---
title: "Operational - Invoice Audit"
url: "https://help.aurapos.com/en/article/operational-invoice-audit"
language: "en"
last_updated: "2026-10-27T13:37:06.417Z"
---

# Operational - Invoice Audit

Type in any invoice number and see everything AuraPOS knows about that one sale: who rang it up and on which till, every time stamp, how it was paid, the VAT, how long each kitchen screen took, what the food cost you and a copy of the tax invoice. Store managers use it to answer customer queries and check a single sale from start to finish.

Updated Tue 27 Oct 2026

## Running the report

1

Open **Reports** for your store and choose **Invoice audit** under **Operational**.

2

Type the invoice number into **Enter the invoice number**, for example `2-1184`.

3

Run the report. You get the full story of that one sale, from the moment it was rung up to the copy of the tax invoice at the bottom.

**Quicker way in**Many other reports (for example Sales detail, Voids, Discounts and Online orders) show invoice numbers as links. Click one and this report opens for that invoice, with the number already filled in.

## Report options

### Enter the invoice number

The only option. Type the invoice number exactly as it is printed on the slip: the **POS number**, a dash, then the sale number on that POS. So `2-1184` is sale 1184 on POS 2. The report only looks at your own store, so the same number at another store won't get mixed in.

If nothing matches, the report shows **Cannot find this invoice number**. Check the number and try again.

## The report at a glance

Bob's Burgers Times Square

Invoice audit report

Invoice # : 2-1184

This report covers one sale, so there's no date range. Every date and time on it is in your store's local time, in the format `14 October 2026 12:41`.

1.  Invoice and payment details: the left column, with invoice information, time stamps, financial details, payments and tax.
2.  Order, staff and customer details: the right column, with sales channel, staff, cashup, device, customer, online order and void information.
3.  Kitchen display systems: when each kitchen screen started on each item and how long it took, with a timeline graph.
4.  Profitability breakdown: the recipe and cost of every item, then the sales breakdown and gross profit.
5.  Tax invoice (copy): a reprint of the customer's tax invoice, with its payment details.

The example used throughout this guide is a delivery order: a Classic Burger with extra cheese, large chips and a cola, plus a R25.00 delivery charge, paid by card with an R11.00 tip.

## Invoice and payment details

The left column at the top of the report. It tells you which sale this is, when everything happened to it, and how the money adds up.

| Invoice information |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Order number: |  | 412 |
| Transaction type: |  | Delivery |
| Rung up on POS number: 1 |  | 2 |
| Paid into POS number: |  | 2 |
| Time stamps |  |  |
| Created at: 2 | 14 October 2026 12:41 |  |
| Last updated at: | 14 October 2026 13:22 |  |
| Paid at: | 14 October 2026 13:22 |  |
| Invoice printed at: | 14 October 2026 12:41 |  |
| Kitchen printed at: | 14 October 2026 12:41 |  |
| Received by cloud at: | 14 October 2026 13:23 |  |
| Voided at: |  |  |
| Financial details |  |  |
| Gross sales (incl vat): 3 |  | 164.00 |
| − discounts (incl vat): |  | 0.00 |
| \= net sales (incl vat): |  | 164.00 |
| \+ delivery charges (incl vat): |  | 25.00 |
| \= turnover (incl vat): |  | 189.00 |
| Tip: 4 |  | 11.00 |
| Amount tendered: |  | 200.00 |
| Change: |  | 0.00 |
| Amount outstanding: |  | 0.00 |
| Payment details |  |  |
| Type | Tip | Amount tendered |
| Card 5 | 11.00 | 200.00 |
| Total: | 11.00 | 200.00 |
| Unsuccessful payment attempts 6 |  |  |
| Type | Tip | Amount tendered |
| Total: | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Tax details 7 |  |  |
| Description |  | Amount |
| Turnover Excl Taxes |  | 164.35 |
| VAT |  | 24.65 |
| Turnover Incl Taxes |  | 189.00 |

### 1 Invoice information

The **Order number** is the number the customer was given. The **Transaction type** shows how the order was taken (for example sit down, take away or delivery). **Rung up on POS number** and **Paid into POS number** differ when a sale is started on one till and paid on another.

### 2 Time stamps

Every important moment in the life of the sale, in your store's local time: when it was created, last changed, paid, when the slip and the kitchen docket printed, when the cloud received it and, if it was voided, when. A long gap between **Paid at** and **Received by cloud at** usually means the till was offline for a while.

### 3 Financial details

The sale's figures, all including VAT: **Gross sales** before discounts, less **discounts**, equals **net sales**, plus **delivery charges**, equals **turnover** (what the customer had to pay). Below that, the **Tip** and **Amount tendered** come from the payments listed underneath, **Change** is what was handed back (never shown below 0.00) and **Amount outstanding** is anything still owed. **Amount paid** adds up the payments taken at the till, completed card payments and any balance left on an account sale.

### 4 Tips on card payments

When a card payment is for more than the turnover, the extra is counted as a tip. Here the card paid R200.00 on an R189.00 sale, so the tip is R11.00 and nothing is left to give back as change.

### 5 Payment details

One line per way the customer paid, so a split payment shows several lines. **Amount tendered** includes the tip. Orders paid later by a sales channel (for example a delivery aggregator) show as **Account** followed by the sales channel name.

### 6 Unsuccessful payment attempts

Card attempts that didn't go through, such as a declined card. They're listed so you can see what happened at the till, but they are not counted in **Payment details**. On a normal sale this list is empty.

### 7 Tax details

The turnover excluding VAT, one line per tax rate, and the turnover including VAT. The VAT is the amount saved on the invoice itself, after discounts and including the VAT on the delivery charge, so it matches your Tax report.

## Order, staff and customer details

The right column at the top of the report. It answers who, where and through which channel.

| Sales channel details |  |
| --- | --- |
| Sales channel: 1 | Telephone |
| Sales channel reference: |  |
| Staff |  |
| Cashier name: 2 | Sam Jones (Sammy) |
| Driver name: | Alex Brown |
| Voided by: |  |
| Cashup details |  |
| Paid into shift #: | 57 |
| Device information |  |
| Rung up on till name: | Front counter |
| Paid into till name: | Front counter |
| Serial number: | BB-TS-0002 |
| Device type: | POS |
| Customer information |  |
| Customer name: 3 | Jamie Smith |
| Customer number: | 0820000000 |
| Customer slip note: | Ring the buzzer at the gate |
| Customer pvt note: | Regular, prefers no onions |
| Customer building: | Ocean View, unit 12 |
| Customer street: | 45 Main Road |
| Customer suburb: | Sea Point |
| Latitude: | \-33.9180 |
| Longitude: | 18.3880 |
| Address note: | Blue gate |
| Online order details 4 |  |
| Special order delivery charge: |  |
| Special order reference: |  |
| Special order code: |  |
| Error message: |  |
| External reference: |  |
| Voids information 5 |  |
| Void status: | Not voided |
| Void reason: |  |

### 1 Sales channel details

The sales channel the order came in on, and the channel's own reference number when there is one (for example the order number an aggregator gives you).

### 2 Staff, cashup and device

The cashier who rang up the sale and, for deliveries, the driver. The cashier's short name shows in brackets when it differs from their full name. **Paid into shift #** tells you which cashup the money belongs to, and **Device information** shows the till names, serial number and device type.

### 3 Customer information

Filled in when a customer was linked to the sale. The **Customer number** is a link: click it to open the Individual customer report for that customer. The **slip note** prints on the customer's slip; the **pvt** (private) note is for staff only.

### 4 Online order details

Only filled in for online and special orders: the special order delivery charge, reference and code, any error message from the online ordering system and the external reference. If an online order failed, the error message tells you why.

### 5 Voids information

**Void status** is one of **Not voided**, **Voided with wastage**, **Voided without wastage** or **Automatically Voided Online Order**. The **Void reason** is the reason picked at the till, or **Online order failed.** for an online order the system voided itself.

## Kitchen display systems

If your kitchen uses kitchen display screens (KDS), this part shows when each screen started on each item and how long it took. It's the quickest way to answer "why was this order late?". Items that never went to a kitchen screen (like a canned drink) don't appear.

| Inv# 2-1184 1 | Start time (hh:mm:ss) 2 |  |  | Duration (mins) 3 |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Fryer | Grill | Expo | Fryer | Grill | Expo |  |
| 1 x Classic Burger |  | 12:41:32 | 12:48:05 |  | 6.5 | 1.5 |
| 1 x Chips (Large) | 12:41:32 |  | 12:48:05 | 4.0 |  | 1.5 |

### 1 One row per item

Each item that went to a kitchen screen, with its quantity. If the order was sent to the kitchen in more than one round, each round gets its own table, numbered **2-1184**, **2-1184.1** and so on.

### 2 Start time (hh:mm:ss)

The time each screen started on the item. The screens are listed left to right in the order the work flows: preparation screens first, then the screen that marks the order ready (here the **Expo** pass). Up to five screens are shown.

### 3 Duration (mins)

How many minutes the item sat on that screen, to one decimal. In the example the burger took 6.5 minutes on the grill, then 1.5 minutes at the pass, so it was ready about 8 minutes after it was rung up.

### The legend and timeline graph

Below the table, a colour **Legend** names each screen, and a timeline graph draws one bar per item per screen. Each bar starts at the moment the first screen started on that item, so you can see at a glance where the time went and which screen held things up.

**Times showing n/a**If a screen's clock was wrong when the order went through, its times show **n/a** and the report warns you to check the system time on your kitchen screens.

## Profitability breakdown

What every item on the sale cost you to make, using its recipe, and the gross profit the sale made. Each item is costed twice: at the brand's **Model** cost (blue columns) and at your **Store's** own cost (green columns).

| Item / stock item | Base  <br>recipe | Sit down  <br>recipe | Take away  <br>recipe | Model  <br>unit cost | Model  <br>COS | Store's  <br>unit cost | Store's  <br>COS |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1.0 x Classic Burger (101) - R95.00 1 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| ↳ Beef patty (Each) 2 | 1.000 | \- | \- | 18.50 | 18.50 | 19.20 | 19.20 |
| ↳ Burger bun (Each) | 1.000 | \- | \- | 4.20 | 4.20 | 4.20 | 4.20 |
| ↳ Lettuce (Kg) | 0.020 | \- | \- | 100.00 | 2.00 | 108.93 | 2.18 |
| ↳ Burger box (Each) | \- | \- | 1.000 | 3.10 | 3.10 | 3.25 | 3.25 |
| Extra cheese (905) - R12.00 3 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| ↳ Cheese slice (Each) | 1.000 | \- | \- | 2.40 | 2.40 | 2.55 | 2.55 |
| Cost of sales (excl) 4 |  |  |  |  | 30.20 |  | 31.38 |
| Net sales (excl) |  |  |  |  | 93.04 |  | 93.04 |
| Food cost % |  |  |  |  | 32.5% |  | 33.7% |
| Gross profit % |  |  |  |  | 67.5% |  | 66.3% |
| 1.0 x Chips (Large) (210) - R35.00 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| ↳ Chips (Kg) | 0.250 | \- | \- | 38.00 | 9.50 | 36.00 | 9.00 |
| ↳ Chip packet (Each) | \- | \- | 1.000 | 0.85 | 0.85 | 0.90 | 0.90 |
| Cost of sales (excl) |  |  |  |  | 10.35 |  | 9.90 |
| Net sales (excl) |  |  |  |  | 30.43 |  | 30.43 |
| Food cost % |  |  |  |  | 34.0% |  | 32.5% |
| Gross profit % |  |  |  |  | 66.0% |  | 67.5% |
| 1.0 x Cola 330ml (301) - R22.00 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| ↳ Cola can 330ml (Each) | 1.000 | \- | \- | 9.80 | 9.80 | 10.20 | 10.20 |
| Cost of sales (excl) |  |  |  |  | 9.80 |  | 10.20 |
| Net sales (excl) |  |  |  |  | 19.13 |  | 19.13 |
| Food cost % |  |  |  |  | 51.2% |  | 53.3% |
| Gross profit % |  |  |  |  | 48.8% |  | 46.7% |

### 1 The item line

Quantity, item name, PLU in brackets and the price including VAT. A small icon next to it shows whether the item was **Take away** (a shopping basket) or **Sit down** (a knife and fork), because some items use different packaging for each.

### 2 The recipe

Each stock item in the recipe, already multiplied by the quantity sold:

Base recipe

Used whether the item is eaten in or taken away.

Sit down recipe / Take away recipe

Extra stock used only for a sit down or only for a take away sale, for example a burger box. A **\-** means none.

Model unit cost / Model COS

The brand's cost per unit of the stock item, and that cost times the recipe quantity.

Store's unit cost / Store's COS

The same, at your store's own cost for the stock item.

Grey digits are only there to line the decimals up. An item with no recipe shows **No recipe** and a cost of **\-**.

### 3 Options and extras

Options chosen on an item (like extra cheese) are listed under it, indented, with their own price and recipe.

### 4 Item totals

After each item and its options: the total **Cost of sales (excl)**, the **Net sales (excl)** for the item, the **Food cost %** (cost of sales as a percentage of sales) and the **Gross profit %** (what's left). Here the burger with extra cheese sold for 93.04 excl VAT (82.61 + 10.43) and cost 30.20 at model cost, a 32.5% food cost.

### Sales breakdown and profitability

Under the last item, two panels sum up the whole sale.

| Sales breakdown 5 | Excl | Incl |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Gross sales | 142.60 | 164.00 |
| − Discounts | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| \= Net sales | 142.60 | 164.00 |
| \+ Delivery charges | 21.75 | 25.00 |
| \= Turnover | 164.35 | 189.00 |

| 6 | Model profitability | Store's profitability |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Net sales (excl) | 142.60 | 142.60 |
| − Cost of sales (excl) | 50.35 | 51.48 |
| \= Gross profit | 92.25 | 91.12 |
| Gross sales FC % | 35.3% | 36.1% |
| Net sales FC % | 35.3% | 36.1% |
| Net sales GP % | 64.7% | 63.9% |

### 5 Sales breakdown

How the sale builds up, excluding and including VAT: gross sales, less discounts, equals net sales, plus delivery charges, equals turnover. These figures match the **Financial details** and the bottom of the **Tax invoice (copy)**.

### 6 Model and store's profitability

The sales less the total cost of sales gives the **Gross profit** in rands. The three percentages each have an **i** icon you can hover over for a reminder:

Gross sales FC %

Food cost as a percentage of sales before discounts. Discounts don't change it.

Net sales FC %

Food cost as a percentage of sales after discounts.

Net sales GP %

Gross profit as a percentage of sales after discounts.

**Recipes are as they were, prices are as they are now**The report uses the recipe that was in use when the sale was rung up, but today's stock item costs. If your costs have changed since the sale, the cost of sales will differ from what it was on the day.

**Voided and failed online orders**A note under the panels explains what the figures mean when the invoice was voided with wastage (there is still a cost, but no sale), voided without wastage (no sale and no cost) or was a failed online order (the figures are hypothetical).

## Tax invoice (copy)

A reprint of the tax invoice the customer received, with your store's details, the customer's details, every item and how it was paid. Use it when a customer asks for a copy of their slip.

| Tax invoice (copy) |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Bob's Burgers**  <br>Times Square  <br>Bob's Burgers (Pty) Ltd  <br>Phone 021 000 0000 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| VAT number: |  | 4000000000 |  | Customer details: 1 | Jamie Smith |  |
| Reprint date and time: |  | 20 October 2026 09:20 |  |  | 0820000000 |  |
| Invoice date and time: |  | 14 October 2026 12:41 |  |  | Ocean View, unit 12 |  |
| Invoice number: |  | 2-1184 |  |  | 45 Main Road |  |
| Order number: |  | 412 |  |  | Sea Point |  |
| Transaction type: |  | Delivery |  |  | Blue gate |  |
|  |  |  |  | Customer note: | Ring the buzzer at the gate |  |
| Qty | PLU | Category name | Product name | Sit down /  <br>Take away | Price  <br>excluding  <br>VAT | Price  <br>including  <br>VAT |
| 1.0 | 101 | Burgers | Classic Burger 2 | Take Away | 82.61 | 95.00 |
| 1.0 | 905 | Extras | Extra cheese | Take Away | 10.43 | 12.00 |
| 1.0 | 210 | Sides | Chips (Large) | Take Away | 30.43 | 35.00 |
| 1.0 | 301 | Drinks | Cola 330ml | Take Away | 19.13 | 22.00 |
| Net sales total: 3 |  |  |  |  | 142.60 | 164.00 |
| \+ delivery charges: |  |  |  |  | 21.75 | 25.00 |
| Turnover: |  |  |  |  | 164.35 | 189.00 |
| Payment details 4 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Type |  |  |  |  | Tip | Tendered |
| Card |  |  |  |  | 11.00 | 200.00 |
| Total: |  |  |  |  | 11.00 | 200.00 |

### 1 Store and customer details

Your brand, store, company name, phone number and VAT number, the reprint date and time (when you ran the report) and the original invoice date and time. The customer's name, number, address and notes show when a customer was linked to the sale.

### 2 The items

Every item with its quantity, PLU, category, whether it was sit down or take away, and its price excluding and including VAT. Options are indented under the item they belong to. Discounts show as their own line starting with **DISC:**, with a negative price. An item removed from the order after it was rung up shows **(Voided)** after its name.

### 3 Net sales total, delivery charges and turnover

**Net sales total** is the sum of the lines above (after any discount lines). Add the **delivery charges** to get the **Turnover**, which is what the customer paid. Each line shows excluding and including VAT, and these figures match the **Sales breakdown** in the profitability section.

### 4 Payment details

The same payments as in the left column at the top, with the tip and the amount tendered (including the tip) for each.

**Voided invoices**When the sale was voided, a red **VOIDED** stamp is printed across the top of the tax invoice copy, so a reprint can't be mistaken for a valid invoice.

## Watch the video

A walkthrough of the Invoice audit report: finding an invoice, reading each section and following a sale from the till to the kitchen to the tax invoice.

[Operational - Invoice Audit walkthrough](https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/pHPGKNO6xeU?rel=0)

Can't see the video? [Watch it on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHPGKNO6xeU).

## Frequently asked questions

Why does the report say "Cannot find this invoice number"?

No sale at your store has that number. Check you typed the POS number, a dash and the sale number (for example `2-1184`, not `1184`), and that you're running the report for the right store. A sale rung up on a till that is offline only reaches the cloud once the till reconnects, so a very recent sale may not be there yet.

Why doesn't the VAT match a calculation on the invoice total?

Each item's price excluding VAT is rounded to the cent on its own line, and the VAT in **Tax details** is the amount saved on the invoice itself. Small differences of a cent or two are normal. The delivery charge excluding VAT is worked out as the invoice's total excluding VAT less the items, so the lines always add up to the turnover.

Why are the store's costs different from the model costs?

The **Model** columns use the brand's cost for each stock item and the **Store's** columns use your own store's cost. They differ when your store buys at a different price. Both use today's costs, not the costs on the day of the sale.

The recipe shown isn't our current recipe. Why?

On purpose. The report uses the recipe that was approved and in use when the sale was rung up, so you see exactly what the kitchen was supposed to use for that sale. A recipe change made afterwards doesn't rewrite history.

Why does an item say "No recipe"?

The menu item has no recipe linked to it, so the report can't cost it. Its cost shows as **\-** and the food cost for the sale is understated. Ask your brand's head office to add the recipe.

How is the tip worked out on a card payment?

When a card payment is for more than the turnover, the extra is the tip. A R200.00 card payment on an R189.00 sale counts as R189.00 for the sale and R11.00 tip.

A payment appears under "Unsuccessful payment attempts". Did the customer pay twice?

No. That list shows card attempts that didn't complete, such as a declined or cancelled transaction. Only the payments under **Payment details** count towards the sale.

Why is the Kitchen display systems section empty, or showing n/a?

It's empty when none of the items went to a kitchen screen, for example if your store doesn't use kitchen screens or the order was only drinks. Times show **n/a** when a kitchen screen's clock was wrong at the time of the sale; check the system time on your kitchen screens.

Why does an item in the recipe list appear only once when it was sold twice?

Each menu item line on the sale gets its own recipe block, and the quantity is shown on the first line of that block. If the same item was rung up on separate lines you see a block for each, so the costs always add up to the sale.

An aggregator order shows "Account" as the payment type. Is that right?

Yes. Orders that the sales channel pays you for later (for example a delivery app) are shown as **Account** followed by the sales channel name, because the money is collected on account rather than at the till.

## Glossary

Amount outstanding

Money still owed on the sale.

Amount tendered

What the customer paid, including any tip.

Base recipe

The stock items an item uses whether it is eaten in or taken away.

Cost of sales (COS)

What the stock used to make an item cost, excluding VAT. Also called food cost.

Delivery charges

The delivery fee added to the sale.

Food cost % (FC %)

Cost of sales as a percentage of sales.

Gross profit (GP)

Sales excluding VAT less cost of sales.

Gross sales

Sales before discounts, not counting delivery charges.

Invoice number

The POS number, a dash and the sale number on that POS, for example 2-1184.

KDS

Kitchen display system: a screen in the kitchen that shows orders instead of a printed docket.

Model cost

The brand's cost for a stock item.

Net sales

Gross sales less discounts.

Sales channel

Where the order came from, for example in store, telephone or a delivery app.

Sit down recipe

Extra stock used only when the item is eaten in.

Store's cost

Your store's own cost for a stock item.

Take away recipe

Extra stock used only when the item is taken away, such as packaging.

Tip

Money the customer paid on top of the turnover, for the staff.

Turnover

Net sales plus delivery charges: what the customer had to pay.

Unsuccessful payment attempts

Card payments that didn't go through. Not counted in the sale.

Void

A cancelled sale. Voided with wastage means the food was made and thrown away; without wastage means it was never made.