Credit Notes
There will be times when you wish to add credit to a customer's account. In this regard there are two ways of doing this.
The first is to simply create a negative charge, which would get included as an invoice line item when its Start Date comes into play. This will then negate the value of the charge against the other charges on that particular invoice.
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With this method, you'd want to ensure that there's still some remaining debit on the invoice itself.
The other method is to issue a credit note to the customer, which is best used in conjunction with Customer Balances.
Creating a credit note
To create a credit note, first navigate to the customer whom you wish to create the credit note for by heading to the Customers listing screen and clicking the customer's name.
Once you're on the customer's overview screen, in the top navigation menu click Invoices > Credit Notes, this will take you to the Credit Notes listing screen for that particular customer.
From here, click the Add Credit Note button in the top-right of the screen.
Fill the fields in as required, and when ready click the Next button.
On the next screen, you can optionally decide whether you want to allocate the credit of this credit note to existing outstanding invoices to either settle or partially settle them.
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This will not affect any payments already in-flight for those invoices.
If you decide not to allocate the credit to any invoices, then the credit will simply be assigned to your customer directly. The effect this has depends on how your account is set up:
If you have Invoices use previous balance (see Customer Balances for more information) turned on, the value of the credit note will factor in to the total credits received value on this customer's next billed invoice.
If you have Payments use previous balance (see Customer Balances for more information) turned on, the value of the credit note will factor in to the actual payment taken for this customer's next billed invoice. For example, if this credit note grants £50 credit, and the next invoice is for £100, then the payment actually taken will be £50 to balance the account.
If neither of the above options are selected, then the credit will simply be displayed in this customer's running balance without effecting any future invoices or payments.
Creating a credit note directly from an invoice
Alternatively, you can also head to an invoices listing screen and in the Actions column of an invoice column you wish to create a credit note for, click the ellipsis icon followed by Credit Note to begin creating a credit note featuring the line items of that invoice.
From this screen you can then make adjustments as needed before either clicking Create & apply on invoice to create the credit note and immediately apply it against the invoice within customer balances, or clicking Create credit note to create the credit note and leave the resulting credit as available credit within customer balances.
Downloading a credit note
To download a customer's credit note, you can either do so via the global Credit Notes screen, found by clicking Invoices > Credit Notes. Once on the Credit Notes screen, you can then click the Download icon in the Actions column of the applicable credit note.
Alternatively, you can navigate to the customer whom you wish to download the credit note for by heading to the Customers listing screen and clicking the customer's name.
Once you're on the customer's overview screen, in the top navigation menu click Invoices > Credit Notes, this will take you to the Credit Notes listing screen for that particular customer. Once on the Credit Notes screen, you can then click the Download icon in the Actions column of the applicable credit note.
Sending a credit note
To send a customer's credit note via email, you can either do so via the global Credit Notes screen, found by clicking Invoices > Credit Notes. Once on the Credit Notes screen, you can then click the ellipsis icon in the Actions column of the applicable credit note, and then click Send.
A modal will appear where you can select to either send it to the customer's delivery email address or to a specified email address.
Alternatively, you can navigate to the customer whom you wish to send the credit note of by heading to the Customers listing screen and clicking the customer's name.
Once you're on the customer's overview screen, in the top navigation menu click Invoices > Credit Notes, this will take you to the Credit Notes listing screen for that particular customer. Once on the Credit Notes screen, you can then click the ellipsis icon in the Actions column of the applicable credit note, and then click Send.
A modal will appear where you can select to either send it to the customer's delivery email address or to a specified email address.
Deleting a credit note
To delete a credit note, you can either do so via the global Credit Notes screen, found by clicking Invoices > Credit Notes. Once on the Credit Notes screen, you can then click the ellipsis icon in the Actions column of the applicable credit note, and then click Delete.
Alternatively, you can navigate to the customer whom you wish to send the credit note of by heading to the Customers listing screen and clicking the customer's name.
Once you're on the customer's overview screen, in the top navigation menu click Invoices > Credit Notes, this will take you to the Credit Notes listing screen for that particular customer. Once on the Credit Notes screen, you can then click the ellipsis icon in the Actions column of the applicable credit note, and then click Delete.
Deleting the credit note will reverse the credit note in customer balances and any credit assigned to invoices will be removed, reverting the invoice back to its previous status if applicable.
Exporting a credit note to Xero
To manually or automatically export credit notes to Xero, you will first need to set up an App Integration for Xero.
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The Xero Offline app integration does not export credit notes to Xero.
Automatically exporting credit notes to Xero
Once the Xero app integration is in place, if you edit the Xero integration via Settings > App Integrations, you're able to toggle the option to Push Credit Notes on.
With this option enabled, when a credit note is created within Billingbooth, it will automatically be pushed to Xero.
Whilst on the edit screen, by default the credit note will be pushed to Xero in draft status unless Approved Status is toggled on. This option covers any pushed invoices and credit notes, and as with pushing invoices as approved, all line items on the credit note will require Nominal Account codes in order to be pushed to Xero successfully.
Applying Nominal Account codes
On a product, you would find this field by heading to the Products listing screen, editing a product, clicking the Accountancy tab at the top-right and then entering the accounting code into the Nominal Account field.
On a bespoke charge, you would find this field by heading to the Customers listing screen, clicking a customer, then in their top navigation clicking Charges, editing the respective charge, clicking the Accountancy tab at the top-right, and then entering the accounting code into the Nominal Account field.
For Voice, Data & SMS, click Settings, and then under the Voice, Data & SMS sub-heading click General, then enter the accounting code into the Accounting Code field.
Manually exporting credit notes to Xero
Once the Xero app integration is in place, from the Credit Notes screen (Invoices > Credit Notes) you can click Export in the top-right corner of the screen. A modal window will pop-up, allowing you to select the date range of credit notes you'd like to export, you can then choose to filter the list down by Customer Group, and then lastly selecting which Xero app integration you wish to export the credit notes to.