Gutschriften — Credit Notes Guide

What it does

Credit Notes let you formally reverse or correct an invoice that has already been sent. Whether you need to refund a client for returned goods, fix a billing error, or grant a discount after the fact, a credit note provides the proper accounting document. Each credit note is linked to the original invoice and follows the same professional format with PDF generation and email delivery.

You can create a full credit (reversing the entire invoice) or a partial credit (correcting specific line items or amounts).

How to set up

1. No special setup needed — credit notes use the same client list, project list, and document settings as your invoices.
2. Review your VAT registration — credit notes follow the same VAT rules as invoices. If your organisation is VAT-registered, credit notes will include VAT amounts.
3. Check document defaults — the greeting and text on credit notes use the same language-specific defaults from Organization > Document Defaults.

Daily use

Creating a credit note from an invoice

1. Open the original invoice and click Create Credit Note. The system pre-fills the client, project, and all line items from the invoice.
2. Adjust the items as needed — remove lines that should not be credited, change quantities for partial credits, or update amounts.
3. Review the totals and click Save. The credit note is saved as a draft with an automatic number (e.g. CN-2026-000001).
4. Preview the PDF, then click Send to email it to the client. The credit note moves from draft to sent.

Creating a standalone credit note

1. Go to Credit Notes > New without linking to an invoice.
2. Select the client and project, then add line items manually.
3. Save, review, and send as with any other credit note.

Applying a credit note

After sending a credit note, you can Apply it to the linked invoice. This adjusts the invoice's outstanding balance, effectively reducing what the client owes. Applied credit notes are marked as completed.

Voiding a credit note

If a credit note was created by mistake, use Void to cancel it. Voided credit notes remain in the system for audit purposes but no longer affect any balances.

Works together with

• Invoicing — credit notes are linked to the original invoice. Creating a credit note from an invoice pre-fills all the details.
• Clients — credit notes appear in the client's document history alongside invoices and reminders.
• Financial exports — credit notes are included in financial export data for your accountant.

Tips

• Always link to the original invoice when possible. This creates a clear paper trail and lets you apply the credit to reduce the outstanding balance.
• Use partial credits for corrections. If only one line item was wrong, credit just that item rather than voiding the whole invoice and reissuing.
• Credit notes cannot be edited after sending. Double-check the amounts before clicking Send — if you need to change a sent credit note, void it and create a new one.
• The PDF matches your invoice design. Credit notes use the same professional layout as your invoices, including your company logo and QR reference.
• Review the activity timeline for a full audit trail. Every action — creation, sending, applying, voiding — is logged with the user and timestamp.