Take back customer returns

A return, or RMA, tracks goods a customer sends back from the request to the settlement. You record what is coming back and why, approve it, receive the goods into a warehouse, and then decide how the customer is made whole. Receivables raises the credit note for you, so the stock and the customer’s balance both end right.

Create a return from an invoice

Most returns are for goods you invoiced. Draw the return from that invoice, so each line is credited at the price the customer paid.

1. Go to Sales ‣ Transactions ‣ Returns and click New return.
2. Pick the Customer.
3. Enter the Reason code, such as DAMAGED or WRONG-ITEM, so you can see later why goods come back.
4. On the Lines tab, click Return from invoice. The panel lists the customer’s invoices with quantities still returnable.
5. Pick the invoice. Untick the lines that are not coming back, and lower Qty to what the customer returns.
6. Click the button that adds the lines, for example Add 2 lines.
7. In Condition on each line, describe the state the goods come back in.
8. Check the Warehouse the goods come back to; it starts from the invoice’s.
9. Click Save draft.

The return is saved as Requested with its own number. It takes the invoice’s currency, exchange rate, payment term, posting profile and discount, and its lines cannot ask for more than the invoice has left to return. The total under the lines is the Total refund.

What you type in Condition decides where the goods go when they are received:

Condition	Where the goods go
Damaged, Box damaged or Expired	The warehouse’s quarantine location, to be checked before resale.
Scrap	The warehouse’s scrap location.
Anything else, or empty	Back into sellable stock.

Create a return without an invoice

When goods come back that were never invoiced through Axon Suite, enter the lines yourself.

1. Click New return and pick the Customer.
2. Enter the Reason code and pick the Warehouse.
3. On the Lines tab, pick each item and enter the Qty and Condition.
4. Click Save draft.

The lines are priced from the customer’s price list, as on a new order. Such a return can only credit the customer’s balance: there is no paid invoice to refund.

Approve a return

Approve the request once you agree to take the goods back, so the warehouse knows to expect them.

1. Open the return with the status Requested.
2. Click Edit if anything needs changing, and Save draft again.
3. Click Approve, then Approve in the dialog.

The return shows Approved and can no longer be edited. A requested return you no longer need can be deleted instead: open it and click Delete.

Receive the returned goods

When the goods arrive, receive them so they are back in stock.

1. Open the approved return and click Receive.
2. In Mark as received?, click Receive.

The return shows Received, with the date under Received at. The goods are in the return’s warehouse, each line in the location its Condition sent it to, and the receipt is listed under Inventory ‣ Inbound ‣ Customer returns; see Find a customer return.

Settle a return

Once the goods are in, decide how the customer is made whole. This completes the return.

Caution

The credit note posts on the return’s own date, which cannot change once the return is approved. If that date falls in a closed fiscal period when you settle, the credit note is not posted, yet the return still shows Completed. Settle returns before their period is closed.

1. Open the received return and click Process disposition.
2. Pick the Disposition: Store credit, Refund or Replacement.
3. Enter Inspection notes if the goods were checked.
4. Click Process disposition.

The return shows Completed. What follows depends on the disposition:

Disposition	What it creates
Store credit	A credit note, posted against the invoice, for the return’s total. The customer’s balance falls by that amount.
Refund	The same credit note, and a refund of what the customer had already paid on that invoice, up to the return’s total. The refund is paid from the bank account their payment went into.
Replacement	No credit note and no refund. Raise the replacement order yourself; see Create an order.

The credit note is dated on the return’s date and appears in Receivables ‣ Transactions ‣ Credit notes a moment later. It moves no stock, because the return already brought the goods back; see Credit notes. The refund is posted to the ledger but has no screen of its own.

Example

A kitchenware shop returns 12 kettles from an invoice of 40, already paid in full. The supplier receives them, two with Box damaged, and settles with Refund. Ten kettles go back on the shelf, two into quarantine, and the shop gets back the price of all 12 into the account it paid from.

Reject or cancel a return

Reject a return you will not accept, or cancel one the customer withdraws. Either can happen at any point before the return is settled.

1. Open the return and click Reject, or Cancel return.
2. Enter the Reason.
3. Click Reject, or Cancel return, in the dialog.

The return shows Rejected or Cancelled, and the reason shows on it. A rejected return can still be cancelled. Neither undoes a receipt: goods already received stay in stock.

Status	Meaning
Requested	Recorded, waiting for approval. You can edit or delete it.
Approved	Accepted; the goods are expected.
Received	The goods are back in the warehouse.
Completed	Settled with a disposition.
Rejected	Turned down.
Cancelled	Withdrawn.

Messages you may meet

Message	What to do
Returned goods land in a warehouse, so one must be named.	Pick the Warehouse the goods come back to.
The customer has no posting profile, so a return cannot be credited.	Give the customer a Posting profile on their Financial tab, then process the disposition again.
The line named is not on the invoice the return credits.	Remove the line and draw it again with Return from invoice.
The return is not in a state that allows this.	The return has moved on since you opened it. Reload it and check its status.