New Credit Note
What it is
Raises a credit note against one invoice. You find the invoice, click the lines you are crediting, adjust the quantities or prices if you need to, add ad-hoc lines for anything that was not on the invoice, give a reason, and save.
It saves as a draft. Issuing is a separate step on the credit note's own screen — nothing here touches the client's balance.
Who can open it
Needs the finance.invoices feature grant while FEATURE_GRANULAR_RBAC is on; the owner
bypasses it. With the flag off, any signed-in account can reach it by URL.
Before you start
A credit note belongs to exactly one invoice. There is no way to credit across two invoices — raise one note per invoice.
The screen knows what has already been credited. Each invoice line shows Invoiced, Credited so far and Remaining, and a line with nothing remaining is greyed out and cannot be clicked. That is the guard against crediting the same goods twice, so do not work around it with an ad-hoc line — an ad-hoc line is not checked against the invoice at all.
Tax is only calculated for INR invoices. The GST column contributes to the total when the
selected invoice's currency is INR, and is ignored for every other currency. That matches how the
invoices themselves are raised; it is not an error on a USD or AED credit.
Everything is in the invoice's currency, taken from the invoice you select. There is no currency picker, which is correct — a credit note in a different currency from its invoice would not net off.
Every control on the page
Step 1 — Select Source Invoice
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Search invoice number… | Finds the invoice to credit |
| A result row | Selects it, and loads its lines and how much of each has already been credited |
| Change Invoice | Clears the selection and everything you have built — the lines and the drafts are both reset |
Once selected, the header shows the invoice number, the client, and the invoice's currency and original amount.
Step 2 — Invoice Lines (click to add to credit)
Each row shows the description, Invoiced: … · Credited so far: … · Remaining: …, and the line
value. Clicking adds it to the credit at its whole remaining quantity, which you can then edit.
Rows with nothing remaining are disabled.
If the invoice has no itemised lines the panel says so: "No itemised lines on this invoice. Use ad-hoc lines below."
Step 3 — Credit Lines
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| + Add Ad-hoc Line | Adds an empty row not tied to any invoice line |
| Description / Qty / Unit / Unit price / GST / HSN | Editable on every row |
| The row's remove control | Takes the line off the credit |
The running Subtotal, Tax and Total update as you type. Tax stays at zero unless the invoice is in INR.
Step 4 — Reason
Free text, placeholder "e.g. Return of frozen goods due to vessel reschedule". Optional, and worth filling in: it is the only place the why is recorded.
Save Draft — reads Saving… while it works, then opens the new credit note.
What it writes
POST /api/credit-notes, creating a credit note in draft status with its lines, linked to the
selected invoice. Lines taken from the invoice carry the originating quote_item_id, which is how
"Credited so far" is known next time.
A draft does not change what the client owes. invoice_balances only counts credit notes whose
status is issued. Open the note and press Issue to make it count.
When it goes wrong
"Select an invoice first." Nothing chosen in step 1.
"Add at least one line." No credit lines. Click an invoice line, or add an ad-hoc one.
An invoice line is greyed out and will not click. It has already been fully credited — Remaining is zero. Check the existing credit notes for that invoice before overriding it.
"Failed to create credit note". The API's own message follows. Nothing was saved.
The total ignores GST. Expected unless the invoice is in INR — see above.
You changed the invoice and lost your work. Change Invoice clears the credit lines deliberately, because they belong to the invoice you were crediting.
Related screens
- Credit Notes — the list, and where Tally export lives.
- Invoices — the invoice being credited.
- SOA — where an issued credit note shows on the client statement.