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Supplier returns

A supplier return is a goods receipt in reverse: stock leaves a site, and the supplier owes you a credit for it.

Posting takes stock off hand at its current cost​

Posting a return removes the returned units at the variant's current weighted average cost. Removing stock at the average does not move the average — the weighted average cost is unchanged by a return.

A return cannot take out more than you have​

Posting fails if a line exceeds what is on hand. A supplier return can never oversell the stock you actually hold.

A clearing account is needed for the return to journal​

The organisation needs a goods-returned clearing account configured in its accounting connection, or posting a return skips the journal entirely, with a warning. The return itself still posts — stock still comes off hand — but without the clearing account configured, no entry is raised for it. Set the clearing account up in the accounting connection before returns are used, so accruals aren't quietly missing one.

Approving and sending are optional​

A return moves through draft, approved, sent, awaiting credit, credit received, and cancelled. Approving and sending are not mandatory steps on the way to posting — you can post a return straight from a draft.

  • Approve records that someone has signed off on the return internally.
  • Send records that the goods have physically left, and is where you capture the supplier's own return number.

Neither is required before posting: a draft return, an approved return, and a sent return can all be posted the same way.

Awaiting the supplier's credit​

Once posted, a return sits at awaiting credit until you record the credit note the supplier sends back. Recording that credit note closes the return, moving it to credit received.

If the credit the supplier gives you differs from the value of the stock you returned, the difference is written off as a small loss or gain — it isn't chased or corrected elsewhere.

Two different reference numbers​

The return reference is one you choose yourself. The supplier's RMA number is theirs, captured separately when you send the return. Keep the two apart — they are not the same number under two names.