Credit Notes

Credit notes document refunds, returns, and billing adjustments. Issue one to reduce what a customer owes or to log a refund you've already processed.

What a credit note does

• Reduces the balance on a linked invoice (via apply-to-invoice)
• Documents a refund you've already processed outside Workestra
• Records an adjustment for wrong amounts or returned goods
• Keeps the audit trail — voiding a credit note preserves history

The credit note lifecycle

create              issue              apply all
──────► draft ───► issued ──────────► applied
           │         │
           │         ├─ apply part ─► partially_applied
           │         │                         │
           │         │                         └─ apply rest ─► applied
           │         │
           │         └─ void ──────────────────────────────► voided
           │
           └─ void (before issuing) ─────────────────────────► voided

Creating a credit note

From an invoice

1. Open the original invoice
2. Click Create Credit Note
3. Fill in the credit details (pre-populated with the invoice's customer + number)
4. Save as draft or Issue immediately

Standalone

1. Go to Finance → Credit Notes
2. Click New Credit Note
3. Pick the customer, optional linked invoice, amount, reason
4. Save

Credit note fields

The credit notes list

Finance → Credit Notes shows:

• Four stats cards across the top — Total, Issued, Applied, Outstanding credit (available to apply)
• Status tabs — All, Draft, Issued, Applied, Partially applied, Voided
• Search — by credit number, reason, or customer name
• Per-row actions — Apply (on issued / partially-applied notes), Delete (drafts only)
• Row click — opens the detail page

The detail page

Each credit note has its own page at /finance/credit-notes/[id] with:

• Summary cards — Amount, Applied, Remaining, Issued date
• Linked invoice panel — jumps to the target invoice with its outstanding balance
• Line items table — subtotal + tax + total breakdown
• Reason + internal notes
• Action bar — Mark as issued / Apply to invoice / Void / Delete (draft only)

Applying a credit note

Click Apply to invoice from the list or detail page.

1. The dialog lists every invoice in the workspace with an outstanding balance (paid, cancelled, and written-off invoices are excluded)
2. Pick a target invoice
3. The amount defaults to the minimum of credit remaining and invoice outstanding — you can't over-apply by mistake
4. Click Apply credit

In one round-trip:

• Invoice — paid_amount increments; status flips to Paid (if fully covered) or Partial
• Credit note — applied_amount increments; status flips to Applied (exhausted) or Partially applied
• Both sides refresh automatically in the UI — no reload needed

Partial application across multiple invoices

Each apply writes a record — there's always an audit trail of which invoice got which slice of the credit.

Refund without an invoice

For refunds where there's nothing to apply against:

1. Create a credit note
2. Issue it
3. Process the refund in your payment provider or bank
4. The credit note stays in Issued state as documentation

Voiding a credit note

When a credit note was created in error or is no longer needed:

1. Open the credit note (or click Void from the list)
2. Confirm

Voided credit notes cannot be unvoided. If the void was a mistake, create a new credit note.

Sequential numbering

Credit notes use the same atomic numbering RPC as invoices and quotations. Numbers are guaranteed unique and sequential even under concurrent creates — no risk of duplicate CN-0001 from two users clicking Save at the same moment.

What's not in the UI yet

• Template-rendered credit-note PDFs — the template_id and color_variant fields are ready; the template renderer for credit-note data ships in a follow-up release.
• Send-by-email — credit notes don't currently have a send flow of their own. Download the credit note from the detail page and email manually, or wait for the React Email template to land.
• PEPPOL CreditNote documents — the UBL builder is invoice-only today. Credit-note UBL (document type 381) lands once the template pipeline is complete.

Next steps

• Invoicing — Original invoices
• Payments — Online payment capture
• Finance Settings — Configure module defaults