Split payment: how to ring up split tender sales

A split payment is when a customer pays for one sale using more than one method, such as part in cash and part on a card. At a shop counter or market stall it’s also called split tender, and it comes up more often than you’d think: a gift card that doesn’t quite cover the total, a customer with $20 in their wallet, or two friends who want to share the bill.

This guide covers the common kinds of split payment, how to ring one up, what it means for your cash drawer at the end of the day, and how to handle refunds.

(The phrase has other meanings too, like buy-now-pay-later installment plans or the VAT split payment system some countries use for tax. This article is about splitting one sale across payment methods at the counter.)

Common types of split payment

Part cash, part card

The most common one. A customer buying $47 of goods has $20 in cash and wants to put the rest on a card. You take the $20, then charge $27 to the card.

Gift card plus another payment

A customer has a gift card with $15 left and buys something for $32. The gift card covers $15, and the remaining $17 goes on cash or card. This is one of the main reasons split payments matter: without them, a customer with a small leftover balance either has to spend exactly that amount or can’t use it at all. Our page on gift cards explains how SleepingFire handles a remaining balance.

Two cards

Sometimes a customer wants to split a large purchase across two of their own cards, or use a card and a separate account card for part of it.

Splitting a bill between people

Friends at a food truck or coffee cart often want to pay separately for one order. There are two ways to handle it:

• Split the payment on one sale. One ticket, several payments. Quick, but the receipt shows the whole order.
• Ring up separate sales. Each person’s items go on their own ticket. Cleaner if people want their own receipt or are paying for different things.

For an even split, divide the total and take each share. For an uneven split, it’s usually easier to ring up separate sales than to work out who had what.

How to ring up a split payment

The steps are much the same in most point-of-sale systems:

1. Add all the items and apply any discount first, so the total is final.
2. Ask how they want to split it. “How much on the gift card?” or “How much cash would you like to use?”
3. Take the fixed part first. Apply the gift card balance or the cash amount. These are the known numbers.
4. Charge the remainder to the card. Enter the exact remaining amount on your card reader.
5. Check the balance due is zero before you complete the sale.
6. Give one receipt that shows each payment method and amount.

A few tips that save trouble:

• Do cash before card. If the customer hands over cash and needs change, sort that out first, then charge the exact remainder to the card.
• Use the gift card first. It’s easier to cover the rest with a card than to work out a gift card remainder after a card payment.
• Record each payment in the POS, not just the total. If your card reader is separate from your POS, make sure the card amount you enter in the POS matches what you charged on the reader.
• Don’t split to get around a declined card. If a card is declined, ask for another method; avoid running smaller amounts on the same card.

Split payments and your end-of-day cash count

This is where split payments catch people out. When a $47 sale is paid $20 cash and $27 card, only the $20 goes in the drawer. If your report showed the whole $47 as a cash sale, your drawer would look $27 short.

That’s why it matters that your POS records each payment separately. At the end of the day, you compare cash in the drawer with cash sales, card totals with your card processor’s report, and gift card redemptions with your gift card records.

In this example, you’d expect $32.50 more in the drawer than your starting float, not $91.50. A Z-report that breaks sales down by payment method gives you these totals without adding them up by hand. Our guide on how to balance a cash drawer walks through the full count, and the free cash counter adds up your bills and coins.

Refunds on split payments

Most businesses refund a split payment back to the original methods, in the same amounts. So a $47 sale paid $20 cash and $27 card gets $20 back in cash and $27 back to the same card. This keeps your cash count and card totals accurate and makes it hard for anyone to turn a card purchase into cash.

A few common approaches for trickier cases:

• Partial refunds. If the customer returns one item from a split sale, decide on a rule and stick to it. Many shops refund to the card first, then cash. Others refund the gift card portion first. Write it in your returns policy.
• Gift card portions. Many businesses put the gift card part back on a gift card rather than giving cash.
• The card isn’t available. If the customer no longer has the card, some shops offer store credit or a gift card instead. Check your card processor’s rules, as many expect card refunds to go to the original card.
• Put stock back. If the items are going back on the shelf, return them to your stock count.

Always issue the refund in your POS against the original sale, so your reports and end-of-day totals reflect it. A refund given from the drawer without a record will show up as a shortage.

Training staff on split payments

Split payments are simple once you’ve done a few, but a busy Saturday is a bad time to learn. If anyone else works your counter, walk them through it before they need it:

• Practice a cash-and-card split and a gift-card-and-card split on a quiet morning.
• Agree on the order: discounts first, then gift card, then cash, then card for the remainder.
• Show them where the balance due appears, so they never close a sale with money still owing.
• Explain the refund rule you use for split sales, so they don’t improvise with cash from the drawer.
• Remind them that only the cash part of a split goes in the drawer, which is what the end-of-day count checks.

At a market stall or food truck, where lines move fast, it also helps to ask “Paying all on one card?” up front. If the answer is no, you know to split before you start tapping the reader.

Should you accept split payments?

For most small sellers, yes. It costs nothing extra, and saying no to a customer who wants to use up a gift card balance or pay part in cash risks losing the sale. The only real cost is a few extra seconds at the counter, and if your POS handles it, that’s all it takes.

If you’re thinking about card fees, splitting a sale doesn’t usually change the percentage you pay, but a fixed per-transaction fee would apply to each card payment. The payment fee calculator shows what different fee structures cost you.

Where SleepingFire fits

SleepingFire lets you ring up a sale with cash, card, gift card, or a split across them. Cards are taken on your own card reader and processor, since SleepingFire isn’t a card processor. Gift card balances can be redeemed with the rest on another payment. Refunds give you the option to return items to stock, and the Z-report breaks totals down by payment method, so you know exactly how much cash should be in the drawer. See how gift cards work, or read about the sales reports.

Frequently asked questions