Vendor Credits
A vendor credit (credit note) records an amount a vendor owes you — for example from returned goods or an overpayment. A credit has its own number, date, line items and total, and a running credit amount remaining that you can apply against the vendor's open bills.
This item appears if the Purchase module is enabled.
How vendor credits are created
There are three ways a credit comes into being:
- Manually from a bill. Open the credit form from a bill and the vendor, bill, currency, line items, discount and tax are pre-filled from that bill's purchase order. You review the items and save.
- Automatically from an overpayment. When you record a vendor payment for more than the bills it covers, the excess is automatically turned into a vendor credit for that vendor.
- Standalone from the Vendor Credits list.
Create-form fields
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Yes | Locked when the credit is created from a bill. |
| Vendor Credit Number | Yes (auto) | Pre-filled with the next number, using your credit prefix. |
| Vendor Credit Date | Yes | Defaults to today. |
| Currency | No | Defaults to company currency; locked when prefilled. |
| Bill | — | The originating bill, when created from one. |
| Line items | Yes | Description, quantity, unit price, tax and amount per row; optional item image. |
| Discount | No | A value plus type (% or fixed Amount). |
| Note | No |
Totals (Sub Total, Discount, Tax, Total) are calculated exactly as on purchase orders and bills. You cannot set a discount larger than the sub total.
Save with Save, Save & Send, or Save & Mark as Sent.
Applying a credit to a bill
Once a credit exists you can spend it against open bills:
- Open the credit and choose Apply To Bill from the Action menu (available while the credit's status is Open).
- The vendor's unpaid bills (Open or Partially Paid) are listed with their amount due. Header cards show the Total and Credit Amount Remaining.
- Enter an Amount to Credit against each bill — capped at the lower of the bill's due and the remaining credit.
- Save.
What happens when you apply a credit:
- A payment record is created against each bill with the gateway shown as Credit Note.
- Each bill becomes Paid or Partially Paid accordingly.
- When the credit's remaining balance reaches zero, the credit's status becomes Closed.
Credit statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Open | Has remaining balance; can be applied to bills. |
| Closed | Fully used up. |
The credit detail page
The credit opens with Overview and History tabs. The Overview shows the vendor, credit number and date, line items, totals, Credit Amount Used and Credit Amount Remaining, the note and terms.
From the Action menu you can Download the credit as a PDF, and — while the credit is Open — Apply To Bill.
Permissions
Access to Vendor Credits is controlled by having the Purchase module enabled (there are no separate view/add/edit permissions for credits).
How it connects
Vendor Credits close the loop on the purchase flow: an overpaid vendor payment becomes a credit, and that credit can then pay down another of the vendor's bills — appearing on the bill as a Credit Note payment.