Creating Purchase Item Debit Notes

Facilitating the entry of Credit Notes received from Suppliers in respect of Goods returned or Services not required.

Written By Grainne Reidy (Super Administrator)

Updated at December 16th, 2024

Introduction

Purchase Debit Notes record any Credit Notes received from Suppliers that are related to returns of products previously invoiced or services you no longer require. If you receive a Credit Note from a Supplier which does not relate to Products or Services, enter it using the Batch Debit Note Entry program. 

Item or Service Debit Notes differ from Batch Debit Notes. They allow you to enter Debit Notes and Invoices for specific Items (Stock and Non-Stock) that you purchase. These Items and Services can be set up and maintained in the system using the Item Maintenance functions. You can track the Stock Count of Items that you Return using the stock control functions of the system. 

See:

Edit and Credit Purchase Item Invoice (4.3) - AIQ Academy 
 

Creating Batch Purchase Debit Notes‍ 

 
 

Header Details 

Go to AP > Item Invoices > New Debit Note.

Supplier Item Debit Header Details

In the upper section of Supplier Item Debit, enter the following:

  • Debit Note No: Assign a number to this Debit Note. It can contain alpha and numeric characters.
  • Supplier:  Click the dropdown or type to search. When you click the relevant Supplier (Vendor), this updates some fields with values from the Supplier (Vendor) Master Records. Set up detailed Supplier (Vendor) Master Records to reduce data entry. 

Note

If you override any of this information during Debit Note entry, it applies only to this Debit Note and will not alter the Supplier (Vendor) Master Record.

 
  • Debit Note Date: This defaults to today, but you can change it to the date on the Suppliers Credit Note or any prior or future date. Note that this date will place this debit note into the correct financial period. This is done automatically to ensure that the transactions go to the correct period. If you enter a Debit Note date that is beyond the current period in the General Ledger, you will receive notification.
  • Order No: This number is automatically loaded by the system when creating a debit note from an order. Alternatively, you can manually enter a purchase order reference or Supplier's Credit Note No.
  • Order Date: This defaults to today's date.
  • Expected Delivery Date: This defaults to today’s date but can be overwritten. If this debit note does not relate to a specific order already entered on the system, you can record the expected delivery date here or the Return Date of the Items you sent back from the Supplier's Credit Note.
  • Use Acc VAT Code: Checking this box means that any items entered will use the account's default tax code instead of the product's tax code. For example, if a particular product has a default tax code of 21%, but an overseas Supplier is exempt from tax. This field can be modified to allow you to account for the difference.
  • BI Code: If the Supplier (Vendor) Master Record contains a BI Code for reporting purposes, it will default here. Otherwise, enter or select a code or leave it blank. This assigns it to all lines of the Debit Note. If needed, you can override it on each line prior to posting. 
  • Supplier (Vendor) Area: This defaults from the Supplier (Vendor) Master Record. This field is for analysing Supplier (Vendor) Purchases, for example into Areas or Groups, and in the Purchases Analysis data warehouse.
  • OCR Checked: This flag can be used if you currently receiving Purchase Debit notes into the system from a third-party OCR scanning tool. You can check this flag to indicate whether the Debit note has been checked for correct GL and Analysis coding. The flag is also available for selection on the Purchases Debit notes listing page.
  • Billing Address, Address 2, City, County/State, Postcode, Country: This is the address of the Supplier (vendor) that this debit note relates to. These details default from the Supplier (Vendor) Master Record but you can change them here. This will not alter the default Address on the Supplier (Vendor) Master Record.
  • Supplier (Vendor) Contact: The contact name for this Supplier (Vendor) defaults from the Supplier (Vendor) Master Record but you can change it for this Debit Note.
 
 

Line Details

Entering data

  • To create a new Line: Tab off the first line to display a second line.
  • To delete a line: Press 'F8' on the keyboard. This marks the line for deletion at the Debit Note processing stage.
  • To display Lines only: Click Display Lines Only to remove the Debit Note header fields from view for the Tab you are in. You can see more lines on your screen if you have many lines to enter.

Completing Line details

 In the lower section of Supplier Item Debit, enter the following:

  • Line: This is the line number on the Debit Note.
  • Item: Select the code from the dropdown menu or enter all or part of the code to return a list. The description and item price will auto-fill with the values set up in the Item Master Record.
  • Description: The Description for the item that displays here but you can override it here.
  • Sales GL Acc No: This is the default GL Acc No of the Item. You can override it here or before posting.
  • BI Code: This defaults from the Debit Note header field (if used) or the Supplier (Vendor) Master Record. You can override it here or before posting.
  • Qty: Enter the quantity credited by the Supplier on your Credit Note. For partial quantities, enter them in decimal form. 
  • Unit Price: The default Unit Price for the Item auto-fills when you select the Item Code. If it does not correspond to the Supplier's Credit Note, change it. 
  • Net, VAT, (Tax) Amt, Line Total All these values are based on the Quantity and Unit Price.
    • Net: The net price represents the total price for that line excluding Tax but including the default Discount for the selected Supplier. Entering a new Amount will automatically reset the Net and Tax amounts to total the new value.
    • VAT (Tax): This value is based on the Tax code associated with the Item, but you can override it with the Tax Code from the Supplier's Credit Note. If the amount calculated is incorrect, override it by double-clicking on the Line Total field and entering the required amount in the message box. If the amount you enter is more than 110% of the originally calculated value, you will receive a warning. 
  • Disc. Rate: Enter the percentage Discount given by the Supplier. You can override the discount rate here.
  • Disc. Amount: Enter the Discount value taken by the Supplier on his Credit Note to you.
  • Line Note: Enter extra line notes you wish to appear on the printed Debit Note.
  • Exchange Rate: This field displays the default Exchange Rate currently associated with the chosen Supplier. It will be used when posting the debit note to calculate the base currency value of the debit note. You can override it here. 
  • Sub Total, VAT (Tax) Total, Total: These are the sum of all the lines you have entered. The Sub Total is the sum of each line entered and is a Net (without tax value). The VAT (Tax) Total sums all the lines that have a VAT (Tax) value on them. The Sub Total and the VAT (Tax) total give the Total. 

If the Supplier (Vendor) uses foreign currency, both the foreign and Base Currency amounts appear. If you change the Exchange rate, the Supplier (Vendor) Currency total will remain the same, but the Base Currency amounts update.

 
 

Additional Details and Notes tabs

Additional Details tab

In the Additional Details tab, enter the following:

  • Delivery Address: The delivery details default from the Supplier (Vendor) Master Record but you can override them here. If you choose to print the Debit Note, these details will appear.
  • Ship Via: The Ship via field defaults from the Supplier (Vendor) Master Record but you can override it here to any valid shipper code.
  • Discount: This displays the default discount associated with the Supplier (vendor). This can be overwritten for the specific debit note. If you change the discount in the master record, any prices and quantities recorded in the debit note prior to modification would need to be re-entered to include the modification.
  • Account Credit Limit: This displays the credit limit agreed with this Supplier (Vendor) for information purposes only.
  • Account Balance: This displays the current Supplier (Vendor) Account balance for information purposes only.
  • Payment Method:  This specifies how this debit note will be settled by your company. If you select a payment method that has been set up as an 'online' payment method in Codes Maintenance, then related debit notes will be available to pay via Bulk Payments.
  • Forecasted Payment Date: This date is automatically calculated based on your company's payment history with this Supplier/vendor. The date can be adjusted here, and this will then be used within the Cashflow Forecasting function to predict when this debit note will be paid.
  • Note Printed on Invoice: Record a note for the supplier that will be printed on the header of the debit note.

Notes tab

Add and view notes against your Item or Service Debit Note here. 

To view a Note, find the Note and click View.

To create a Note, click Add New Note, type the required note, and click Save.

Saving the Debit Note

  1. After you have entered all your information, click Save
  2. A confirmation message will confirm the processing of the Debit Note and clear the screen to create another new Debit Note. Click Close
  3. You will then be returned to the Item Invoices grid.
 
 

Managing Debit Notes

Manage Debit Notes from the AP > Item Invoices listing grid.

To view or edit an existing Invoice or Debit Note, enter your search criteria in any of the column headers. By default, the window hides posted Invoices and Debit Notes and shows only processed ones. If you want to see all Purchase Item Invoices and Debit Notes, then click Clear. To view Purchase Item or Service Debit Notes only simply type PN into the Type column.

Debit Note Status

The Status column will display one of the following:

  • New: The Debit note is not processed or stored in the database. 
  • Processed: The debit note has been saved but not yet posted to the ledger. It has returned Items against it. It has updated the On Hand Quantities for each of the line items. It can still be edited at this stage.
  • Posted: The Supplier account and the General Ledger have been updated with the values from this Debit Note. Note that payments can only be made against posted debit notes. If the Debit Note has been posted, then all fields in the Debit Note will be greyed-out and you cannot edit them. 

Posting a Debit Note 

To update the Supplier's Account and the relevant General Ledger Accounts with the values on the Debit Note, tick Post to flag a Debit Note or Invoice for posting. Click Post Selected to post the selected Invoices and Debit Notes.

Duplicating a Debit Note

See Duplicating Item Invoices or Notes for full details.