Edition: Professional, Business, Enterprise
User-level: Assistant Project Manager and above
Previous steps: How to create an invoice?
Synergy has four different types of credits available for invoices: credit note, write-off credit, cancel credit, and credit return to WIP. This article will cover off what they are, and when to use them.
What are credits?
A credit is created to send a document to the client showing they have been refunded an amount from a previous invoice. Credits can be created as part of cancelling an invoice (cancel credit), or for part of the original invoice value (credit discount or write-off).
Select which of the credit options to use based on your current reason for creating a credit document:
Canceling the invoice - this method creates a credit note for the entire invoice, and returns all the attached transactions to WIP. E.g. Used when the invoice was created by mistake, or the wrong transactions were attached to the invoice.
Discount the invoice - this is the credit note method which allows you to apply a discount to the invoice by an entered value. E.g. There is an invoice dispute that the manager has resolved by agreeing to apply a discount to the invoice of $500.00.
Write off the owing invoice value - this method will write-off the owing invoice value, as the client is not going to pay this invoice. E.g. Used when a client has gone out of business and cannot pay the invoice.
Credit return to WIP - this method can be used to remove transactions from an invoice to be invoiced again later. It will apply a credit to the current invoice for the difference, reducing the owing amount.
Note: You cannot use this method to remove all transactions from a stage/invoice. At least one transaction will need to remain on the stage. If you need to remove all transactions, Cancelling the invoice is the only option.
Why use credits?
There are different reasons why you would want to create a credit for an invoice, and depending on your reason you will choose a different credit method.
If you want to provide a basic discount on an invoice to your customer you will use the normal Credit Note. This will adjust the owing total on the invoice without changing the actual invoiced amount.
If the invoice is no longer required, or needs to be changed/corrected, then you will Cancel the Invoice. This will return all transactions to WIP, allowing them to be added to other invoices. The invoice itself will have the status of Cancelled, and a cancel credit is applied to the invoice so that it is no longer owing.
If you are not expecting payment on an invoice for any reason, but don't want to cancel it as it still needs to be shown as a raised invoice, then the Invoice Write-off option is the way to go. This marks the whole invoice as written off, yet the transactions on the invoice still show as invoiced. This allows you to still see the costs associated with that invoice in your reporting, and the impact of the invoice on your financial stats.
If you need to remove certain transactions from an invoice (maybe they need to go to a different invoice, or different stage), then the Credit Return to WIP option is how to do this. You can choose what transactions to send back to WIP, and rather than cancelling the invoice, a credit is applied for the value of those transactions, and the rest of the invoice can still be paid for.
Where to next?
What other features does this relate to?