A vendor credit records money a vendor owes you: goods you send back, an overcharge they agree to, a rebate. It lowers what you owe them. The credit then waits on the vendor's account until you set it against one of their bills in Pay Bills, or until they refund it to you.
There are two ways to record one:
- Enter Vendor Credits (this article): a credit on its own — pick the vendor, add the items going back or the amounts on the Expenses tab, and name the bills they came on.
- Return on a bill in the Bills list: goods going back against one particular bill, line by line, with a reason for each.
Both appear in the Vendor Credits list.
Opening Enter Vendor Credits
- Vendors ▸ Enter Vendor Credits.
- On the Home Page, Vendor Credits in the Vendors panel.
- On a new bill in Enter Bills, choose Credit at the top.
- In the Vendor Credits list, New Return.
From the menu or the Home Page the form opens over the Home Page, and Esc takes you back to the Home Page. New Return opens it on top of the Vendor Credits list, and Esc goes back to the list.
The form is headed Credit — goods going back to a supplier, or money they owe you.
Enter a credit, step by step
- In Supplier, type the vendor's name and pick them.
- Check the Date, and type a Ref. No. or leave it Automatic.
- If you have more than one location, choose where the Goods leave from.
- For goods going back, stay on the Items tab. Choose Add items from a bill… to pick the bill and tick the items on it (each is added at what it cost on that bill, with the quantity still on the bill), or search for the items. Correct the quantity going back.
- For a rebate, a price adjustment or anything that is not stock, use the Expenses tab: one line per account the credit comes out of.
- In Against bill(s) — the supplier's invoice numbers, type the vendor's invoice numbers, or use the list icon (Pick from this supplier's bills) to tick them. Add items from a bill… fills this in for you.
- Type a Memo if you want.
- Under WHEN SAVED, choose Keep it as a credit on the supplier's account (it is offered in Pay Bills to set against their next bill) or The supplier refunded it.
- Choose Save & Close, or Save & New to enter another.
If you chose The supplier refunded it, SeroBooks asks for the refund straight after saving; see Record the vendor's refund.
The fields
| Field | What to enter / what it means |
|---|---|
| Supplier | The vendor the credit is from. Required. Once any of the credit has been used, the vendor cannot be changed. |
| Date | The credit's date. |
| Ref. No. | Your reference, or leave it for an automatic number. |
| Goods leave from | The location the returned goods leave. Shown when you have more than one. |
| Credit amount | The total of both tabs, tax included. Worked out for you. |
| Against bill(s) | The vendor's invoice numbers this credit relates to, separated by commas. For your records and the printed debit note. |
| Memo | A note. |
| Items tab | Goods going back. They leave stock and come off Inventory at the cost on the line. Columns: item, quantity, cost, tax and amount. |
| Expenses tab | Each line comes back out of its account: ACCOUNT, AMOUNT, TAX, EXCL. TAX, MEMO. See Bill lines. |
| WHEN SAVED | Shown on a new credit: keep it as credit, or record the refund now. |
| Vendor's credit note | Attach the vendor's own credit note (available once saved). |
The footer shows the Tax on the credit. On a saved credit that has been partly used, the header shows $… used · $… left.
Buttons on a saved credit
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Delete | Delete this credit? Its items go back into stock, and it comes off the vendor's account and out of the books. |
| Void | Are you sure you want to void this credit? It stays on the vendor's account with its number, at zero, marked VOID, and any goods on it come back into stock. |
| Print / send | The debit note: print, save as PDF, email or WhatsApp it to the vendor. |
| Record refund | Shown while some of the credit is unused. See below. |
| Save & New, Save & Close | Save changes. A credit cannot be made smaller than what has already been applied to bills or refunded. |
Record the vendor's refund
When the vendor pays the credit back rather than leaving it on account, Record refund opens Refund from and the vendor's name:
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Amount refunded | What came back. It cannot be more than the credit still unused (Only $… can be refunded here.). |
| RECEIVED AS | How it came: cash, cheque, e-transfer, card and so on. |
| Deposit To | The account the money went into. |
| Note (cheque no., reference…) | The cheque number or reference. |
Choose Record refund. The refund debits the bank account and credits Accounts Payable, closing the credit by as much as came back.
The Vendor Credits list
Vendors ▸ Vendor Credits lists every credit and return. The list is headed Purchase Returns, with the count and the total credit.
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Ref | The credit's number. |
| Date | Its date. |
| Supplier | The vendor. |
| Against bill | The bill a return was made against, or the invoice numbers a credit names. Double-click it to open that bill. |
| Credit | The credit's total. |
| Open | Opens it. A credit entered on this form opens back in the form to change; a return made against a bill opens as its Debit note. |
Buttons above the list: Refresh, Go to Purchase Invoices (the Bills list) and New Return.
The Debit note page shows the items returned with their reasons and the CREDIT FROM SUPPLIER, and has Print, Save PDF, Email, WhatsApp, Record refund — $… unused and Delete debit note….
What happens in the books
| Account | Debit or credit |
|---|---|
| Accounts Payable | Debited with the credit's total: you owe the vendor less. |
| Inventory Asset | Credited with the cost of goods going back. |
| Each Expenses-tab account | Credited with the line's amount. |
| GST/HST input tax credits | Credited: the tax you claimed on those goods is given back. |
Setting the credit against a bill in Pay Bills moves no money. A refund from the vendor debits the bank and credits Accounts Payable.
Permissions
Opening the form needs access to Vendor Credits. Delete Debit Note is needed to delete a credit or a debit note. See Roles and permissions explained.
Messages you may see
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Choose the vendor the credit is from. | Pick the vendor. |
| Add the items going back, or an Expenses line the credit comes out of. | The credit has no lines. |
| Every Expenses line needs an account. | Choose an account on each Expenses line. |
| Every item needs a quantity going back. | Type a quantity above zero. |
| The credit has to be more than zero. | Check the lines. |
| $… of this credit has already been applied to bills or refunded, so it cannot be made smaller… | Leave it at least that size. |
Common problems
The credit does not show in Pay Bills. Credits are listed under VENDOR CREDITS for the vendor they belong to; check the credit was entered for the same vendor as the bill. When paying a single bill in another currency from the bill itself, credits are not offered.
Goods refused at the door. Those never came into stock, so do not enter a vendor credit for them unless the vendor's bill charged you. See Receive Items.