Customer and Vendor Returns
When customers return goods that have been recorded on an invoice, but have not been paid for, you can cancel the sales invoice, just make sure to indicate that the invoice represents a return (in the invoice field, add the word return to the number). When a customer returns an item that they have already paid for, you can either offer them a credit on future purchases or refund their money.
Sales or purchase returns involve issuing or receiving a credit note, or granting a full refund.
Credit Notes
Credit notes are used to record a reduction on an invoice or bill as a result of a customer return or cancelled order. They resemble invoices, but have negative values. If you want to issue a credit note for future purchases as opposed to refunding the customer's money, you can cancel the original invoice and return the goods to inventory. Then you can enter a deposit for the customer for the amount of the original invoice.
Refunds
If you are returning money a customer has paid you, you are issuing them a refund. There are a few situations where you must issue a refund in Sage 50 Accounting:
- you used the one-time customer account to invoice the customer
- your customer paid the original invoice by cheque
- you have already received a payment for the invoice
| If a customer is: | Then, you should: |
|---|---|
| Returning goods or services they have paid in full. |
Void the sales invoice, and Sage 50 Accounting will automatically issue a credit note on their record and adjust the inventory numbers. Create a sales credit note |
| Returning goods or services they have not paid for. | Void the sales invoice, and Sage 50 Accounting will automatically adjust the inventory numbers. |
| If you are: | Then, you should: |
|---|---|
| Returning paid goods or services to a vendor. |
Void the purchase invoice, and Sage 50 Accounting will automatically issue a credit note on behalf of the vendor. Create a purchase credit note |
| Returning unpaid goods or services to a vendor. | Void the purchase invoice. |