A credit note reduces what a customer owes you. Use it to correct an invoice, refund returned goods or give a goodwill credit. Credit notes are financial documents only: they never change stock levels. To book returned goods back in, use a stocktake; see Handling a customer return below.
The Credit Notes screen
Click Credit Notes in the navigation bar. The heading shows how many credit notes match the filters and their total value in your base currency. Each card shows the number, customer, reference, date and value in the credit note's own currency; a complete credit note shows a coloured dot. Click a card to open it.
Filter | Notes |
Filter | Matches the credit note number, customer name or reference. |
Status | Draft, Complete. |
Date Range | The date the credit note was created. |
Flag | Under Advanced. Shown only if flags are enabled for credit notes. |
Stock # | Under Advanced. Credit notes that contain the item. |
Raised By, Account Manager, Division | Under Advanced. Division starts on your own division; choose All to see every division's credit notes. |
Sort By | Under Advanced. Newest number first, or by value in your base currency (so foreign currency credit notes sort by their converted amount). |
Creating a credit note
Click + next to Credit Notes in the navigation bar.
Fill in the New Credit Note form.
Field | Notes |
Customer | Start typing the name. Only customers are offered, and you cannot change the customer after saving. |
Contacts | Required. Only active contacts at the customer are listed. If there is just one, Omono selects it for you. |
Reference # | Optional free text, for example the invoice number you are crediting. |
Division | If you use divisions. Defaults to the customer's division, then to your own. See Divisions. |
Raised By | Defaults to you. Archived users are not offered. |
Exchange Rate - USD | The label shows the customer's currency code. Pre-filled from Settings → App → Currencies; greyed out for customers in your base currency. Up to five decimal places, and above zero. See International trade. |
Click the tick to save; Omono opens the new credit note. A required field left empty shows a red border. An exchange rate of 0 shows no red border, but the form does not save; enter a rate above zero. Clearing Customer also clears the contact, division and exchange rate. Saving locks the customer's Currency on the company record, and records the customer's current Account Manager on the credit note for the Account Manager filter and the email copy-in options.
A credit note is not linked to a specific invoice or order. The Credit Notes button on a customer's page does not start a new credit note: it opens the Credit Notes screen filtered to that customer. See Companies: customers and suppliers.
The credit note page
The heading shows the number, for example CN-1042, with the flag icon (hidden if an admin has blanked every credit note flag name and no flag is set) and the action bar.
Below it you see:
The Status, Draft or Complete. On a draft, hover for a reminder that printing makes it complete and ends editing.
The Customer. Click it to open the company.
The Contact and the Raised By user. Click either name for their card.
The Date the credit note was created.
The customer's Currency.
When set, the Division, Reference # and Exchange Rate (foreign currency customers only).
Drag files anywhere onto the page to attach them as documents. See Notes, documents and links.
Line item cards
Each line card shows its letter, the part number and title, and the Price, Total and Quantity. Hover over the i icon for Line Item Details. Use the Normal / Compact switch to switch layouts. On a draft, click the pencil on a card to edit the line, and drag cards to reorder them.
The bar under the cards shows the total before VAT (quantity times price). VAT is calculated per line and printed on the PDF. On a draft, the bar also has a second Add Line Item button.
Adding line items
Click Add Line Item in the action bar or under the line item cards. Credit notes use their own, simpler line item form, with no discount, list price, cost, margin, tag number or commodity code fields.
Start typing the part number or title and pick the stock item. Only items with Can Sell ticked are offered. Omono then fills in the other fields.
Field | Notes |
Description | Copied from the item's sales description. Edit it for this credit note only. |
Quantity | Not pre-filled. Up to four decimal places. Required. |
Sales Analysis | Copied from the item. You can change it. Required. It decides the account code sent to Xero. |
Price | Pre-filled with the item's Sell Price when that is above zero. The price is not converted to the customer's currency, and no customer discount or price list is applied. Check it before you save, especially for foreign currency customers. Required. |
VAT Rate | Defaults to the customer's default tax rate. The field uses your organisation's word for the tax, set in Settings → App → Internationalisation. Tax-exempt items show VAT Exempt and cannot be changed. Required. |
Click the tick to save. A quantity or price cannot be negative; the box ignores a minus sign. A line may have a zero quantity or price, so a credit note can complete with a total of zero. See Credit notes and Xero below for how such a credit note is handled.
Editing or deleting a line
Lines are lettered A, B, C. Click the pencil on a card to change a line. You cannot change the stock item, and you cannot edit a line for a tax-exempt stock item (saving it does nothing). In both cases, delete the line and add a new one. Delete Line Item is at the bottom of the edit form; confirm when Omono asks, because it cannot be undone. The remaining lines are re-lettered and the total recalculated.
Editing a credit note
While the credit note is a draft, click Edit in the action bar. You can change the Contacts, Reference #, Division, Raised By and Exchange Rate. The Customer field is greyed out: to credit a different customer, delete the draft and raise a new one. If you change the exchange rate, Omono recalculates the value in your base currency and writes a system note.
The credit note date
The Date is the day the credit note was created. It cannot be changed, and it is the date printed on the PDF and sent to Xero; completing a draft later does not move it. If the date matters, for example at a month end, create the credit note on that day and complete it straight away.
Completing the credit note
A credit note completes the first time you Email, Download or Print it. This cannot be undone: a complete credit note cannot be edited, deleted or cancelled. These buttons, and Preview, are hidden until the credit note has at least one line item. On a draft, Download and Print ask you to confirm first, because the credit note will become complete and go to Xero if the integration is on. Click Download Credit Note or Print Credit Note to continue, or Cancel. Email completes it without asking.
Preview, Download and Print
Preview opens the PDF in a new browser tab while the credit note is a draft, with a DRAFT PREVIEW COPY watermark on every page; nothing is saved and the status does not change. Download saves CN-1042.pdf to your computer. Print opens the final PDF in a new browser tab for the browser's print command.
What completion records
Completion writes a system note and an Activity Feed entry. If you complete by emailing, the status changes before the email is sent, so if the email fails the credit note stays complete: send it again with Email. With Download or Print, the status changes only once the PDF has been produced.
Emailing the credit note
Click Email to open the Credit Note Email form. To is pre-filled with the credit note's contact, and the Credit Note PDF is ticked as an attachment. Click Send Email. On a draft this completes the credit note. For the copy-ins, the other attachments you can add and what happens after you send, see Sending documents by email.
Deleting a draft
Click Delete, then Yes to confirm. This cannot be undone: the credit note goes with its line items, notes, uploaded documents and linked tasks. The number is not reused. Only a draft can be deleted.
The action bar
Add Line Item, Edit, Delete and Preview appear on a draft only. Email, Download and Print stay available once the credit note is complete, and Download and Print then work without asking. Documents, Notes, Links and Tasks are always there. There is no Copy button.
Documents, notes and flags
Documents lists the files uploaded to the credit note and the documents attached to each line's stock item; both can be attached to the credit note email. The credit note PDF itself is not listed here: use Preview or Download. See Notes, documents and links.
Notes holds the audit trail: a system note when the credit note is created, when the exchange rate changes, when a flag is set or cleared, when it becomes complete, and each time it is emailed.
If an admin has enabled flag colours for credit notes, click the flag icon next to the number to choose a colour, on a draft or a complete credit note. Each change writes a system note and an Activity Feed entry. Use the Flag filter under Advanced to find flagged credit notes. See Navigating Omono.
What prints on the credit note
The PDF is headed Credit Note #: CN-1042 under your standard paperwork header. If the credit note has a division with Credit Notes ticked, the division's logo and address are used instead. See Divisions.
Section | Contents |
Credit Note Address | The contact's name, then the customer's accounts address, headed by the Company Name held on that address (normally the customer's name). |
Right-hand box | Page, Date (the creation date), Account # and Reference # (N/A when blank). |
Line table | Line letter, Part # / Description, Quantity, Unit Price and Amount in the credit note currency. |
Totals | Subtotal, one Total VAT (20%) line for each VAT rate used, and TOTAL with the currency code. Tax-exempt lines add no VAT. |
The sales paperwork footer from Settings → Templates → Paperwork Footers prints at the bottom. The exchange rate, tag numbers, commodity codes, EORI numbers, incoterms and delivery addresses are not printed, and there are no paperwork options specific to credit notes. See Templates, paperwork and email templates.
Credit notes and Xero
If Xero is connected, Omono sends every complete credit note on the next sync as an accounts receivable credit note against the customer's Xero contact. If your Sync Interval is Manual / On Demand, click Run Sync on the Xero settings screen. Omono sends:
the number and reference: CN-1042 / your reference, or just CN-1042 when the reference is blank;
the creation date, currency and exchange rate;
one line per item: part number, title, description, quantity, price, the account code from its Sales Analysis and the tax type mapped to its VAT Rate;
the status chosen in Default Credit Note Status.
A credit note is skipped, with the reason in the Sync Log, when:
its value is zero and Default Credit Note Status is Authorised. Xero does not accept zero-value authorised credit notes, so it is marked as skipped and not tried again;
its customer has not yet been sent to Xero, or has Xero errors. Fix the customer first; the credit note is tried again once the customer syncs.
If Xero refuses a credit note, the errors appear in the Sync Log and Omono tries again on every sync until Xero accepts it. Once accepted it is never sent again. Omono does not allocate the credit note to an invoice in Xero; do that in Xero. Because a complete credit note cannot be edited, correct any mistake in Xero or raise a further credit note. See Connecting Omono to Xero.
Handling a customer return
Omono has no return document. A return is two steps:
Credit the customer. Raise a credit note with the invoice number in Reference # (you can also record it under Notes) and the returned items at the price invoiced, then Email, Download or Print it to complete it. If Xero is connected, it goes to Xero on the next sync.
Put the goods back into stock. Open each stock item, click Stocktake and enter the new counted quantity. Completing a credit note never changes stock. See Stock levels, stocktakes and reordering.
If the goods are scrap, skip step 2.
Credit notes in reports
The Sales Timeline report deducts credit notes from sales order value and has its own credit note status filter. The Customer Directory report deducts complete credit notes from each customer's invoiced sales and shows them in its Total Credit Notes column. Complete credit notes are also netted off the dashboard rings, the Output Timeline report and the Product Margins report. Values are converted to your base currency at the credit note's exchange rate. See Sales reports, Customer reports and Output and accounts reports.