Issue a credit note (refund) for a closed sale

Applies to Invu POS 6.10.1 on iPad, Android and Windows. Labels are shown as they appear when the POS is in English.

A credit note is how you refund all or part of a sale that is already closed and invoiced. It is created only on the POS; in the Admin Panel you can review credit notes but not create them.

• If the order is still open, you do not need a credit note: use Delete on the order.
• If the order is already closed, issue a credit note. If your register uses electronic invoicing, the credit note is sent to your country's tax authority.

Before you start

• The order must be closed and have an invoice number (fiscal number). If the invoice was left pending or rejected, first get that number with Retry Print (see "Common problems").
• You need an employee whose role has the credit note permission. If the logged-in employee does not, the POS asks for the PIN of someone who does (for example, a supervisor). Permissions are assigned in the Admin Panel, under Settings > Users and Roles > POS Roles.
• In El Salvador a credit note is always for the full sale (see "Differences by country").

Step by step

1. Find the closed order.
   • If it is from the last 5 days, it is in the Closed tab of the main screen.
   • If it is older, tap the magnifying glass and choose Search by order number or Orders lookup (by date).
2. Open the order and tap the Invu logo in the order's top bar. The Options menu opens.
3. Tap Apply Credit Note. If asked, enter the PIN of an employee with permission.
4. If the order is split into several accounts, choose the account.
5. Choose the type:
   • Full: refunds every item of the sale.
   • Partial: tap the items being returned. If an item has more than one unit, the POS asks how many. Then tap Apply Partial Credit Note.
6. Choose how the money is returned:
   • On a full credit note: Original Payment Method (repeats the sale's payment methods and amounts) or Other.
   • On a partial one, or if the order already had another credit note: choose the type (Cash, Debit, Credit, Check or Other) and then the payment method.
7. Choose the customer for the credit note, or close the list to use the order's customer.
8. If the sale had a tip, the POS asks Do you want to refund the tip?
9. If your business has it enabled, type the reason for the refund.
10. Check the printed ticket. If it says Pendiente envio… or Pendiente de… (these ticket texts are always in Spanish), the credit note was saved but has not been authorized by the tax authority yet: follow "The credit note was left pending".

Important: the POS does not show a success message; the result is the printed ticket. You can issue several partial credit notes on the same sale until every item has been returned.

If the customer paid by card

The credit note records the refund in Invu, but it does not return the money on the card terminal.

• If the sale was charged on a terminal integrated with Invu, also use Void POS Pay in the order's Options menu to reverse the transaction.
• If the terminal is not integrated, the reversal is done on the terminal or with the bank.

What happens to the register, inventory and reports

• Register: only a cash refund creates a cash withdrawal, on the register that is open when you issue the credit note (not the register of the original sale).
• Date: the credit note counts in the reports of the day it is issued, not the day of the sale. In the long report it appears under Total Credit Notes and Credit Note Payments.
• Inventory: the ingredients of the returned items go back to stock only if Return credit notes to stock is enabled in the Admin Panel (Settings, Administrative section).
• Reason: the POS asks for it only if Ask comment for credit note is enabled (Settings, Services section).
• Foreign currency: the exchange rate saved on the original sale is used.
• No internet: the credit note is saved on the device and uploaded later. The credit note's electronic invoice does need a connection; without one it stays pending.

The credit note was left pending

1. Open the original order and tap the order header to see its information.
2. Tap the Credit Note row. If it has a red circle with "!", it does not have a fiscal number yet.
3. On the credit note, tap the Invu logo and choose Retry Print.

Retrying does not create a duplicate credit note: if the document had already been issued, the POS retrieves its number. If the retry shows Fiscal Error, write to us with the order number so we can check why it was rejected.

You can also use Options > Reprint Credit Notes on the original order; this option only appears when a credit note has no fiscal number.

Review or reprint credit notes

• On the POS: on the original order, tap the order header and then the Credit Note row. To print it again, tap the logo and choose Reprint.
• In the Admin Panel: go to Reports, Credit Notes tab. There are two lists, Credit Notes (full) and Partial Credit Notes. Use the magnifying glass to see the details.

Note: deleting a credit note in the Admin Panel only removes it from Invu's records. It does not void the document with the tax authority.

Differences by country

Invu does not limit how many days after the sale you can issue a credit note, but each country has its own rules and deadlines. Check with your accountant.

Common problems

• Apply Credit Note does not appear. The order is not closed, has no fiscal number, or already has a full credit note. If the invoice was left pending, tap the logo on the order and choose Retry Print; once it has a number, the option appears.
• The PIN is not accepted. That employee's POS role does not have the credit note permission.
• I cannot find the order in Closed. That tab shows the last 5 days; use the magnifying glass to search by number or date. Credit notes do not appear in Closed: you see them inside the original order.
• The customer did not get the money back on their card. A credit note does not reverse the terminal; use Void POS Pay or reverse it with the bank.