Purchase Returns & Supplier Credits

1. PURCHASE RETURNS — SENDING GOODS BACK

1. Open the relevant Bill or Receipt.
2. Select which line items and quantities are going back to the supplier — only physical (Inventory or Non-Inventory) lines are eligible. A Service line like installation or labor has already been performed and isn't something you can hand back, so it never appears here (use a Supplier Credit instead if you're disputing a service charge).
3. A Quick Purchase Return option handles the fast case, without pulling up the full original document first.
4. Save, and the return is recorded — reflected in your inventory (the returned stock leaves your available count) and in what you owe that supplier.

2. SUPPLIER CREDITS — Not Every Credit Involves a Return

Sometimes a supplier owes you money without any goods physically moving — a pricing correction, a volume rebate, a billing error fixed after the fact. A Supplier Credit records exactly that: an amount owed back to you, tracked the same way a Bill is (just running in the opposite, credit direction), so it correctly reduces what you owe that supplier and shows up in their balance and statement like any other financial fact, not an informal side note you have to remember on your own.

3. SUPPLIER REFUNDS — The Actual Money

A Supplier Refund is the separate, explicit record of money actually received back from a supplier — kept distinct from the return or the credit, because a return or credit doesn't always turn into cash in hand (it might just reduce a future bill instead). That distinction keeps your records honest about what actually happened, versus what you're simply owed.

graph LR
  A["Goods Sent Back"] --> B["Purchase Return"]
  C["Price Correction / Rebate"] --> D["Supplier Credit"]
  B --> D
  D --> E{"Cash Received?"}
  E -->|"Yes"| F["Supplier Refund"]
  E -->|"No"| G["Reduces Future Bill"]

4. HOW IT CONNECTS TO THE REST OF THE SYSTEM

• Inventory — returned stock is removed from your available count through the same central inventory ledger used everywhere else.
• Bills — supplier credits reduce a supplier's outstanding balance exactly like a bill payment would, keeping Payables accurate.
• Accounting — returns, credits, and refunds each post their own correct entries to the general ledger.
• Supplier record — a supplier's full return, credit, and refund history is visible on their profile alongside their orders and bills.

5. WHY IT SCALES FROM SMB TO ENTERPRISE

Quick Reference

  Purchase Returns list .................... Purchase > Returns
  Quick return ............................. Purchase > Returns > Quick Return
  Supplier Credits ......................... Purchase > Credit Notes
  Supplier Refunds ......................... Purchase > Returns > Supplier
                                             Refunds