Copy to credit note


Admin add option “Copy to”’ to Credit Notes, as mostly returned items are damaged so that returned item are dumped into inventory write off.

@Zaheer_Abbas, please do not divert topics with unrelated questions or suggestions. This post had nothing to do with tracking inventory and has been moved to its own topic.

You already can copy sales invoices to credit notes. See Use the Copy to function | Manager.

It looks like you are using a very old version of Manager. Update your software. You are hundreds or even thousands of updates behind.

Sorry i am talking about credit notes option.u should add “clone/copy to” option to credit notes.so that returned items are writeoffs.

Cloning a credit note would make no sense. That would mean you are giving the customer credit twice for the same thing and returning inventory items to stock twice.

An inventory write-off is a totally different transaction and requires designation of an account to debit. Many credit notes do not involve damaged goods. Incorporating a “copy to inventory write-off” feature risks likely misuse.

Understand that the copy function is designed to simplify transfer of data in a logical workflow involving customers or suppliers in the accounts receivable or payable chain of events. Inventory write-offs have nothing to do with either customers or suppliers. They reflect entirely internal decisions about non-revenue disposition of inventory items carried on your books.

I am assuming @Zaheer_Abbas is talking about inventory that was returned to us by a customer but is no longer saleable.

For example a customer returns a credit card processing machine to me: I may not be able to sell it as new or even at all, so I would issue credit to my customer, and also need to dispose of the product via inventory write off.

I suppose the other way would be to not even put the inventory item on the credit memo instead go directly to the expense account but that makes the credit memo not include the inventory information for the item returned.

I would support the idea of cloning credit memos to inventory write offs.

On second thought, another option would be a check box on the credit memo screen to either return to inventory or not.

We have on occasion issued credit for an item and told the customer to dispose of it due to the cost of shipping outweighing the value of the product. In which case I would need the credit memo to show the items issuing credit for but I would not want it back in stock.

@VISA-MC, both your examples are good ones. But in both cases, there should be no inventory transaction, because no goods are moving back to inventory. The credit memo should only be monetary.

this is not true. it can be only monetary if you are selling a service. not inventory.

products are most probable to be returned to the supplier due to any transit damages or manufacturing defects. in that case the customer would return the product with a debit note and the supplier would issue a credit note for the same. such product received is now owned by the supplier because it is upto the supplier to decide what has to be done with it.

the supplier can either,

  1. dispose off the product in case of extensive damages OR
  2. can be disassembled to various inventory items to be reused OR
  3. serviced and sold again to the same customer.

now the only option available in Credit Notes is Copy To New Delivery Note.

the 1st in the above example can be managed through Inventory Write-offs.
the 2nd can be done when Production Orders would support multiple finished goods.
the 3rd can be done by making a Sales Invoice.

but for the 3rd, if the number of items are many, it would be much easier just to have a Copy To Sales Invoice rather than making a new sales invoice and selecting each line item manually.

for a manufacturing business its usually the 3rd because the customer would usually return the defective products accumulated over the course of an year or the warranty period because its much more economical to ship in bulk. in this case when returning the products to the customer after repairs it would be useful to have the suggested Copy To options.

@Tut
That thought had crossed my mind which is why I chimed in again! If no inventory is referenced then your credit memo reads “REFUNDS” or whatever my account is called but makes no reference to what was returned or why the credit memo was given without further manual input.

In our world it is rare, and how we have handled it was a credit memo referencing the product then immediately following with an inventory write off the inventory, obviously if the inventory is in good shape we don’t do the second part of the transaction here.

@VISA-MC, to finish our conversation, when I said the credit memo should only be monetary in your two examples, that was because you had no intention in either case of returning goods to inventory. In the first case, you mentioned that you could resell the card processing machine. In the second case, you told the customer to dispose of the item. In either one, you had two goals: (1) reduce the account receivable balance for the customer and (2) wind up the transaction without the goods in your inventory. A monetary credit note accomplishes both and avoids the need for an inventory write-off entry. Of course, you would include an explanation of what happened on the credit note.

But your approach of issuing a credit note that includes the inventory item and subsequently writing off the inventory accomplishes both goal, too. And in cases where you don’t know the condition of the goods prior to getting them back, that would be the only choice.

@sharpdrivetek, please understand that my comment about monetary credit notes was limited to @VISA-MC’s examples. It was not a general statement. In other situations, as I mentioned above, including the inventory item on the credit note is required. And all the options you listed are open.