Credit notes and cancellations

Finalised invoices are immutable and cannot be deleted – that's what the German rules for proper bookkeeping (GoBD) require. The Delete menu item is therefore greyed out for finalised invoices, invoice corrections and cancellations. You can only delete Drafts (see Create an invoice) and quotes that have not yet become an order (see Quotes). There are two ways to correct a finalised invoice. You'll find both documents under Sales → More documents → Credit notes.

In both cases the original invoice stays stored unchanged and is linked to the new document.

#Step by step: invoice correction (credit note)

1. Open Sales → Invoices and right-click the invoice (or open it and use Actions).
2. Choose Invoice correction (credit note) ….
3. For each line, enter the quantity to be credited – or use a free amount, e.g. for a price reduction: description, Net amount and VAT rate. If the invoice already has corrections, the dialog shows for each line how much can still be credited; fully credited lines are locked. Across all corrections, drafts and return credit notes, each line can be credited in full at most once.
4. Enter a Reason.
5. Click Finalise and confirm – or Save as draft if you want to complete the correction later.

An invoice correction works like an invoice: as a Draft it doesn't have a credit note number yet, can still be changed and deleted, and can be displayed as a Pro forma credit note. You'll find drafts under Credit notes, switched to Drafts at the top; double-clicking reopens the dialog with Pro forma, Save draft, Finalise and Delete draft. Finalise assigns the sequential credit note number, generates the PDF and e-invoice (same format as the invoice) and makes the document immutable. After that it can be sent by email just like an invoice. In open items it reduces the customer's outstanding amount; if the invoice had already been paid, a credit balance is created.

#Step by step: cancel an invoice

1. Right-click the invoice → Cancel (cancellation invoice) ….
2. Enter the Reason for cancellation.
3. Click Create cancellation invoice.

Cancelling always creates a cancellation invoice: its own sequential number (e.g. ST-2026-00001), a reference to the number and date of the cancelled invoice, and all lines and amounts negative. The e-invoice for the cancellation invoice is a credit note (type 381) with an invoice reference. The invoice itself stays stored unchanged and then has the status Cancelled. You can cancel as long as no payments or credit notes have been booked against the invoice – otherwise you correct the remainder with an invoice correction.

If the invoice contains a voucher that has already been redeemed, allverto asks before finalising ("Voucher already redeemed – issue anyway?") – see Vouchers.

#Step by step: cancel an invoice correction

If you issued an invoice correction by mistake (wrong line, wrong amount), you reverse it with a cancellation document, just like in JTL-Wawi:

1. Open Sales → More documents → Credit notes and right-click the invoice correction.
2. Choose Cancel (cancellation document) … and enter the Reason for the cancellation.
3. Click Create cancellation document.

The cancellation document gets its own sequential number (e.g. ST-2026-00002), names the invoice correction with number and date and takes over all lines and amounts. Its e-invoice is an invoice again (type 380) referencing the correction. The invoice correction then shows Cancelled and remains stored unchanged; the invoice is open again by the credited amount (or the customer's credit balance is removed), vouchers blocked by the correction are released again, and a return can then get a new credit note. Afterwards you create a new, correct invoice correction if needed.

You cancel a credit note without an invoice reference the same way – as long as its credit balance has been neither offset nor refunded.

#Credit note without invoice (goodwill, bonus)

For a goodwill amount, bonus or price reduction that doesn't relate to a specific invoice:

1. Open Sales → More documents → Credit notes and click Credit note without invoice.
2. Choose Customer and Occasion (Goodwill, Bonus, Price reduction or Other), and the Document language if needed.
3. Enter the Reason (appears on the credit note and in the e-invoice), optionally the Service period, and enter the lines with VAT – as a free line or with an Item from your master data (item search above the description). With an item, the item number and the description in the document language appear on the credit note, and the per-item reports include it.
4. Click Finalise credit note.

The credit note gets its own credit note number and appears as a credit balance in open items. Right-click it in the list: Offset against invoice … settles the credit balance against an open invoice of the customer, Refund credit … books a payout (Amount, Paid out on, Payment method). Neither can be changed afterwards.

#Credit note from a return

When goods come back, the easiest way is to create the credit note directly from the return: right-click the return → Create credit note …. allverto distributes the returned lines (with "Refund shipping costs", also the shipping costs not yet refunded) across the invoices of the order – also with "Invoice per delivery" and final invoices – and creates one invoice correction per invoice for the quantity not yet credited. Down payment invoices are not touched. See Create and check a return.

#Finding credit notes

The Credit notes list shows invoice corrections, cancellation invoices and credit notes without an invoice; the Type column tells you which is which, For invoice names the corrected invoice. The views All, Invoice corrections, Cancellation invoices and This month filter accordingly; in the left sidebar, Cancelled shows the cancelled invoice corrections and Credit note cancellations their cancellation documents. Right-click → Go to invoice takes you to the original invoice; there are also Document, Output, Send by email …, Cancel (cancellation document) … and Go to order.