In general voided transactions are a means of erasing a record of the transaction from the register to negate the need for payment, whilst giving the appearance to a casual observer that a genuine transaction has occurred.
Voids generally fall into 3 types:
- 1. Transaction voids - the whole transaction is carried out normally but voided at the end
- 2. Line voids - where individual items are voided from the transaction but the transaction is completed
- 3. Suspended transactions - like transaction voids, the transaction is undertaken normally but suspended instead of being voided
With all voids, the main question to consider is where is the stock item concerned? Did it get returned to stock or given to the customer?
Depending on the retail sector, line voids can have varying risk factors - Grocery have a high proportion of double scans so last item line voids are relatively common (but just as easy to sell 2 for 1 unlawfully!)
In sectors such as Fashion, the line void of a high value item should cause some concern as the tags will normally have been taken off by this stage of the sale.
Suspended transactions that are not recalled - has the customer forgotten payment and were the goods returned to the shelf or have they gone home with them? Perhaps it's a member of staff paying for lunch - 'I'll pay later' - but they never do. Typically, suspended transactions which are not recalled are deleted automatically by the PoS system at the end of the day concealing all records of its occurrence.