I understand where you're coming from and while I can't make any promises, I can make sure your comments are seen by the right people on my end. Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback.
I don't have a problem creating a negative invoice as a credit note. However, how do I apply this to the invoice it refers to? Right now I have an outstanding (unpaid) invoice amount and an outstanding invoice with a credit balance. How do I apply the credit note to the original invoice to get them off the dashboard?
I would also like to voice my need for the ability to create credit notes. For my business I use these to provide credits to customers for returned and faulty stock, price adjustments for post sale discount deals
Things like credit notes, discounts, late fees, etc. are very much on our radar right now. We want to continue to make Wave's invoicing the best it can possible be and allowing invoices to be more dynamic in how they relate to one another in terms of balances will be key.
Hi all, I'm new to Waveapps, and the first thread I read is this problem with the credit note. Lack of this basic accounting function has just swayed to move to QuickBooks. Bye.
A credit note is different from a bad debt or negative income and it can occur for a number of other reasons - hence the user community requesting this as a feature. Although the workarounds you have suggested are possible, they don't necessarily work from a regulatory perspective particularly for businesses that are VAT / GST registered.
The function of a credit note is basically a full (or partial) refund (or 'credit') of an already-issued invoice. The format of a credit note is that it must say "Credit Note" as a header and should reference a specific invoice against which the credit is being offered (at the most basic level).
It would be a feature request and if Wave is interested in creating this feature, the following could be a way to do it:
have an additional template called "Credit Note" rather than single invoice template
the Credit Note should follow a different nomenclature to invoices (e.g. CN001 rather than INV001) - this would be an additional field to Invoice number
there should be an option in the drop-down menu found against each invoice on the invoices list page
the credit note would effectively be a negative income invoice of the chosen invoice (with the same fields that appear in the invoice except that there would be additional field of CN Number
for partial credit notes (out of stock items, over payments, defects, late items, etc.) the credit note page should be editable so that line items can be updated
Hi, anyone has an idea what are the advances on CN?
There are basic rules and things wave should have which I'm surprised they don't have. For ex. when you give a discount to a customer, how do you cancel that balance in the wave accounting?
Or when at the end you want to cancel an invoice just because you lost the customer, business or whatever, how do you do that besides deleting the invoice? It should be to register the accounting other than registering a payment that never exist
What do I do wo account for a credit against an invoice? I’m not keen on manually adjusting the invoice but it’s going to scew my accounts. Just need to allow a minus figure!
Hi everyone.
A Credit Note is a mandatory tool for the "cancellation" of any amount already invoiced to a client.
Scenario 1: We invoice a client say $1,000 for 10 boxes of goods costing $100 each. In two weeks they return 2 boxes back. Such event of return MUST be shown in the accounts as a CREDIT NOTE for $200, not a negative invoice. Scenario 2: We invoice a client say $1000 for services to be completed within a duration of 4 weeks ($250 per week) and have received a prepayment (before the beginning of the project as company policy dictates). Two weeks in the project the client wishes to cancel. A CREDIT NOTE is to be issued for $500 deducting the amount for the client's account and the $500 is to be returned.
In ANY case and under NO circumstances should a company be able to edit, alter, change or delete an invoice, after it has been issued to a client. This is a BIG NO-NO and if you guys ever want your app to reach higher status and recognition, I suggest you look into this.
"After-issuance-altercation" capabilities go hand in hand with tax fraud. Period!
Additionally, any/every/all properly certified invoicing applications I've come across in my 10 years in the field (internal, external and forensic accounting and audits), have always had an "audit trail", which keeps a history log of ALL the usage/transactions of every user of a company (who did what and when), without the capability of the history log to be deleted by ANYONE (not even the admins of the software).
Hi, I too really need this credit note feature as use wave to handle personalised tours and sometimes guests request for changes that cause deductions even after an invoice has been issued and even an advance is already paid. Please support this request!
As a workaround I dont mind creating negative invoices but as @Connie says, how do we set the credit note off against the original invoice?
Hey @AndréKoch , I believe you can set the credit note off against the original by creating a deposit and withdrawal transaction in the Transactions page, one to mark the original invoice as paid, and one to mark the negative invoice as paid.
Categorizing the withdrawal transaction as a refund to the negative invoice that you've created should mark the negative invoice as paid!
Hi - I just also wanted to flag that a credit note facility is a key requirement in all bookkeeping and account software - please implement this asap.
For reference, I need to make a credit note, only very occasionally, when an invoice has been priced incorrectly. I do get that there is a work around with regards to creating a negative invoice, but to just have that ability to apply a credit note against a customer invoice would be far simpler and much more helpful
Same here, I would love to have a credit note function. I make use of recurring "service renewal" invoices in wave and (like someone else already mentioned): Some customers let me know that they want to stop our services based on that invoice. In that case I not only need to fix my own administration, I also need to send them a credit note that cancels the earlier invoice in their bookkeeping.
Another vote for this one. VAT accounting needs a 'proper' way to make this happen - particularly where the two 'transactions' fall into separate VAT accounting periods ...
I had an accident at work and didn't get paid as my client felt that I should offset the cost, so no money has changed hands, but I need to mark the invoice as paid. A credit note would let me do that and record the reason, for tax purposes and for my own records.
A credit note is essential on both the invoice side and the purchases side.
Deleting an invoice is not the correct thing to do as it has two effects, destroys the audit trail and also if in a previous tax qtr messes this up!
On the purchase side, if a supplier credits and invoice (lets say they delivered the wrong goods) it is not good enough to enter a "minus" invoice OR in the original invoice enter a minus figure, again in the latter case the tax period may be wrong and in the former case a minus invoice automatically gets "paid" in your system so journal entry is difficult.
Again on the sales invoice side it may be that a credit is agreed to a customer, for various reasons, after the original invoice was generated, again maybe in a different tax qtr. The customer will want a credit note issued, NOT a minus invoice.
@SteveHale said:
A credit note is essential on both the invoice side and the purchases side.
Deleting an invoice is not the correct thing to do as it has two effects, destroys the audit trail and also if in a previous tax qtr messes this up!
On the purchase side, if a supplier credits and invoice (lets say they delivered the wrong goods) it is not good enough to enter a "minus" invoice OR in the original invoice enter a minus figure, again in the latter case the tax period may be wrong and in the former case a minus invoice automatically gets "paid" in your system so journal entry is difficult.
Again on the sales invoice side it may be that a credit is agreed to a customer, for various reasons, after the original invoice was generated, again maybe in a different tax qtr. The customer will want a credit note issued, NOT a minus invoice.
Regards
SMB
Agreed @SteveHale - I previously mentioned how important this was on the invoicing side, but also as you say, vital for purchases from vendors too - ideally I need to be able to match the credit note to a specific invoice, which a minus invoice doesn't allow me to do properly. Might have to consider a different software provider if this isn't rectified asap.
@Sarah_S@Dirk_Jonker@SteveHale. Thanks again for adding the +1 for having a credit note feature in Wave. This is something that I will bring to the attention to our product team to see if they have any plans of rolling it out in the new year.
@James_Hudson said:
Hey @AndréKoch , I believe you can set the credit note off against the original by creating a deposit and withdrawal transaction in the Transactions page, one to mark the original invoice as paid, and one to mark the negative invoice as paid.
Categorizing the withdrawal transaction as a refund to the negative invoice that you've created should mark the negative invoice as paid!
Hope this helps!
Hmmm... I dont quite understand what you have said. Once I mark the original invoice with a paid transaction it displays on the invoice and the customer sees it on the invoice and is confused because they didnt make such a payment. Plus this does not help with VAT!
@SteveHale said:
A credit note is essential on both the invoice side and the purchases side.
Deleting an invoice is not the correct thing to do as it has two effects, destroys the audit trail and also if in a previous tax qtr messes this up!
On the purchase side, if a supplier credits and invoice (lets say they delivered the wrong goods) it is not good enough to enter a "minus" invoice OR in the original invoice enter a minus figure, again in the latter case the tax period may be wrong and in the former case a minus invoice automatically gets "paid" in your system so journal entry is difficult.
Again on the sales invoice side it may be that a credit is agreed to a customer, for various reasons, after the original invoice was generated, again maybe in a different tax qtr. The customer will want a credit note issued, NOT a minus invoice.
Regards
SMB
Agreed @SteveHale - I previously mentioned how important this was on the invoicing side, but also as you say, vital for purchases from vendors too - ideally I need to be able to match the credit note to a specific invoice, which a minus invoice doesn't allow me to do properly. Might have to consider a different software provider if this isn't rectified asap.
You may want to try bullet! unfortunately though, they do not have my currency listed 😑
Well you could achieve this by creating a sub table to invoices (like payments received) with a one to many relationship. And just like the invoice payments received gets added to transactions, each individual credit note should get added to transactions with the opposite effect of an invoice and the same Sales account as the invoice must be debited. So note that each credit note of an invoice must have its own date (transaction date). The list of (sub-table) of credit notes can be displayed on the invoice just like the payments received but must be marked as a credit note instead, preferably with the credit note description. As a database developer myself, I do not see why this is taking so long to do.
It just needs to act like the payments received but it effects the sales account and accounts receivable account (instead of the accounts receivable account and the cash/bank account). In the case of FX it can automatically use the system fx rates.
Summarised:
Invoice Generated: DEBIT-Accounts Receivable & CREDIT-Sales
Payment Received: DEBIT-Cash/Bank & CREDIT-Accounts Receivable
Credit Note: DEBIT-Sales & CREDIT-Accounts Receivable (THIS IS THE COMPLETE REVERSE OF GENERATING AN INVOICE)
Right now I'm handling this with a dummy cash account;
1) and entering the credit note value as payment received for the invoice into the dummy account
2) and then debiting the sales account and crediting the dummy account via a journal entry.
But this shows as a payment on the invoice instead of showing the customer that it was a credit note! Even if I enter credit note into the remarks of the payment, this does not show on the invoice. Plus I'm not sure how this workaround effects VAT invoices.
Comments
Hi, @tutotoons,
I understand where you're coming from and while I can't make any promises, I can make sure your comments are seen by the right people on my end. Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback.
One more vote for Credit Notes. Lack of this single feature is about to push me to Xero.
I don't have a problem creating a negative invoice as a credit note. However, how do I apply this to the invoice it refers to? Right now I have an outstanding (unpaid) invoice amount and an outstanding invoice with a credit balance. How do I apply the credit note to the original invoice to get them off the dashboard?
Hi, @Connie,
If you're writing off an invoice, the process is a little different. We have a guide explaining how to do this in Wave. You can find it here
If this credit note is acting as a pre-payment of sorts, I'm happy to show you how to handle that as well. Let me know!
+1! I'd love to see this added!
Thanks!
This is essential to correct errors / disputes on invoices, I will have to consider an alternative platform if this is not forthcoming.
Just starting to join Wave and leave Xero. But I gotta say, if there isn't a similar CN feature to Xero I probably won't be able to make the switch.
Things like credit notes, discounts, late fees, etc. are very much on our radar right now. We want to continue to make Wave's invoicing the best it can possible be and allowing invoices to be more dynamic in how they relate to one another in terms of balances will be key.
Hi all, I'm new to Waveapps, and the first thread I read is this problem with the credit note. Lack of this basic accounting function has just swayed to move to QuickBooks. Bye.
Hi @Alexia
A credit note is different from a bad debt or negative income and it can occur for a number of other reasons - hence the user community requesting this as a feature. Although the workarounds you have suggested are possible, they don't necessarily work from a regulatory perspective particularly for businesses that are VAT / GST registered.
The function of a credit note is basically a full (or partial) refund (or 'credit') of an already-issued invoice. The format of a credit note is that it must say "Credit Note" as a header and should reference a specific invoice against which the credit is being offered (at the most basic level).
It would be a feature request and if Wave is interested in creating this feature, the following could be a way to do it:
Hope that the above helps.
Rohit
Hi @Rohit! That is amazing insight! I really appreciate you taking the time to provide such a clear articulation of how Wave can get better. 😊
Thanks @Tyler
Hope that your development team can get this feature added.
Hi, anyone has an idea what are the advances on CN?
There are basic rules and things wave should have which I'm surprised they don't have. For ex. when you give a discount to a customer, how do you cancel that balance in the wave accounting?
Or when at the end you want to cancel an invoice just because you lost the customer, business or whatever, how do you do that besides deleting the invoice? It should be to register the accounting other than registering a payment that never exist
I would also like to stress the need for Credit Notes! I hope Waveapps will give the people what they want..
What do I do wo account for a credit against an invoice? I’m not keen on manually adjusting the invoice but it’s going to scew my accounts. Just need to allow a minus figure!
Hi everyone.
A Credit Note is a mandatory tool for the "cancellation" of any amount already invoiced to a client.
Scenario 1: We invoice a client say $1,000 for 10 boxes of goods costing $100 each. In two weeks they return 2 boxes back. Such event of return MUST be shown in the accounts as a CREDIT NOTE for $200, not a negative invoice. Scenario 2: We invoice a client say $1000 for services to be completed within a duration of 4 weeks ($250 per week) and have received a prepayment (before the beginning of the project as company policy dictates). Two weeks in the project the client wishes to cancel. A CREDIT NOTE is to be issued for $500 deducting the amount for the client's account and the $500 is to be returned.
In ANY case and under NO circumstances should a company be able to edit, alter, change or delete an invoice, after it has been issued to a client. This is a BIG NO-NO and if you guys ever want your app to reach higher status and recognition, I suggest you look into this.
"After-issuance-altercation" capabilities go hand in hand with tax fraud. Period!
Additionally, any/every/all properly certified invoicing applications I've come across in my 10 years in the field (internal, external and forensic accounting and audits), have always had an "audit trail", which keeps a history log of ALL the usage/transactions of every user of a company (who did what and when), without the capability of the history log to be deleted by ANYONE (not even the admins of the software).
Hope this is helpful
Hi, I too really need this credit note feature as use wave to handle personalised tours and sometimes guests request for changes that cause deductions even after an invoice has been issued and even an advance is already paid. Please support this request!
As a workaround I dont mind creating negative invoices but as @Connie says, how do we set the credit note off against the original invoice?
Hey @AndréKoch , I believe you can set the credit note off against the original by creating a deposit and withdrawal transaction in the Transactions page, one to mark the original invoice as paid, and one to mark the negative invoice as paid.
Categorizing the withdrawal transaction as a refund to the negative invoice that you've created should mark the negative invoice as paid!
Hope this helps!
Hi - I just also wanted to flag that a credit note facility is a key requirement in all bookkeeping and account software - please implement this asap.
For reference, I need to make a credit note, only very occasionally, when an invoice has been priced incorrectly. I do get that there is a work around with regards to creating a negative invoice, but to just have that ability to apply a credit note against a customer invoice would be far simpler and much more helpful
Thanks!
Same here, I would love to have a credit note function. I make use of recurring "service renewal" invoices in wave and (like someone else already mentioned): Some customers let me know that they want to stop our services based on that invoice. In that case I not only need to fix my own administration, I also need to send them a credit note that cancels the earlier invoice in their bookkeeping.
Thanks for taking the time to include your feedback @leafmonkey and @nschoot!
Another vote for this one. VAT accounting needs a 'proper' way to make this happen - particularly where the two 'transactions' fall into separate VAT accounting periods ...
I had an accident at work and didn't get paid as my client felt that I should offset the cost, so no money has changed hands, but I need to mark the invoice as paid. A credit note would let me do that and record the reason, for tax purposes and for my own records.
A credit note is essential on both the invoice side and the purchases side.
Deleting an invoice is not the correct thing to do as it has two effects, destroys the audit trail and also if in a previous tax qtr messes this up!
On the purchase side, if a supplier credits and invoice (lets say they delivered the wrong goods) it is not good enough to enter a "minus" invoice OR in the original invoice enter a minus figure, again in the latter case the tax period may be wrong and in the former case a minus invoice automatically gets "paid" in your system so journal entry is difficult.
Again on the sales invoice side it may be that a credit is agreed to a customer, for various reasons, after the original invoice was generated, again maybe in a different tax qtr. The customer will want a credit note issued, NOT a minus invoice.
Regards
SMB
Agreed @SteveHale - I previously mentioned how important this was on the invoicing side, but also as you say, vital for purchases from vendors too - ideally I need to be able to match the credit note to a specific invoice, which a minus invoice doesn't allow me to do properly. Might have to consider a different software provider if this isn't rectified asap.
@Sarah_S @Dirk_Jonker @SteveHale. Thanks again for adding the +1 for having a credit note feature in Wave. This is something that I will bring to the attention to our product team to see if they have any plans of rolling it out in the new year.
Hmmm... I dont quite understand what you have said. Once I mark the original invoice with a paid transaction it displays on the invoice and the customer sees it on the invoice and is confused because they didnt make such a payment. Plus this does not help with VAT!
You may want to try bullet! unfortunately though, they do not have my currency listed 😑
@Alexia @Tyler @James_Hudson @Ryan_W @JamieD
Well you could achieve this by creating a sub table to invoices (like payments received) with a one to many relationship. And just like the invoice payments received gets added to transactions, each individual credit note should get added to transactions with the opposite effect of an invoice and the same Sales account as the invoice must be debited. So note that each credit note of an invoice must have its own date (transaction date). The list of (sub-table) of credit notes can be displayed on the invoice just like the payments received but must be marked as a credit note instead, preferably with the credit note description. As a database developer myself, I do not see why this is taking so long to do.
It just needs to act like the payments received but it effects the sales account and accounts receivable account (instead of the accounts receivable account and the cash/bank account). In the case of FX it can automatically use the system fx rates.
Summarised:
Invoice Generated: DEBIT-Accounts Receivable & CREDIT-Sales
Payment Received: DEBIT-Cash/Bank & CREDIT-Accounts Receivable
Credit Note: DEBIT-Sales & CREDIT-Accounts Receivable (THIS IS THE COMPLETE REVERSE OF GENERATING AN INVOICE)
Right now I'm handling this with a dummy cash account;
1) and entering the credit note value as payment received for the invoice into the dummy account
2) and then debiting the sales account and crediting the dummy account via a journal entry.
But this shows as a payment on the invoice instead of showing the customer that it was a credit note! Even if I enter credit note into the remarks of the payment, this does not show on the invoice. Plus I'm not sure how this workaround effects VAT invoices.