When a customer places an order with you, that's a transaction. But a transaction only becomes financially meaningful when money changes hands. That's the moment Catlog calls it a sale — and it's the foundation of everything bookkeeping does on the orders side.
From Order to Sale
An order becomes a sale the moment it's paid — whether in full or in part. A customer paying 50% upfront still triggers the sale status, and Catlog begins tracking the financial details from that point.
This matters because your profit calculation starts at the sale, not the order. Until payment is recorded, an order is just a commitment. Once payment happens, it becomes data.
The Financial Breakdown
Every sale on Catlog has a financial breakdown tab that shows you the full picture of that transaction:
Per-item profit — how much you made on each product after cost price is deducted
Revenue and profit summary — the totals across the whole order
Customer fees — any fees charged to the customer (service fees, delivery, VAT, tips)
Deductions — discounts or coupons applied to the order
Sale-level expenses — costs you incurred specifically to fulfill this order
Payment history — every payment made against this sale, including partial payments
Refunds and replacements — any adjustments made after payment
Outstanding customer debt — if the order wasn't fully paid
This isn't just a receipt. It's a profit and loss statement for a single order.
Sale-Level Expenses
Some costs are tied directly to a specific order — the delivery fee you paid to get it there, the packaging materials, the labour involved in a custom item. These are sale-level expenses, and you can record them directly against the order.
When you do, Catlog subtracts them from the revenue on that sale when calculating your net profit. Without recording these, your profit numbers will look better than they actually are.
If you create a delivery order, Catlog automatically generates a delivery expense for you. You can edit it later once you know the actual cost.
Editing Orders
Orders can be edited before payment. You can update items, fees, and deductions freely. Once payment has been recorded, the rules change:
Items can no longer be edited directly. Changes to items must go through Adjustments (refunds or replacements).
Fees and deductions can still be edited, added, or deleted at any time.
You can also add new items to a paid order at any point.
This distinction keeps your financial records clean. Changing an item after it's been paid for needs to be tracked as a deliberate financial event — not a quiet edit.
Partial Payments and Debt
If a customer pays less than the full amount, Catlog automatically creates a customer debt for the outstanding balance. You don't need to remember to track it — it's created in the background and linked to the order.
As the customer makes further payments, you record them against the debt. The payment history on the sale updates automatically, giving you a full view of how the order was settled over time.
VAT and Fee Types
When creating or editing an order, you can add several types of charges:
VAT — enter a percentage and Catlog calculates the amount automatically
Service fees — for handling, processing, or any service charge
Tips — if your business collects gratuity
Delivery fees — passed to the customer
Custom fees — for anything else
Each fee type is tracked separately in the financial breakdown, so you always know where a number is coming from.
Refunds and Full Order Refunds
Sometimes an order needs to be reversed after payment. Catlog supports:
Full order refunds — refunding the entire order amount
Fee refunds — refunding a specific fee standalone
Item-level refunds — handled through Adjustments
For any refund, you can choose whether the amount is drawn from a customer's outstanding debt (reducing what they owe) or from an amount they've already paid (sending money back to them).
Invoice Sync
Every change you make to an order — items, fees, deductions — is automatically reflected on the associated invoice. If you share invoices with customers, they'll always be looking at up-to-date figures.
💡 The more accurately you record sale-level expenses and partial payments, the more your profit figures reflect what's really happening in your business.