Quantity, unit price and line total: do not multiply the receipt twice
By Erik Nilsen · Kroni2 min read
A receipt line can show item quantity, the price of one and the completed total for all. Your child needs to know which figure requires multiplication and which already includes it. Read column headings before adding.
Three items can occupy one line
In a hypothetical example, one line shows three optional pens, a unit price of 9 and a line total of 27 units. Another shows one notebook costing 12. The arbitrary amounts are invented, without discounts or extras.
The pens cost 3 × 9 = 27 units. The notebook costs 1 × 12 = 12. The complete payment is 27 + 12 = 39. Your child receives four items altogether: three pens and one book.
Calculating 3 × 27 + 12 instead produces 93. That uses the pen quantity twice because 27 already covers all three. The difference from the correct payment is 93 − 39 = 54 units.
Check the same purchase in another format
A practical snag is an order confirmation showing three separate pen lines at 9, while the receipt groups them into one line at 27. Both may describe the same purchase. Do not interpret them as three pens plus three more.
Write the check 9 + 9 + 9 = 27 beside the grouped line. Then compare quantity with the items actually received. If your child received only two, investigate what was ordered and paid for rather than changing quantity without checking.
For the money record, the final payment of 39 is one expense in this example. The item list can contain four units, but units are not additional payments.
Ask your family: “Is this the price of one item or the total for the whole quantity on the line?”
Carry the calculation into your family agreement
Kroni can keep track of your child's virtual balance. The app does not transfer money, so any actual purchase is paid for outside it. Agree on what you will record, then check the amount with your child afterwards. Do not deduct a possible cost as though the purchase had already happened. Read about allowance in Kroni.
