What it does
A debit note changes one party's account without goods or money. The party is debited; the ledgers you list on the note are credited. Typical uses:
- a price or rate correction from a supplier after you entered the bill (you owe less; a purchase or a discount-received ledger is credited),
- a discount a supplier gives afterwards,
- an extra charge to a customer after the invoice (the customer owes more; an income ledger is credited).
If goods went back, make a return instead (Return goods to a supplier, Take goods back with a sales return). See Which voucher do I use? for the choice between the notes and the other vouchers.
Open Debit note (menu Debit Note). The list shows the Voucher no, Date and Ledger (open a note to see its amount).
Issue one
- Choose Add
- Fill the header
- Add the lines
- Save
| Area | Change |
|---|---|
| The party's account | Debited: you owe a supplier less, a customer owes more |
| The ledgers on the note | Credited, by their own amounts |
| A bill | Nothing is cleared: the note names the bill as a reference only |
| Stock | Nothing |
| VAT reports | A line with a Vatable amount can appear in them (The VAT purchase reports) |
What the screen checks
| Check | Message |
|---|---|
| The date is before the fiscal year starts | The financial year for this transaction date has already been closed, so you are not allowed to make a transaction on this date. |
| No lines | Please provide data details to save the transaction. |
| A line of 0 | Transaction with zero (0) value not allowed. |
| A foreign currency has no rate | Please set the rate for the currency selected. |
After saving
Edit works until the note is approved (where approval is on) or its year is locked; Delete until its year is locked, and an approved note is not deleted (Change or delete a saved voucher). On a supplier's account the note is a debit (A supplier's statement and balance); on the supplier ageing it is applied to the oldest bills first like a payment (What we owe: outstanding and supplier ageing). It is not tied to the invoice it names: that invoice's Due amount does not change.
Common questions
I paid the supplier the corrected total and the bill still shows an amount due.
The bill's Due amount on the invoice list counts only the payments and returns that name it, not the debit note. In the example, paying 107,350 against the bill leaves it Partial with 5,650 due, while XYZ Suppliers' balance is 0. The balance is right: the 5,650 left on the bill is the debit note, which the invoice list does not count.
How does a debit note to a customer show on the customer's ageing?
As a new amount the customer owes, from the note's date, next to their invoices.