Add discounts and charges
SKU.io lets you lower an order's price with discounts and raise it with charges — extra fees such as shipping, handling, or packaging. This guide covers discounting a single line, discounting the whole order, and adding charge lines, all from the order's detail page.
- Line discount — a discount that applies to one line item only.
- Order discount — a discount spread across every product line on the order.
- Charge (financial) line — a non-product line that adds a fee to the order, grouped as a customer-facing Revenue Line (for example, shipping revenue) or an internal Cost Line (for example, packaging cost).
- Proration — how a charge is distributed across the product lines (by revenue, cost, weight, quantity, and more).
- Nominal code — the general-ledger account a charge posts to in your accounting.
Before you begin
| Requirement | Why it's needed |
|---|---|
Update sales orders permission (sales_orders.update) | Adding, editing, and removing discounts and charge lines all require it. |
| An editable order | Discounts and charges can be added while the order is a draft or open. A closed, cancelled, or fully paid order is locked against these edits, as is an order another user is editing. See View and edit a sales order. |
| At least one line item (for line and order discounts) | You discount lines you've already added — see Manage order lines. |
The examples below use order SO-DOCS-0001 for customer Blue Bottle Retail, with the products Stainless Water Bottle 750ml, Insulated Tumbler 500ml, and Reusable Straw 4-Pack.
Apply a discount to one line
The fastest way to discount a single line is its Disc % column in the line-items grid.
- Open the sales order — for example, SO-DOCS-0001.
- In the line you want to discount (for example, Stainless Water Bottle 750ml), click the Disc % cell. It reads — when the line has no discount yet.
- Type the percentage — for example, 10 — and press Enter.
What you'll see: SKU.io records a percentage line discount (named Line Discount), shows the reduced unit price with a green discount chip on the line, and updates Subtotal and Discounts in the totals footer at the bottom of the page.
The Disc % cell holds a single percentage discount per line. Entering a new value clears the existing line-level discount and sets one at the new rate, so the rate never stacks on itself. This inline discount is always a percentage applied before tax. To apply a fixed amount to a line, or to layer more than one discount, use an order discount instead.
Discount several lines at once
To discount many lines in one step, use the bulk action above the grid.
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Select the checkboxes on the lines you want to discount. To target every line, leave all checkboxes unchecked.
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Click the Discount button above the grid. It shows the scope in parentheses — the number of selected lines (for example, Discount (3)), or Discount (All 12) when nothing is selected.
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In the Apply Discount to 3 Selected Lines dialog (titled Apply Discount to All Lines when nothing is selected), choose how to apply it:
Mode What it does Replace all Removes every existing line-level discount on the targeted lines and sets a single discount at the rate you enter. Add discount Adds a new discount alongside any existing line-level discounts. Delete all Removes every line-level discount from the targeted lines. -
For Replace all or Add discount, enter the rate. Click Apply (or Delete in delete mode).
Apply a discount to the whole order
An order discount is entered once and spread proportionally across the product lines. Add it from the totals footer.
- In the totals footer at the bottom of the order, find the Discounts section and click Add (or the + / Add Order Discount control).
- In the Add Order Discount dialog, enter a Name — for example, Loyalty discount. The name shows on the order and its documents, so make it meaningful.
- Choose a Type:
- Percentage — a percentage off the order.
- Fixed amount — a flat currency amount off the order.
- Enter the value in Rate (%) (for a percentage, 0–100) or Amount (for a fixed amount).
- Leave Apply before tax checked to discount the pre-tax total, or uncheck it to discount after tax.
- Click Add.
What you'll see: SKU.io spreads the discount across the product lines by their share of the order, lowers the order Total, and lists the discount under Discounts in the footer breakdown.
A percentage order discount is applied to the order subtotal — the sum of the line totals after any line discounts. (An order can be configured to calculate it on the grand total, the subtotal plus tax, instead.) The resulting amount is then allocated across the product lines in proportion to each line's value, with any rounding difference assigned to the largest line.
Edit or remove an order discount
- In the totals footer, click Discounts to open the breakdown.
- Click the pencil icon next to the order discount you want to change. The Edit Order Discount dialog opens.
- Change the name, type, value, or Apply before tax, then click Save — or click Delete to remove the discount entirely.
Add a charge line
Charges are non-product lines you add to the order. They live in two cards on the order's detail page:
- Revenue Lines — customer-facing charges that add to what the customer pays, such as shipping revenue or a handling fee.
- Cost Lines — internal costs recorded against the order, such as packaging or labeling, that don't change the customer's total.
To add one:
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Scroll to the Revenue Lines or Cost Lines card and use its inline add row (the highlighted row at the bottom).
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In Type, search for and pick a charge type — for example, Shipping. To create a type you don't have yet, type its name and choose Create "…".
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Enter a Description (it pre-fills from the type), the Qty, and the Amount.
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Optionally set the other fields:
Field What it does Proration How the charge is distributed across product lines — Revenue Based, Cost Based, Weight Based, Volume Based, Quantity Based, Specific Line, or Manual. Nominal Code The general-ledger account this charge posts to in your accounting. Disc % A discount on the charge line itself. Tax The tax rate applied to the charge. Allocate When checked, spreads the charge across the product lines using the selected Proration method (instead of sitting as its own line). -
Click Add.
What you'll see: the charge appears as a row in the card, and its amount rolls into the order totals — Revenue Lines show in the footer's Revenue Lines breakdown and raise the Total.
To change a charge later, click any editable cell in its row (Qty, Amount, Description, and the dropdown fields open inline). To remove it, click the trash icon on the row and confirm.
A discount and a charge each need a complete value or the save is rejected:
- A percentage discount needs a Rate between 0 and 100.
- A fixed amount discount needs an Amount.
- A charge line needs a Type and an Amount of at least 0.
- A line discount must be attached to a specific line (the Disc % and bulk actions do this for you).
How discounts and charges affect the order
Discounts and charges don't just change the number in the footer — they flow through to the order's financials and accounting:
- Line and order discounts reduce each line's net revenue; charge lines add revenue (Revenue Lines) or cost (Cost Lines).
- These amounts roll into the order's financial lines and its accounting transaction, coded to the nominal codes you set. See How order financials flow to accounting.
- Because they change the order total, they also change the balance due and what appears on the invoice. See Record payments and apply store credit and Generate invoices, packing slips, and accounting.
Next steps
- Manage order lines — add the product and revenue lines you're discounting or charging.
- View and edit a sales order — when and why an order is locked against edits.
- How order financials flow to accounting — where discounts, tax, and charges land in your books.
- Record payments and apply store credit — collect the adjusted balance.
- Sales orders overview — the full order lifecycle.