Credit an invoice (Credit Notes)

When to use a credit note

A credit note is how you reverse an invoice you have already issued — for returned goods, an overcharge, or a cancelled job. You never edit or delete an issued invoice; you raise a credit note against it. That keeps your records SARS-correct: the VAT is reversed and there is a clear paper trail.

Credit notes have their own tool: Credit Notes, under Sales (Supplier Credit Notes, under Purchases, for the ones your suppliers give you). It lists every credit note, newest first, with the invoice it is for and where it stands — Waiting for approval, Owed to customer, Taken off or Paid back — and you can search it, filter by those in Show ▾ (and by who prepared it, once two or more people have), and sort it with Sort ▾. Each invoice still shows its own credit notes in a small box, and tapping one opens it here. Under the list, 📄 PDF and 📊 CSV / Excel print it as you have it — number, date, customer or supplier, the invoice it is for, the reason, where it stands, the credit, its VAT and what is still on account. The total line adds only the credit notes in effect: one waiting for approval, or rejected, is listed but not added.

Credit a customer invoice

Open Credit Notes under Sales and tap + New. The New credit note form opens — tap 🧾 Credit one of your invoices - optional and pick the invoice; the list shows how much is left to credit on each. (Or open the invoice and tap Something wrong? Credit it — the form opens with that invoice already picked.) If part of the invoice is already credited, the form starts on An amount, filled in with what's left.
Choose what to credit: Whole invoice, Specific lines (tick the lines), or An amount — type any Rand value, like R500 off for a snag, and Worklog works the VAT out of it. It won't let you credit more than is still creditable on that invoice. For An amount, if the invoice's lines sit under more than one category, or none, pick the one it comes off; where they all share one, the credit takes it.
Type a reason, for example Goods returned.
There is nothing to choose about settling: the credit comes off the invoice it is for, as far as that invoice still owes, and the blue line under the amount says exactly what will happen. Anything left over — or all of it, if the invoice is already paid — is held for the customer (Owed to customer); use it on another of their invoices, or pay it back, from the credit note.
Check the total, then tap Create credit note.

💡If you are registered for VAT, the VAT is backed out of the credit automatically. An invoice that is fully credited gets a purple Credited badge.

💡Crediting a sale whose invoice isn't in Worklog — one from before you started, say? Tap + New and don't pick an invoice: pick the Customer from your contacts, type the Original invoice number (SARS needs it on a credit note), add a line for what you are crediting with its category — or choose An amount, type it with any VAT included and pick What it's for — and say whether the invoice charged VAT — No VAT if it was zero-rated, exempt, or from before you registered for VAT. There is no invoice for it to come off, so the whole credit is kept for the customer (Owed to customer) — use it on another of their invoices, or pay it back, from the credit note. If the goods came back, tick Goods came back — put them back on the shelf (on Line by line, if you keep products or materials): the credited lines go back into stock on your Price List, matched by name, so pick them with Add from your items. If the number you type is an invoice that is in Worklog, the form says so and offers to credit it from there instead.

💡If the owner switched on "Credit notes need approval" (Business → Team & permissions, under Approval safeguards), your credit saves as awaiting approval instead — the button reads Send for approval, and nothing changes on the invoice or the reports yet. Whoever has approve rights sees it under Needs you today on the dashboard, at the top of Credit Notes, and in one line on the Invoices list; they tap it and approve or reject it — rejecting asks them for a reason. If yours is rejected, you see it at the top of Credit Notes, with the reason on the credit note, and under Needs you today; tap Got it — dismiss once read, and prepare a fresh credit if it should still happen.

Send the credit note

Tap a credit note in Credit Notes to open it: it has its own 📄 PDF and 📊 CSV / Excel buttons, so you can send the SARS-worded Credit Note — it references the original invoice — to your customer. Under them, Let the customer know on WhatsApp opens WhatsApp with a message ready: the credit note, its invoice, and where the credit went — what is left to pay, that it is on their account, or that it was paid back. You read it and press send from your own phone. Tap For invoice to jump to the invoice it corrects.

Credit on account, and refunds

A credit held on account shows as Owed to customer. Open it in Credit Notes to settle it — Use it on an unpaid invoice, which takes it off one of their invoices still owing, or 💸 I've paid it back, which asks you to confirm and then records the refund as money out in Banking — once they owe nothing on an invoice: what they still owe is cleared with the credit first, and only what is left is paid back. It works on every plan. The credit also shows on the customer's Statement, and nets your Age Analysis, VAT201 and Profit & Loss automatically, so your reports stay honest.

A supplier who credits you works the same way in Supplier Credit Notes, under Purchases: + New, link their invoice, and record what they credited — or open the supplier invoice and tap Supplier credited you? Record it. A credit they owe you shows as Owed to you, where you can use it on another of their invoices or record that they paid it back, and a Remittance Advice to that supplier takes it off what you pay. Its WhatsApp button thanks the supplier and says what you did with the credit; while they still owe it to you there are two — Say you'll use it on their next invoice, or Ask them to pay it back.

When the goods came back

If the customer returned the goods, tick Goods came back — put them back on the shelf when you raise the credit note. On a supplier credit the tick reads Goods went back to the supplier and takes them off. The credited lines are matched to your Price List items by name. Leave it unticked for a credit that only fixes a price — most credits are. It isn't offered for An amount, which names no goods, and it only shows if you keep products or materials on your Price List.

💡The stock moves once, when the credit note is issued. One waiting for approval moves nothing until it's approved, and a rejected one never moves stock.

What a credit note actually changes

An issued credit reverses the revenue — and its VAT — from the credit's own issue date. Profit & Loss and the VAT201 move immediately; nothing waits for money to change hands.
Fully crediting an invoice flips it to CREDITED, even one already marked paid, so the Credited filter always shows the whole story.
A credit awaiting approval reverses nothing yet — it only counts once an approver issues it.

Still stuck? Open the in-app help assistant, or email us at hello@worklogsolutions.co.za.

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