to explain the store activity, then reconcile the provider statement on its own terms. Do not quietly edit sales to force an unrelated settlement total to match.

Use margin with a cost check

PURP reporting can group sales by product and category and show cost, gross profit and gross margin to authorized staff. Gross profit is net sales less recorded cost of goods sold. It excludes operating expenses such as wages and rent, so it is not the store’s net profit.

Missing cost values count as zero in the current calculation. That can overstate profitability. A C$90 net sale with C$50 of actual product cost has C$40 of gross profit; if only C$30 of cost is recorded, the report shows C$60. Before judging a category or promotion, review its cost records, returns and discounts. A polished chart cannot make incomplete costs accurate.

Build a daily and weekly review

• Daily: confirm scope, compare sales and tenders, reconcile cash and investigate unusual refunds or discounts.
• For a mismatch: open the underlying transactions, check the original sale and later return, and retain an export with the same filters.
• Weekly: compare products and categories, verify cost inputs and review promotion results alongside margin.
• For staff access: decide separately who may view reports, export data and see cost or profitability.

Assign an owner to each unresolved difference and record its explanation before the next review. Explore PURP reporting and use the staff permissions checklist when deciding who handles sensitive figures.