Create a New Credit Note

Learn how to create a new Credit Note in PurchasePlus.

A Credit Note is a document that indicates a return of funds to a Purchaser. It is commonly issued by a Supplier following the cancellation of a Purchase Order, Invoice error, or lost or damaged goods. Credit Notes may be used to refund a transaction either in whole or in part.

Unlike Invoices, Credit Notes cannot be ingested and created automatically by our Paperless Invoicing module currently - they must be created manually. Read on to learn more.

How to create a Credit Note in PurchasePlus

Users with the ‘Manage Invoices and Credit Notes’ Permission can create a new Credit Note from the [Invoices] → [Credit Notes] area in the side navigation bar and then clicking [Create New Credit Note] button:

Create New Credit Note 1

This will prompt the user to provide some details about the Credit Note, such as a Reference, Account Code and so on:

Credit Note creation screenYou must also provide a Total (excluding Tax) and a Total Tax value on this initial creation screen (above), but you can update these details later.

Adding Lines to a Credit Note

Once the Credit Note is created, you will find that it will initially contain zero Lines. Click [Add Credit Note Line] to add one or more Lines to your Credit Note:

Add Credit Note Line buttonWhen creating a Credit Note Line, you can:

  1. [Search by Name or Brand],
  2. Use [Advanced Product Search], or
  3. [Create a New Product] if needed:

Create Credit Note Line

Once you have found (or created) the correct Product, you must specify the Quantity, Tax % and Unit Value to be added to the Credit Note Line:

Create Credit Note Line 2Click [Add Item] to add the Line to the Credit Note. You can repeat this action as many times as necessary, and each Line will be added to the Credit Note.

Adding Sub-Lines to a Credit Note Line

Any Credit Note Line can have Sub-Lines, which are a way of enriching a Credit Note Line with additional information that accompany that Line’s data in your AP Exports. For example, your Organisation may require each Line on a Credit Note to have a unique Reference, or a Custom Code that makes accounting more accurate for your Finance Team. 

You can also use Sub-Lines to split the Line and attribute the cost to multiple Departments or Account Codes, identify the Line as Credit or Debit, and more.

To View and Manage Sub-Lines, [Advanced View] must be enabled:

Advanced View Credit noteOnce you have Advanced View enabled, click on any Sub-Line Menu to reveal the actions you can take on that Sub-Line:

Sub Line Menu Credit Note

Credit Note Sub-Lines work in the same way as Invoice Sub-Lines. Please view our article Update Invoice Lines Using Advanced Mode for more information.

Balancing Credit Notes and their Lines

To further assist with the creation and validation of Credit Notes, there is an [Out Of Balance] panel in the header section of a Credit Note (including the [Update Values] button, just like an Invoice):

Credit Note Out of Balance Panel 1This panel is helpful in the event that the Total Amount of the Credit Note (specified upon creation of the Credit Note) does not exactly match the sum of the Lines (added after the creation of the Credit Note).

You can click on the arrow in the [Out Of Balance] panel to expand it for more detail (and click it again to hide the extra detail):

Credit Note out of balance panel 2If required, you can click on [Update Values] to adjust and balance the Credit Note: 

Update Values in a Credit Note

Here you can update the values within the Credit Note that are directly editable. The Credit Note Lines appear here to show the calculated sum of each Credit Note Line, and these values update when a change is made to a Credit Note Line. 

You can update the Delivery Fee fields, the Adjustment fields, and you can also update the Credit Note totals (or use the calculate option to pre-fill these values automatically).

Depending on the settings applied to your Organisation, a Flagged Credit Note may be approvable even when the Credit Note totals do not balance with the sum of the Credit Note parts.