Returns log

Two dates, not one, because the gap between them is the whole reporting problem. A return arrives two to four weeks after its order, so a strong month's returns drain the month that follows. Recording both lets you read a return rate at matched maturity instead of comparing a young month against a finished one, and it settles which day a refund belongs to for the statement: the day it was issued.

The reason and condition columns are what make the file worth keeping. A store average tells you returns are 8%; a reason breakdown tells you one product returns at three times that for fit, which is a page fix rather than a policy. And condition decides the write-down: a unit that comes back unworn goes straight out again, while an opened one may only sell at a markdown.

The cost columns exist because a refund is not the damage. Adding the return label and the minutes at the bench to the margin already handed back gives the real figure, which the return cost calculator works out row by row and which is reliably higher than merchants expect.