Crediting a Supplier Invoice/Vendor Invoice

NOTE: Actionstep offers in-built Accounting to users on our Practice Pro + Accounting plan. This article covers functionality only available with that option.

Supplier invoices (also called Vendor invoices) are the bills that are sent to you for your company to pay. 

In this article, we will show you how you can create credits to deal with refunds or discounts on those invoices. We will also show you how to you apply those credits and access previously created credits in Actionstep.

NOTE: In some systems, you are able to customize the terms used in Accounting. While the default setup of Actionstep may have terms like "Supplier Invoices", these might have been changed to similar terms such as "Purchases", "Payables" or "Vendor".

Creating a new credit supplier invoice 

Credit supplier invoices are created from the supplier invoice that you are wanting to credit. You will need to find the supplier invoice, open it and then click the  button at the bottom of the screen. 

To access your previous supplier invoices, go to Accounting > Supplier Invoices > Supplier Invoice.

Completing a credit supplier invoice

Complete the two-step wizard and then make any alteration to the credit supplier invoice and save. 

Step one

Choose any items from the original supplier invoice that you do NOT want to credit.

The screen will display the line headers and the line items in the supplier invoice with a tickbox beside each. By unticking an item, it will not be created in the credit supplier invoice.

TIP: If you need to credit just one or two items in your supplier invoice, use this function to ensure that only those items are included in the credit.

Click Next to move to the next step

Step two 

Enter the credit date and a reason. 

NOTE: When entering a date, be aware that when you go to apply the credit to a supplier invoice, you will need to do this on a date on, or before, the supplier invoice date AND the credit date.

Click Finish to move to the summary screen. Click Finish on the screen to complete the wizard and open the draft credit supplier invoice.

 

Making alterations to the Credit and Saving

TIP: The supplier invoice screen and the credit supplier screen look very similar and function in the same way. To help you tell what screen you have open, look at the background colour. A Yellow background is for a supplier invoice and a Green background is for a credit supplier invoice. A Purchase template has a Grey background.

Now that you have the credit open, make changes to the line items so that it equals the amount to be credited. 

The credit supplier invoice works the same as a supplier invoice, the only difference is that amounts will appear as negative. See Understanding the Sale/Purchase Screen - Broken Link Article for more details.

TIP: If you are creating a credit for a certain amount that is inclusive of tax/VAT, make sure that you tick the Inclusive box in the Details tab at the top middle of the screen.

Make sure you save the credit before trying to apply it.

Applying a credit 

Most users will want to either apply a credit to a supplier invoice to reduce the amount owing on that invoice or apply the credit so that it creates a deposit into the bank account to show a refund.

Either method starts by clicking the  button to open the Supplier invoice payment window.

Applying a credit to a supplier invoice 

In the supplier invoice payment window, you will see any credit note and invoice that is able to be paid at the date. 

• For the line that represents the supplier invoice, you want to credit, enter the amount you want to credit in the Applied box. The amount should be positive
• For the line that represents the credit supplier invoice, enter the amount you want to credit in the Applied box. The amount should be negative. 

The two amounts should cancel each other out so that the total applied and the 'Withdrawal Amount' are both zero. 

You can apply a credit to more than one invoice using the above method.

Applying a credit to a deposit

Similar to the process for applying a credit to a supplier invoice above, in the supplier invoice payment window, you will see any credit note and invoice that is able to be paid at the date. 

• For a line that represents the credit supplier invoice, enter the amount you want to credit in the Applied box. The amount should be negative. 
• In the 'Withdrawal amount' box enter the amount that was/will be placed into your bank account. The amount should be negative.

Actionstep will treat this as a negative withdrawal (a deposit). A banking transaction will be posted to the bank account and the amount owing on the credit supplier invoice will be reduced by the amount you processed. 

TIP: If you cannot see the credit supplier invoice (or supplier invoice) in the supplier payment screen, double-check the following:

1. Make sure that you have saved the credit supplier invoice.  If it is still in Draft, it will not show on the payment screen.
2. Check that the payment date is not before the credit supplier invoice or supplier invoice date you want to see. A payment cannot be applied to an invoice that is not posted to the general ledger at that date.
3. Make sure that you select a bank from the bank drop-down, even if you are not planning to have funds entering or leaving your bank account.

 

Accessing previous credit supplier invoices

To access a list of credit supplier invoices, go to Accounting > Supplier Invoices > Credit Invoice.

This is a standard Actionstep list view. Use the filter to help search for a specific credit supplier invoice. 

The functionality of this view is very similar to that of the supplier invoice list. See Accessing Supplier Invoices/Vendor Invoices for more details.