Understand Order States in DataNow

Description: Every order in DataNow is assigned an Order State that reflects where it is in its lifecycle — from the moment a guest initiates a purchase through to completion, refund, or failure. Understanding what each state means is essential for accurate reporting, reconciliation, and identifying orders that may require follow-up action.

Order State is available as a filter across most DataNow reports and directly affects which orders are included in your figures. If your numbers look unexpected, the Order State filter is one of the first things to check.

Default Order State Filter

Most DataNow reports default to the following order states:

Completed, Delivered Without Alcohol, Partially Refunded, Refunded

This default is intentional. These four states represent orders where a transaction was successfully processed and payment was captured. Changing this default will affect the figures you see across the report and may include orders that should be excluded from financial reporting.

Note: Before adjusting the Order State filter, review the state definitions below to understand what you are adding to or removing from your results.

Order State Definitions

Completed

What it means: The order has been fulfilled and payment has successfully settled with the processor. This is the standard end state for a successfully processed order.

Financial impact: Included in all standard sales figures — Gross Sales, Net Sales, Amount Settled.

What to expect: The majority of orders will be in this state. This is the primary state used for operational and financial reporting.

Delivered Without Alcohol

What it means: The order was fulfilled but alcohol items were removed at the point of delivery — typically because the guest could not verify their age. Non-alcohol items were delivered and alcohol items were voided.

Financial impact: Included in standard sales figures. The voided alcohol items are excluded from revenue and reflected in void totals.

What to expect: This state appears at venues that serve alcohol with age verification requirements. The order value reflects only the non-alcohol items that were successfully delivered.

Partially Refunded

What it means: One or more items within an order were refunded after the order was completed, but the full order was not refunded.

Financial impact: Included in standard sales figures. The refunded portion is captured in the Refunds metric and deducted from Net Sales.

What to expect: This state appears alongside Refund details in F&B Sales, including the approver name and reason where available.

Refunded

What it means: The full order was successfully refunded after completion. Payment was returned to the guest.

Financial impact: Included in standard sales figures. The full order value is captured in the Refunds metric, deducted from Net Sales, and the settled amount is reversed.

What to expect: Refunded orders appear in refund detail views in F&B Sales. If you are seeing unexpectedly high refund volumes, filter to this state and review by revenue center or approver to identify patterns.

Tabbed

What it means: The order has been created and a payment method has been authorized, but the order has not yet been submitted for settlement. The tab is still open and can be modified.

Financial impact: Authorization has occurred but settlement has not. Not yet reflected in Amount Settled.

What to expect: Tabbed orders are most common in full-service POS environments where guests run a tab throughout a visit. These orders move to Completed or another final state once the tab is closed. Tabbed orders are excluded from the default filter and should not be included in financial reporting until they reach a final state.

Completion Pending

What it means: A full-service or event catering order has been closed on the POS and is in a pre-settlement state. Payment has been authorized but not yet settled. The order can still be reopened on the POS.

Financial impact: Authorization has occurred but settlement has not. Not yet included in Amount Settled.

What to expect: Orders in this state automatically batch for settlement at the configured business end time (typically 3am local time) for the revenue center. If you see a high volume of orders in this state after an event, they are awaiting their scheduled settlement batch. These are visible in Device Monitoring.

Completion Pending vs. Tabbed: Both states represent open orders with an authorized but unsettled payment. The key difference is that Completion Pending orders have been formally closed on the POS and are queued for settlement, while Tabbed orders are still actively open and can be freely modified.

Approved Offline

What it means: The order was placed while the POS device had no network connectivity. The transaction is stored on the card reader and will sync to the payment processor once the device reconnects. Once synced, the order moves to either Completed or Authorization Failed depending on whether the payment is approved or declined.

Financial impact: At-risk revenue. The sale is captured but payment has not been confirmed. Not included in Amount Settled until the order successfully syncs and settles.

What to expect: Approved Offline orders are surfaced in the Unsynced Orders section of Sales Hub, the Approved Offline Summary in Sales Audit, and in Device Monitoring. Monitor this state closely during and after events to identify devices with connectivity issues.

Important: Approved Offline orders represent real financial risk. Best practices to reduce exposure:

• Sync devices on a reliable network connection as soon as possible after the event.
• Do not carry Approved Offline orders across multiple events — sync before the next event begins.
• Waiting too long to sync increases the risk of transactions declining or the batch failing entirely.

Authorization Failed

What it means: The payment processor was unable to authorize the payment. The guest's card was not charged.

What to expect: Authorization Failed orders are visible in the Payments & Settlement tab of F&B Sales. Common causes include cards declined when the offline batch was submitted, expired cards, or delays in syncing that exceeded processor time limits.

Cancelled

What it means: The order was cancelled and voided before it was completed. No payment was taken, or any payment that was initiated was reversed before settlement.

What to expect: Cancelled orders will appear in void detail views. A high volume of cancellations from a specific device or employee may warrant operational review.

Settlement Failed

What it means: The order was completed and payment was authorized, but the settlement attempt with the processor failed. The guest's card was authorized but the funds were not captured. Typically seen with tabbed orders. 

What to expect: Settlement Failed is an uncommon state that typically requires follow-up with your payment processor. Contact venuesupport@shift4.com if you identify orders in this state — they may require a manual settlement attempt or investigation.

Submitted

What it means: The card reader was activated to accept payment for a POS order, but the transaction was interrupted before payment details were captured. Most commonly caused by a device reboot or network disconnection mid-transaction.

What to expect: Submitted orders should be excluded from all reconciliation reporting. They represent incomplete transaction attempts, not real sales. If you see a significant volume of Submitted orders from a specific device, it may indicate a hardware or connectivity issue.

Order State Summary

How the Order State Filter Works

• Default values are set intentionally. The default filter of Completed, Delivered Without Alcohol, Partially Refunded, and Refunded is designed to show only finalized transactions. Removing states is unlikely to be necessary for standard reporting.
• Adding states expands your results. If you add a state such as Approved Offline or Tabbed, those orders and their associated values will be included in your totals. This is useful for operational monitoring but will produce figures that do not represent settled revenue.
• Some report sections override the filter. Certain sections within reports are hardcoded to specific order states regardless of what you select in the filter bar. For example, the Approved Offline Summary in Sales Audit always shows only Approved Offline orders, and the Auth Failed Orders section in F&B Sales always shows only Authorization Failed orders. These sections are not affected by your filter selection.
• The filter does not apply to all reports. Device Monitoring surfaces order states independently of the filter bar. The Settlements report also has its own fixed state logic designed for processor reconciliation.

Frequently Asked Questions

An order shows as Approved Offline but I know the device synced. Why hasn't it updated?

Allow time for the sync to process and the data to update. If the order remains in Approved Offline after an extended period, contact venuesupport@shift4.com.

Should I include Submitted orders in my reconciliation reports?

No. Submitted orders represent interrupted transaction attempts where no payment was captured. They should always be excluded from financial reporting and reconciliation.

What is the difference between Cancelled and Refunded?

A Cancelled order was voided before the order was completed — no payment was ever settled. A Refunded order was fully refunded after the order was completed and payment had already settled. Both result in no net revenue but occur at different points in the order lifecycle.

What should I do if I see Settlement Failed orders?

Contact venuesupport@shift4.com. Settlement failures are uncommon and typically require investigation or a manual settlement attempt. Do not attempt to reprocess these orders without guidance from support.