Introduction
An issued invoice is never edited or deleted. To take it back you credit it: the app creates a credit note, a copy of the invoice with every line and amount made negative, under its own invoice number and referring back to the original. You usually start from the Invoices tab on the booking, which opens a screen headed Credit invoice: the lines that will be reversed and the totals, with Credit and send and Credit (no email) below.
You would be here because:
- the booking was cancelled after it had been invoiced;
- an invoice went out with the wrong price or the wrong VAT, and a correct one has to replace it;
- the customer never used an extra they were charged for;
- a lease month was invoiced twice;
- a combined invoice covering several bookings has to be withdrawn.
Words this screen uses
| The screen says | What it means |
|---|---|
| Credit, Credit invoice | A credit note: the negative copy of an invoice |
| Debit | An ordinary invoice, with a positive total |
| Send | The invoice status once it has been issued, whether or not it was emailed |
| Combined | An invoice that covers several bookings at once, usually a lease billed together |
Every way to credit an invoice
| Route | What you get | Covered here |
|---|---|---|
| The undo icon on the booking's Invoices tab | A full credit of one booking invoice | Yes |
| Credit on an invoice that belongs to a booking | Opens that booking so you can use the route above | Yes |
| Credit on a manual invoice | A full credit, sent from the Send invoice screen | Yes |
| Credit on a Combined invoice | A full credit of an invoice that covers several bookings | Yes |
| Create invoice on the booking's Invoice summary after lowering the booking | A credit note for the difference only | Yes, under partial credit |
Use this page whenever invoiced money must come off; money already paid is returned afterwards on the refund page.
How to use
Configuration
Crediting has no settings of its own. When you use Credit and send, the email that goes out is the company's Credit invoice email template; if that template is switched off or missing, the credit note is still made but nothing is sent. See Automated emails for the templates.
Before you start: any ordinary employee account can credit a booking invoice from the booking. The Financials menu, the invoice list and the Credit button on an invoice are only available to an administrator account, so crediting a manual invoice or a Combined invoice needs an administrator account. The invoice must already be issued (status Send); a draft is simply deleted instead, see Delete or export invoices.
Using credit notes
Credit a booking invoice. Open the booking (main menu Bookings, then Overview, and click the booking), then click the Invoices tab in the row of tabs below the booking details. The Regular invoices list shows each invoice document with its Document type.
- Find the row with Document type Invoice and click the undo icon (a curved arrow) at the right of the row, between the eye icon and the envelope icon. Only an invoice not yet credited has it.
- On the Credit invoice screen, check the lines and the total. All of them will be reversed; you cannot leave lines out.
- Click Credit and send to email the credit note, or Credit (no email). Either way a PDF of it is made.
- Close the message Credit generated!. For a lease booking the message is longer; see Key details.
When it worked, the Invoices tab shows a row with Document type Credit (press Refresh if needed), the original has lost its undo icon, and the booking's Invoiced amount has dropped by the invoice total.
From the invoice list. Open Financials from the main menu, click the Invoices tile and click the invoice's row. The Credit button sits at the top right of the Invoice screen, beside Sync and PDF. For an invoice that belongs to a booking it opens that booking and says Please navigate to the invoices in the booking.; continue with step 1 above.
Credit a manual invoice. For an invoice with no booking, Credit opens the Credit invoice screen. Click Save and next to reach Send invoice, choose a Template, check To and Subject, and click Create and Send credit, or Process credit (don't send) to make it without emailing. Sending needs the required fields filled in; if not, the app says Please populate all (required) fields. See Raise a manual invoice for the Send invoice screen.
Credit a combined invoice. Open the invoice from Financials, Invoices. A Combined invoice shows Credit with a redo arrow icon. The app asks Are you sure? Please make sure to address all underlying shortleasebookings as this credit will affect them. Confirm. The credit note is created without a PDF, an email or a message, and the screen stays open: press Back to find it in the list. Each booking on the invoice has its Invoiced amount lowered, and every lease on it goes back one cycle. Open each booking afterwards and check its Invoiced amount and To be invoiced.
Partial credit. There is no way to credit only some lines of an invoice. To take part of an invoice back, change the booking itself, for example remove the extra the customer did not use (see Correct a booking's details). Then click Invoice on the booking to open the Invoice summary. To be invoiced now shows a negative amount. Click Create invoice (or Create and send invoice): because the result is negative, the app issues it as a credit note for just the difference.
Fix the VAT on a wrong invoice. A credit note copies each line's VAT rate, so it reverses the wrong VAT exactly. Credit the whole invoice, correct the cause (usually the customer's VAT settings, see Set a customer's payment and invoicing terms), reopen the booking, check To be invoiced on the Invoice summary and click Create invoice.
Worked example. Booking 10452 was invoiced on invoice 20412: rent €490.00 plus a child seat €35.00 is €525.00, VAT at 21% €110.25, total €635.25.
| Situation | What you do | Result |
|---|---|---|
| The booking was cancelled | Undo icon, Credit and send | Credit note 20431 for −€635.25; Invoiced amount goes from €635.25 to €0.00 |
| The seat was never fitted | Remove the seat from the booking, Create invoice | A credit note for −€42.35 (−€35.00 and −€7.35 VAT); invoice 20412 stays as it is |
| The customer should not have been charged VAT | Credit 20412 in full, correct the customer's VAT settings, Create invoice | −€635.25, then a new invoice for €525.00 with no VAT |
Key details
- Dates and number. The credit note's invoice date and due date are both today. It takes the next number from the same series as your invoices, see Invoice numbers and dates.
- Cancelling does not credit. Cancelling an invoiced booking only warns Please note that their are still invoices in booking. and cancels it anyway; the invoice stays open until you credit it. Credit it as described above (see also Cancel a booking), then use Create invoice for whatever To be invoiced still shows, such as a cancellation fee.
- Lease invoices. Crediting a lease booking's invoice moves the lease back one cycle, so that month is billed again. The Credit generated! message then advises you to adjust the price and create the replacement invoice yourself; if you don't, the uninvoiced month is added to the next invoice. See Invoice and extend a running lease.
- Payments are not touched. If the customer has now paid more than they owe, the booking shows To be refunded; see Refunds.
- Once only. An invoice can be credited once; to charge again, create a new invoice.
- Accounting and e-invoicing. The credit note goes to accounting like any invoice (Accounting sync) and over Peppol as a credit note (E-invoicing over Peppol).
What to do next: if the customer had already paid, settle the overpayment on the refund page. If the invoice was wrong rather than unwanted, issue the corrected invoice straight away from the booking's Invoice summary, and send it as described in Send an invoice.
Q&A
Why did the customer receive no email after I clicked Credit and send? The credit note was made, but the Credit invoice email template is switched off or missing. Check the template under Automated emails, then send the credit note PDF from the envelope icon on its row in the booking's Invoices tab.
Why does the message say "Failed to credit invoice. Please refresh your screen and try again."? The invoice's lines do not add up to its total, or the screen was showing an out-of-date copy. Refresh the page and try once more. On a manual invoice this also happens when the invoice has a negative line, such as a discount. If it keeps failing, contact RentVisie support; do not create a negative manual invoice by hand to replace it.
Why does it say "Cannot credit as invoice is linked to multiple bookings. Please contact support."? The invoice covers more than one booking but is not marked Combined, so the booking route cannot credit it. Contact RentVisie support.
Why is there no undo icon on the booking's invoice? The invoice has already been credited, or the row is a Deposit Invoice or a Credit, which cannot be credited from here. A combined invoice has no undo icon either: credit it from Financials, Invoices, as described above.
Why does a combined credit note still show a Credit button? A credit note made from a Combined invoice is itself marked Combined, and the button does not check whether the invoice is already a credit. Do not click it: it would reverse the credit note and charge the customer again. If it has happened, contact RentVisie support.
Why can I not see a Credit button on an invoice? The invoice is still a Draft, is already credited, or is itself a credit note. A draft needs no credit note: correct it or delete it.
Why did Create invoice produce no credit note after I lowered the booking? The change did not alter the booking's total, so To be invoiced is zero and there is nothing to credit. Check that the extra was removed and saved, then check To be invoiced on the Invoice summary again.
Why does the Invoice summary have no Create invoice button? The booking shows Invoicing locked, which means its invoicing is handled outside the app. Partial credits cannot be made on it; ask whoever handles invoicing for that booking.
Related pages: Invoice a booking for the Invoice summary and its checks, Refunds for paying the money back, and Invoice a long rental or a group company without VAT for VAT that changes when a rental is extended or shortened.