The following is one way of tracking sales which are made using external discounting services to bring in new customers (such as Groupon). In this example the groupon coupon is a discount to the regular priced diving lesson and is fully paid upfront . So the customer comes for the diving lesson and does not owe any additional money for the lesson. The process can be adjusted to reflect balance due at the time of the lesson as needed by the individual circumstances.

Set up on CAS:

Create a service item called “Diving Lesson” Price is $100

Create a Discount called  “Groupon” for a 40% discount

Create a Coupon called “Groupon diving” for $60

Sales Process:

The customer comes in to redeem their groupon diving lesson coupon. (They paid $60 online with the groupon pricing)

The cashier rings up your SKU for the diving Lesson, for example it’s regularly $100.

The cashier edits the sales item to add the Discount called Groupon. Now the sale which was regularly $100 is now priced at $60. Then the cashier applies a coupon called “Groupon Diving” which reduces the sales price by $60. Cashier rings up the net $0.00 sale, as no money is transacted at the time, but you have the discounted diving lesson paid by coupon.

The reports will reflect the sale as well as the discount and Groupon coupon so you have good tracking and are able to help determine the effectiveness of the groupon campaign.