What is a credit note in Receipt Capture?
A supplier sends a credit note to reduce what your client owes them, for example for returned goods, an overcharge or a cancelled service. It may be called a credit note, a refund or an adjustment note.
Publishing one creates a supplier credit note in your client's Xero file against the supplier. Xero records it as a credit, separate from a bill.
💡 Credit notes are for Xero clients only
On QuickBooks Online, MYOB and FreeAgent, a credit note is held for review with Receipt Capture can publish credit notes to Xero only at the moment, so it will need to be entered directly in your accounting ledger.
⚠️ The credit isn't applied to a bill
XBert creates the credit note and leaves it unallocated. Applying it to the supplier's bill, or recording a refund, is still done in Xero.
How XBert recognises a credit note
When XBert reads a document sent in as a bill, it treats it as a credit note if:
it reads as a credit note, refund or adjustment note, even when it's printed without minus signs, or
its total is below zero.
The work item is then titled Credit Note Automation.
The amounts show as positive, the same way Xero records a credit note, and each line is coded with its own tax rate, including GST-free lines.
Before you start
The client must use Xero and have Receipt Capture switched on.
👉 Read more here: How To: Turn On Receipt Capture for Your Clients
Check whether credit notes will go to Xero as Draft or Approved. A credit note follows the client's Publish Bills As setting. Unlike a bill, an Approved credit note doesn't need a due date.
Send in a credit note as a Bill
A credit note must come in as a bill. Emailed documents always arrive as bills, so a credit note emailed to the client's receipt email address is ready to check.
To add one yourself:
Click Quick Add (the + icon at the top of the screen), then Add Receipt.
Choose the client.
Under Publish as, click Bill.
Add the file, then click Queue.
⚠️ Don't add a credit note as an expense
A credit note added as an expense is held with Receipt Capture publishes credit notes only when they are captured as a bill, so this expense can't be published, and it will need to be entered directly in your accounting ledger.
Check and publish
Open the credit note's Receipt Capture work item.
From your work views, such as the Task List, or from the Receipt Capture page by opening the document and clicking Open.
Check the details against the credit note:
From: the supplier who issued it.
Lines: each account and tax rate.
Total: the amount of the credit, shown as positive.
Correct anything that's wrong, then click Apply & Save.
Click Publish at the top of the work item.
Wait until you see All steps completed successfully!
The steps still say Create bill, and the result reads Bill created, but XBert creates a credit note in Xero, not a bill.
Click View Record to open the credit note in Xero.
👉 Read more here: How To: Publish a Receipt
If a credit note is held for review
XBert holds a credit note it can't publish:
For a client on QuickBooks Online, MYOB or FreeAgent: Receipt Capture can publish credit notes to Xero only at the moment, so it will need to be entered directly in your accounting ledger.
If it was added as an expense: Receipt Capture publishes credit notes only when they are captured as a bill, so this expense can't be published, and it will need to be entered directly in your accounting ledger.
Retrying won't change the result, so Retry Step isn't offered. Enter the credit note in your client's accounting software yourself, then delete the document in XBert.
👉 Read more here: How To: Continue Publishing a Receipt Held for Review
After it's published
In Xero, apply the credit note to the supplier's bill, or record the refund if the supplier paid the money back.
Need help?
If you have any questions, our support team is here to help!
Reach out via the chat widget on the bottom left of your XBert screen (Help), or email us at support@xbert.io