What is a credit note?
A credit note, also known as a corrective tax document, is used to amend issued invoices when the tax base or the tax itself needs to be adjusted.
In practice, it is commonly used in cases such as a complaint involving a return of goods (or a return of goods in general).
How do I create a credit note in ABRA Flexi?
A credit note can be created for both issued and received invoices. The process is identical in both cases, so we will demonstrate it using an issued invoice only.
A credit note can be created in two ways:
From the relevant invoice that you want to credit.
Manually, just like any other invoice.
Let's walk through both methods.
Creating a credit note from an invoice
This option can be considered the simpler approach. It is simpler because you are working directly with an existing invoice that you intend to credit. Flexi will present all line items available for crediting, and you can easily select which ones to include.
If you are interested in learning more about creating a credit note from an invoice along with its payment, please visit our other article. This article focuses solely on the creation process.
When you open the invoice you want to credit, you will find the option to create a credit note among the other available actions.
After confirming this option, you need to complete 2 steps:
Select the credit note type (chosen from the issued invoice types). You must select an invoice type whose kind is set to "Credit note".
Select the line items you want to credit and specify the quantity.
Once you have filled in all the required fields in the form, you can confirm the creation by clicking the "Create" button in the bottom-right corner.
If the credit note was successfully created, you will be notified by a message in the bottom-left corner of the application. The credit note itself can then be found among your invoices.
A credit note created this way is automatically linked to the corresponding invoice it was created from. If you want to remove the link between the documents, you can easily do so via the actions menu when editing the credit note.
Creating a credit note manually
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, a credit note can also be created manually. It is created in the same way as any other invoice. To create one, navigate to issued invoices.
Just as when creating a credit note from an issued invoice, you need to select the correct invoice type here as well. This means selecting an invoice type whose kind is set to "Credit note".
The second key element of creating a credit note is that its line item quantities must be negative. Flexi should prompt you to do this automatically. We will now create a credit note within issued invoices.
After creating it, you can link the credit note to the invoice it belongs to. This can be done from within the credit note, again via the actions menu.
After selecting this option, simply choose the invoice to be credited (enter its internal number).
Once the correct invoice is entered, you can confirm the creation of the link by clicking the "Create link" button in the bottom-right corner of the application.
You will again be notified about the progress of the link creation by a message in the bottom-left corner of the application.
Did you know?
A credit note can also be created and linked to an invoice via the API — find out more in the documentation.
A credit note can be created and added to a payment order directly in the web interface.
Deleting a created credit note may be problematic under certain circumstances. Why is that? Find out more in this guide.