Purchase returns

The reverse of receiving — goods go back to a supplier, reducing your stock and what you owe them.

Overview

A purchase return records goods going back to a supplier — typically because something arrived damaged, the wrong item was shipped, or you're sending back excess stock. It's the mirror image of receiving a purchase order: instead of stock and a payable increasing, a return decreases both. A return is normally linked to the original PO or purchase bill it's reversing, so the correction lands against the right order.

Why it's useful

Without a dedicated return, the only way to correct a bad delivery would be a manual stock adjustment plus a separate, disconnected conversation with the supplier about the money — easy to lose track of. A purchase return keeps the stock correction and the debit against what you owe that supplier linked to the same event, so both your shelves and your payables stay accurate together.

Step by step

Create a return

1. Click New purchase return

   Choose the supplier and, where relevant, the PO or bill the return relates to.

2. Add the lines being returned

   Enter each product and the quantity you're sending back, with a reason (e.g. "Damaged on arrival", "Wrong item shipped").

3. Confirm whether stock should actually be deducted

   See "Paperwork-only returns" below — most returns do reduce stock, but not all of them should.

4. Post the return

   Posting reduces on-hand stock (if flagged to) and raises a debit note against the supplier, reducing what you owe them.

Effect on stock and payable

A posted return writes an entry to Stock activity for the quantity deducted, and reduces the balance on the related purchase bill (or the supplier's general payable if no specific bill is linked yet) by the value of the return — exactly the reverse of what receiving and billing did in the first place.

Paperwork-only returns

Sometimes goods are refused at the door, or a delivery is rejected before it's ever checked into stock — in those cases the items were never actually added to your on-hand quantity, so deducting stock again would be wrong. A purchase return can be flagged as paperwork-only: it still raises the debit note against the supplier (reducing what you owe), but skips touching stock, since there was never a stock movement to reverse.

Tips & best practices

• Link a return to the specific PO or bill it corrects whenever you can — it keeps the supplier's ledger readable instead of a pile of unconnected credits and debits.
• Double-check the "deduct stock" flag before posting — the single most common mistake is deducting stock a second time for goods that were refused at the dock and never actually received.
• Use a specific reason every time, the same way you would for a stock adjustment — it's what makes a "returns to suppliers" report meaningful later.

Notes & warnings