Overview and Troubleshooting of Common Lighthouse Business Manager Reports

Description: This article introduces common Lighthouse Business Manager (LBM) reports and their use cases. You'll learn how to access and interpret key reports, reconcile them with your POS and batch data, and troubleshoot common issues.

Need help understanding, verifying, or fixing your reports? Jump to a section below to find the information you need:

What do you need help with?	Go to this section
🧾 Understanding reports	View common reports and their uses, including sample visuals.
🔁 Reconciling reports	Compare and reconcile LBM reports with your POS and batch reports.
🛠️ Fixing incorrect totals	Troubleshoot issues like mismatched sales, missing refunds, or deposit discrepancies.

Overview

Lighthouse Business Manager (LBM) reports provide a high-level and detailed view of your business transactions. The Financial Overview report is the most commonly used report for monitoring financial activity.

LBM receives data from your Point of Sale (POS). Although POS reporting formats may differ, LBM reporting is pre-defined. Whatever sales are made on SkyTab POS are reflected on LBM reports.

When reviewing reporting, cumulative totals typically appear based on the transactions available within LBM. For example, a listing of transactions filtered by a specific time period can show a column titled Tip Amount, which would be totaled to provide a Tip Summary total visible on the Financial Overview report.

Viewing Transactions

Note: Transactions are visible when you select Transactions from the main menu.

Transaction data can be filtered to answer questions such as:

Was a proper authorization received?
Did the primary amount get entered correctly?
Was the correct tip amount added, or is any adjustment needed?

Within LBM, select one or more of the available filters to determine the quantity of transactions that will appear. The following represents the selections available within Transaction Status.

Important: Once the desired options are checked, select Apply. Use the bottom scroll bar to move to the right to see the remaining columns that begin off-screen.

Available Reports in LBM

Financial Overview Report

It shows key financial activity, like sales, tips, and refunds, over a set time period. A go-to for a quick summary of business performance, the report helps owners and stakeholders stay informed. Business owners, management, investors, and auditors use it to assess financial health, identify trends, and make informed decisions. It includes data on income, expenses, profitability, and liquidity.

Note: Select Show More to expand that specific report section.

For additional examples of calculations on the Financial Overview report, please refer to: Financial Overview Gross vs Net Sales.

Sample: Financial Overview - additional calculations may be available within this report

Activity Summary Report

This report is similar to the Financial Overview report. Once a time period is selected, a summary of Gross and Net Sales is presented (see example below), along with summaries of Taxes, Tips, Surcharges, and Sales Discounts. In addition to Totals, individual employees can also appear with their specific data.

Key Term	Amount	Location	Definition
Gross Sales	$33.00	Gross Sales by Revenue Class Gross Sales by Order Type	Total Sales + Discounts What was sold?
Discounts	$1.35	Sales Discount Summary	A merchant facing discount. For example, a military discount on a transaction is defined within the POS.
Net Sales	$31.65	Net Sales by Revenue Class	Gross Sales - Discounts

Sample: Activity Summary Report based on SkyTab POS for a merchant

Sample: Activity Summary Report showing the discounts applied against Gross Sales

Labor Detail Report

Need insight into employee hours and pay? The Employee Labor Detail report tracks shifts, breaks, pay rates, and hours worked for each employee. It breaks down paid and overtime hours, making it easier to review labor costs and analyze payroll by employee. This helps businesses manage scheduling, monitor labor efficiency, and ensure payroll accuracy.

Sample: Employee Labor Detail Report

Hourly Sales

Want to know when you're busiest? The Hourly Sales report shows sales trends by hour, helping retail, hospitality, and food service businesses identify peak times, optimize staffing, inventory, and promotions, and analyze sales trends more effectively.

Sample: Hourly Sales Report

Important: This report cannot be run for multiple locations. Only the first will be considered if more than one location is selected.

Transactions by Employee

This report tracks sales activity by employee. It helps measure performance, flagging inconsistencies, and keeping tabs on refunds or high-volume users. It helps retail, hospitality, and restaurant businesses monitor performance, identify trends, assess efficiency, and ensure accountability for sales and refunds.

Sample: Transactions by Employee Report

Employee Tip Totals

It shows how much each employee earned in tips during a specific period, based on when the merchant completes their end of day. Especially useful in hospitality and food service, the report supports payroll processing, regulatory compliance, and fair tip distribution. It also helps businesses with tax reporting and adherence to internal policies.

Note: This report is important to prevent a merchant from overpaying if an employee does not clock out.

Report Column	Description
Other Payments	Non cash payments / Credit cards + tips
Paid Tips	Credit card tips
Tip Reduction	If enabled, the option is utilized to charge staff for credit card fees on tips. For more details, visit these articles: SkyTab POS Tip Share Suggestions Reporting Configure Tip Reduction
Declared Tips	Cash tips
Total Tips	Paid tips + Gratuity + Declared tips
Tip %	What % of the total amount represents the tip

Sample - Employee Tip Totals Report

Reconciling LBM Reports with POS/Batch Reports

To view reports in LBM and gather data to ensure their accuracy, complete the following steps:

Generate the LBM Financial Overview Report:
1. Navigate to Reporting > Reports from LBM.
2. Select a location if there are multiple MIDs associated with the account.
3. If comparing with the SkyTab POS, ensure this category is selected from the dropdown list.
  
  Note: Each selection will have different reports associated.
4. Go to Reports > Financial Overview.
5. Select the time period (e.g., Last week, Month to date, etc.) you wish to review.
6. Select a Day Part, if applicable.
7. Select a Revenue Center, if applicable.
8. Select Generate.
Pull Your POS Reports:
1. Locate and run the Daily Sales Report from your POS system.
2. Match key data:
  - Gross Sales
  - Refunds
  - Adjustments.
    Note: Instructions can vary by POS provider. For additional information, please refer to your POS documentation.
Verify Batch Deposits:
1. Locate the Batch Report from the POS.
2. Compare the batch totals to ensure they align with the corresponding data in LBM.
  Note: From the dashboard (1), after determining the proper layout (2), select the gear icon (3) on the Deposits widget for any additional settings.
Identify Discrepancies:
If totals do not match, check for the following potential issues:
- Missing or unprocessed transactions in LBM.
- Partial refunds or adjustments not recorded correctly.
- Delayed batch settlements due to banking processes.
- Additional transactions included on previous dates.

Internal:
Important: When evaluating, ensure you are asking common probing questions.

Common Issues and Troubleshooting

Internal:
For each of the following scenarios, logs may need to be uploaded along with additional information, including screen captures and timestamps.

Ensure the correct filters and location are selected when evaluating reports.

To view Location data from LBM:

Select Location.
Choose one of the submenu items appearing at the top of the screen.

Menu Option	Purpose
Overview	Reports available include: Monthly Statement, Notices, Tax Documents, and Past 7 days of Batches.
Business Settings	Check Start of day, End of Day, Credit Card, and Reporting timeframe
Day Parts	Determine the starting and ending dayparts for each day of the week, along with a day part category identifier. Additional time blocks can be added here.
Revenue Centers	Determine how many devices are assigned to each revenue center
Advantage Program	Select the Customer Facing rate settings and percentage among: Dual Pricing Supplemental Fee Cash Discount

Common Issues

Important: Ensure the correct MID and timeframe are defined before generating the report to ensure you are retrieving the correct information.

Issue: Sales Do Not Match Between LBM and POS Reports

Internal:

For additional information on internal troubleshooting, please visit the Sync Troubleshooting article.

Ensure the correct report settings (e.g., date range, date part, revenue center)
Verify that the business day(s) to gather data are defined correctly (e.g., the setting does not cover multiple days; the entire business day is covered; ensure the default time is correct).
Since LBM reporting comes from the POS, check if there are any offline transactions.

Issue: Refunds Appear Incorrect on LBM Reports

Internal:

Check Titan as another option to locate transactions, deposits, and batches for additional information.

Ensure the correct report settings (e.g., date range, date part, revenue center, business default time)
Determine the scope of the refund concern:
- Is the refund not present in LBM?
- Is the refund present but showing an incorrect amount or date?
- Where applicable, does the refund appear in Lighthouse Transaction Manager (LTM) or the POS?

Issue: Deposits in Batch Report Do Not Match LBM Deposits

Internal:

Does the batch in LTM, Titan, or mReports for the day(s) in question match the batch report?
Verify whether the account has been placed on hold.

Determine if the entire or partial deposit is missing.
Is there an established “house account” (e.g., Bars, membership organizations)? For additional information, please visit the Use House Accounts article.
Check the batch time.
Check if there are any offline transactions.
Check if the Advantage Program (AP) percentage is impacting (AP fees being deposited into a separate account).
Verify within Location > Overview if data is present within Past 7 Days of Batches.

Issue: Transactions not Settled as a Sale (still an authorization)

Note: This may result from a ticket being closed a day later than expected.
Select the Ticket Detail (Closed) Report to check if a specific ticket was completed on the same day.

Example:

(1) Although this ticket was open on 6/9, this transaction would not count toward reporting within Lighthouse Business Manager until 6/14.

(2) One reason a ticket's Discount Total does not equal the Subtotal is that another ticket was created when this original ticket could not be deleted, and later, this ticket was reversed.

Viewing Deposits

To view a breakdown of the amount of deposits for another day, refer to the Estimated Daily Deposit section of the "Activity Summary Report."

Important: Estimated Daily Deposit can only be calculated for a single day. The report timeframe should be adjusted to less than one business day.

Example: (Merchant without Advantage Program) - Goal is to understand why sales are not matching.

Day 1:

Credit / Debit Cards Authorized: $50.00 (Qty: 2)
Deposited On Another Day: $10.00 (Qty: 1 unsettled transaction)
Total Deposit: $40.00 (Qty: 1)
- $50.00 - $10.00 = $40.00

Day 2:

Credit / Debit Cards Authorized: $60.00
(actual sales for Day 2: $50.00 + $10.00 from the previous day)
Deposited On Another Day: $0.00 (all settled)
Total Deposit: $60.00

To summarize:

For amounts deposited on another day, since the report just gives the number of transactions for another day, review the Transaction Report (e.g., when the ticket was opened/closed) to determine why these transactions were not included (e.g., ran after the batch closed or ticket was not closed).