Supplier refunds

A supplier refund records money a supplier pays back to you against a posted debit note. Use it when the supplier settles a credit in cash or by bank transfer instead of reducing a future bill.

Where to find it

• Sidebar: Purchases → AP (Purchases) → Payments & Credits → Supplier Refunds (URL /ap/supplier-refunds).

The supplier refunds list

Filter by search, status, date range and supplier.

Record a supplier refund

1. Click New Supplier Refund (top right of the list).
2. Fill in the form:

3. Click Save Draft or Save & Post (bottom right). Editing a draft later shows Update.

Validation messages:

• "Linked debit note must belong to the selected supplier."
• "Debit note must be posted."
• "Amount exceeds available debit note."
• "Refund date cannot precede the supplier credit date." The refund cannot be dated before the debit note it refunds.
• "Bank/Cash account is not postable." The account must be an active, postable asset account whose subtype is Cash or Bank. A liability, expense or header account is refused even if you type its id.
• The supplier, debit note and bank account must all belong to the active organization; records from another organization are treated as not found.

Post

On a draft refund, click Post ("Supplier refund posted."). Posting checks the amount, date, bank account, that the debit note is posted and matches the supplier, and that the amount still fits the remaining credit. The debit note's remaining credit drops by the refund and its status updates (Partially Applied or Fully Applied).

Posting locks the debit note while it runs, so two people (or a double click) cannot refund the same credit twice: the second attempt finds the refund already posted and returns it unchanged. The journal entry is labeled Supplier Refund in the journal list (source SRF) and links back to the refund, and the refund appears as its own row in the supplier's statement and in the Payables reports.

Refunds of foreign-currency credits

If the debit note is in a foreign currency, the bank line keeps the foreign amount and its base value at the refund date. The credit itself was booked at the debit note's rate, so SolaCount settles it at its original carrying value and posts the difference as a realized exchange gain or loss on Accounts Payable ("Credit settlement carrying-value adjustment" and "Realized FX gain/loss on credit settlement"). You need an active, postable exchange gain/loss account ("Configure an active, postable exchange gain/loss account for this organization."). See Multi-currency. The refund page shows the rate and base total of the bank leg, not the debit note's historical rate.

Void

Click Void on a posted refund. Its journal entry is reversed, the credit returns to the debit note and the status becomes Void ("Supplier refund voided successfully."). Blocked in closed or locked periods.

Drafts can be edited ("Only draft refunds can be edited.") and deleted.

Worked example

Emirates Lighting LLC owes Al Noor Trading LLC AED 1,470 on debit note DN-00004 and transfers it to Al Noor's Emirates NBD account.

1. Debit note DN-00004 was posted: Dr Accounts Payable 1,470 / Cr Inventory, expense and Input VAT.
2. Record the supplier refund: supplier Emirates Lighting, debit note DN-00004 (remaining AED 1,470), bank account Emirates NBD, amount AED 1,470. Save & Post.

The credit in AP created by the debit note is cleared by the cash received. The debit note becomes Fully Applied and Debit Remaining shows 0. VAT is not touched again — it was adjusted when the debit note was posted.

Second example: a part refund, then the rest applied to a bill

Gulf Paper Supplies LLC issues debit note DN-0007 for AED 525.00 (500.00 + 25.00 VAT) on 4 October 2026. On 9 October AED 200.00 arrives in the Emirates NBD account.

Debit Remaining on the debit note list drops from 525.00 to 325.00 and the note becomes Partially Applied. Trying to refund AED 400.00 more is refused ("Amount exceeds available debit note."); a refund dated 3 October is refused ("Refund date cannot precede the supplier credit date."). The remaining AED 325.00 is then applied to open bill BL-2041 (no new journal; see Debit notes), which makes the note Fully Applied.

On an income statement prepared on the cash basis, the refunded share of the debit note (200.00 of 525.00, spread over its lines) reduces cost in the period the money arrived (9 October). The refund is treated as realizing the existing supplier credit, not as a second credit.

Effect on AP and aging

The refund clears a supplier debit balance; it does not pay any bill and has no aging bucket of its own. If the supplier both owes you a credit and has open bills, consider applying the debit note to a bill instead.

For advance payments that the supplier returns (money you paid before any bill), use Record Supplier Recovery on the advance under Payments → Supplier Advances, not a supplier refund. See Payments.

Permissions

Supplier refunds are part of the supplier credits feature of your plan. With approvals configured for supplier refunds, voiding and deleting can wait for an approver.

Related

• Debit notes
• Payments
• Banking
• Bills