Comps, voids and discounts, with their why

The night

The night closes on one line that says comps, and a total. No table. No dish. No reason. The manager who approved them went home an hour ago.

Earlier, table 20 waited too long, and a manager took something off the check with a tray in one hand. By morning nobody can say how much, or why.

What it costs, in published figures

Nobody publishes what a restaurant loses to comps, voids and discounts that were never explained. No source exists, so there is no figure in any form. Not "about". Not a percent.

What is published is the rent on the register that holds those records today:

• $49 or $149 a location a month on one register maker's plans. A year: $588 or $1,788.
• "Starting at $69 a month" on another, which is $828 a year at that price, with no price published for its add-ons.

Neither figure says what a comp with no reason costs. That number is on nobody's page, and it is not on ours.

What we build for it

It is in the part named The Floor, the Kitchen and Expo, which is quoted in writing.

• The why. A void or a comp is one tap on the check, and it does not finish without the why. The reasons are buttons on a short list the owner edits.
• A manager's yes. Anything the kitchen has started, and anything given away, waits for a manager's yes. Two names go on the record: who asked, and who approved. The owner may switch that rule off.
• Two prices for one comp. A comp is shown at menu price, and at what it cost to make.
• Named discounts. A discount the owner names is one tap, for the people the owner allows. The name is the why.
• On a manager's word. A signed-in manager says it: "Take 18 percent off table 20. Long wait." It is done, with the reason, the amount, the time and the manager's name. Said without a reason, Lia asks for one, and nothing changes until it is given.
• One report. Every discount, comp and void, each with who, when, how much and why. Added up by reason, by person and by hour, beside the last four weeks.
• Seen as it happens. The row is on the owner's Today screen the moment the dish comes off the check, wherever the owner is.

Runs today, or built for you

• Built for you: the comp and the void on a check, the manager's yes, the report, and the discount said out loud.
• Runs today, the rule under it: at our co-founder's store, a stock loss is refused unless it carries a reason from a fixed list, and a report adds up loss by reason, in dollars. That is stock in a shop, not a check in a dining room.
• On the walkthrough now: the 9:05 PM screen is the discount on a manager's word. One tap deeper are the comp and the report. Every figure on those screens belongs to the example restaurant. None is a result.

Where each figure was read

Each on the maker's own page, on October 8, 2026. A published price changes without notice.

• $49 and $149 a location a month: Square, restaurants pricing, squareup.com/us/en/point-of-sale/restaurants/pricing.
• "Starting at $69/month", with no price published for any add-on: Toast, pos.toasttab.com/pricing.