How to make a credit note in MYOB

MYOB uses several names for the same thing. Sales return, customer credit, credit note, adjustment note and credit memo all describe money you owe a customer. You'd make one for goods sent back to you, for a service the customer didn't use or didn't receive, or to give credit for an invoice they overpaid.

Have the original invoice in front of you so the return can use the same line details. Whether you can enter items or services on the return depends on your invoice layout setting, so check which one the original sale used.

It also helps to know what will happen to the credit. A customer with an unpaid invoice can have it applied there. One who wants their money back can be refunded. And if neither applies today, the return can be saved and used against their next invoice.

1. Go to the Create menu and choose Invoice. The Create invoice page opens with the next number already filled in.
2. Keep that number or type a new one. A new number resets the automatic numbering, so later returns carry on from it.
3. Pick the customer in the Customer field, and their address appears.
4. If you like, choose a Message to customer and add a note about the return in the field below it. Both appear on the customer's copy.
5. Check the date in the Issue date field.
6. Click the Field layout icon and choose the option that suits what you're crediting.
7. For an item, enter or select it in the Item column, then put the Units being returned in as a negative number, such as -5 for five returned items.
8. For a service, type a Description, choose the Category that income from the service normally goes to, and enter the Amount as a negative value. If you're unsure of the category, check with your accountant.
9. Look over the whole return, then click Save. Click Save again at the confirmation message to create the credit.

The return is saved as a credit for that customer, with a negative total. It's listed on the Sales returns and credits page, under the Sales menu, among the returns still waiting to be credited or refunded. Saving it doesn't link it to any invoice: the customer's open invoices stay as they are until you apply the credit to them.

From there, the next step is to process the return, either by applying it to one or more of the customer's open invoices or by recording a refund. MYOB's help treats editing, deleting, emailing and printing a sales return as separate tasks, so a return saved with a mistake can be corrected or removed.

If you use AccountRight on the desktop, there are two ways to make a customer credit. Reversing the sale suits a customer who paid the whole invoice and is cancelling: the security preference must be set so transactions have to be reversed, and Reverse Sale is on the Edit menu of the open invoice. For a credit on part of a sale, such as giving back a deposit, click Enter Sales in the Sales command centre and record the credit as a negative amount.

On the desktop, a credit for returned items entered with a negative quantity in the Ship column also puts the stock back into your inventory. A cancellation fee can sit on the same credit as its own line with a positive amount, which reduces the credit.