Discounts

POS systems apply discounts in two ways: directly on individual line items, or as a global reduction on the whole order. The Unified API normalises both into a consistent model that always keeps total_discount coherent with the line totals.

Discount model

Every discount in the API is a DiscountItem object with three fields:

Field	Type	Required	Description
`name`	string	No	Display name of the discount (e.g. `"Staff meal"`, `"10% promo"`)
`total`	decimal	Yes	Tax-inclusive amount of the discount (3-decimal precision, positive value)
`type`	enum	Yes	Semantic type — see below

`type` values

Value	Meaning
`OFFERED`	The item or amount was offered to the customer (comp, staff meal, manager override).
`LOSS`	A markdown that reduces revenue intentionally (happy hour, clearance).
`UNKNOWN`	The source POS does not expose the discount type; Chift cannot determine it.

UNKNOWN is the default when the POS does not provide this information. Do not treat it as an error.

Line-level discounts

Each order line item (OrderLineItem) exposes a discounts list:

{
  "id": "line-001",
  "type": "product",
  "quantity": 1,
  "unit_price": 8.264,
  "total": 10.000,
  "tax_amount": 1.736,
  "tax_rate": 21,
  "discounts": [
    {
      "name": "Happy hour",
      "total": 2.000,
      "type": "LOSS"
    }
  ]
}

The discounts list is informational. The discount amounts are already subtracted from the line total. Do not subtract them again when you compute totals. A line can carry multiple DiscountItem objects when several promotions apply simultaneously.

Order-level discount

The order field total_discount holds the total tax-inclusive discount for the entire order:

order.total_discount = sum(line.discounts[*].total for all lines) + remaining_global_discount

remaining_global_discount is the part of the order-level reduction that the POS did not assign to any specific line. It is already subtracted from order.total. When you need to split remaining_global_discount across VAT rates for accounting, see Amounts, roundings and totals — Splitting a global discount.

The `general_discount` line type

Some POS systems do not use DiscountItem objects. Instead, they emit a dedicated line item of type general_discount to represent the discount:

{
  "id": "line-002",
  "type": "general_discount",
  "description": "Loyalty discount",
  "quantity": 1,
  "unit_price": -5.000,
  "total": -5.000,
  "tax_amount": -0.868,
  "tax_rate": 21
}

Key points for general_discount lines:

total is negative — it reduces the order total.
discounts is empty on this line type.
order.total_discount reflects the absolute value: 5.000 in the example above.
Treat this line like any other line when summing VAT per rate.

Some orders may combine both patterns: some lines carry DiscountItem objects while another line is of type general_discount. This depends on the source POS software.

Summary

Scenario	Where to look
Which discounts applied to a specific line	`OrderLineItem.discounts`
Total discount on the order	`OrderItem.total_discount`
POS uses a discount line instead of `DiscountItem` objects	`OrderLineItem` where `type = "general_discount"`
Semantic meaning of a discount	`DiscountItem.type` (`OFFERED`, `LOSS`, `UNKNOWN`)
How to split a global discount across VAT rates for accounting	Amounts, roundings and totals

Unified APIs

Accounting

Invoicing

POS

eCommerce

PMS

Payment

Banking

Discounts

Discounts

Discount model

`type` values

Line-level discounts

Order-level discount

The `general_discount` line type

Summary

​Discounts

​Discount model

​type values

​Line-level discounts

​Order-level discount

​The general_discount line type

​Summary

Discounts

Discount model

`type` values

Line-level discounts

Order-level discount

The `general_discount` line type

Summary