Credit notes
A credit note reduces or cancels an invoice that has already been filed. Once an invoice is on the network it is a tax record: it cannot be edited or deleted, and it will not be filed a second time. So a correction is a new document that points back at the original — and that document is a credit note.
When you need one
- The customer returned goods, or a service was not delivered.
- You overcharged — a wrong price, quantity, rate or VAT amount.
- A discount was agreed after the invoice went out.
- The invoice was raised in error, or the sale was cancelled.
A credit note only ever reduces what the customer owes. If you undercharged, raise a new invoice for the difference instead.
Correcting an invoice that went out wrong
You do not fix the original, and you do not send it again. You cancel it with a credit note, then raise the correct invoice under a new number:
- INV-001 for AED 1,000 went out with the wrong price.
- CN-001 credits the AED 1,000 in full, points at INV-001, and gives the reason — here DL8.61.1.E, charged in error.
- INV-002 is raised for the correct AED 800.
The customer owes AED 800, and the record shows exactly what happened and why. Where only part of the invoice was wrong, the credit note can be for part of it — credit AED 200 and there is no need for a new invoice at all.
The replacement needs its own number: an invoice with the same number, date and buyer as one already filed is treated as already sent — see Invoice rules.
What every credit note must carry
On top of everything an invoice needs, a credit note is checked for two things before it is sent. Missing either one stops it, with the reason on the invoice.
| Field | Rule |
|---|---|
| Reason code (BTUAE-03) | Always required. One of the six codes below. |
| Preceding invoice reference (IBT-025) | The number of the invoice being credited. Required unless the reason is VD. |
| Preceding invoice issue date (IBT-026) | The original's date. Optional, but worth sending when you have it. |
Amounts on a credit note are positive: the document type is what makes it a credit, not a minus sign. A credit note has no due date and no payment details — nothing is being asked for — so those are left off.
The reference is checked for being present, not looked up. Make sure it is the number of an invoice you actually sent, exactly as it was raised in your system.
The reason codes
| Code | Use it when |
|---|---|
| DL8.61.1.A | The supply was cancelled — the whole sale is called off. |
| DL8.61.1.B | The tax treatment changed — the nature of the supply turned out to be different. |
| DL8.61.1.C | The price changed after the sale — for example bad debt relief. |
| DL8.61.1.D | Goods or services were returned and the money given back. |
| DL8.61.1.E | Tax was charged, or a treatment applied, in error — a wrong rate, a wrong amount. |
| VD | A volume discount. The only reason that needs no original invoice number. |
How each accounting system raises one
Raise the credit note in your ERP the normal way, against the original customer. It is picked up like any invoice and appears under My Invoices.
| System | Raise it as | The original invoice number comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Xero | A Credit Note, Authorised or Paid. Drafts are not sent. | Not read from the allocation. Map Preceding invoice reference to the field you type it in, such as Reference. |
| QuickBooks | A Credit Memo. | Map Preceding invoice reference to the field you type it in, such as the message on the credit memo. |
| Zoho Books | Sales → Credit Notes. Zoho's Reason text is also read to pick the reason code. | Map Preceding invoice reference to Reference#. |
| Odoo | A posted Credit Note (a customer refund). | Map Preceding invoice reference to the field that holds it, such as Reference or Source Document. |
| Naqood | Naqood has no credit-note document. An invoice whose lines total less than zero — a negative quantity — is sent as a credit note, with the amounts made positive. | Map Preceding invoice reference to the field you type it in, such as Comment. |
| Wafeq | A Credit Note. Drafts are not sent. | Automatic, from the invoice the credit note is allocated to. Leave it unallocated and it has no original. |
Always raise it against the original document rather than as a standalone negative invoice with nothing to point at — unless the reason is a volume discount, it cannot be sent without the original's number.
Setting the reason and the reference on PINT Mapping
PINT Mapping has a Credit Note group with the three fields above. Set them once per entity:
- Credit note reason code is a fixed choice from the list, applied to every credit note from that entity. Pick the reason you raise credit notes for most often. On Zoho Books, the Reason you type on the credit note is read first and matched to a code (“returned”, “cancelled”, “bad debt”, “discount”, “error”), and the fixed choice is used only when it matches nothing.
- Preceding invoice reference is mapped to the ERP field that holds the original number, as in the table above. Wafeq fills it for you.
- Preceding invoice issue date is mapped the same way, where your system has a field for it.
What you see in the dashboard
A credit note is marked in rose so it is never mistaken for an invoice: a Credit note tag in the Type column, the same label as its Document Type, and a Credit Note section on the invoice showing its reason and the invoice it corrects.
Everything else is the same as an invoice. It is validated, it goes through approval when the entity has approval switched on, and it moves through the same stages — see Sending invoices.
Credit notes you receive
When a supplier sends you a credit note over Peppol, it is booked into your accounting system as a credit against that supplier, with no approval step — the same as a received invoice. It shows the original invoice it applies to under Applied to Invoice, and in reports its amounts count as negative.
| Your system | It is booked as |
|---|---|
| Xero | A supplier credit note, against the supplier's contact. |
| QuickBooks | A Vendor Credit. |
| Zoho Books | A Vendor Credit. |
| Odoo | A vendor refund (a credit note on the purchase side). |
| Naqood | A purchase with its quantities reversed, so it reduces what you owe. |
| Wafeq | A Debit Note — Wafeq's name for a credit you receive from a supplier. |
Linking it to the original bill in your system is left to you: the credit is booked against the supplier, and matching it to a bill is done in your ERP as usual. See Receiving invoices.
Self-billed credit notes
Where you self-bill — you issue the invoice on your supplier's behalf — the correction is a Self-billed credit note (type 261), raised from your purchase side: a supplier credit in Xero, a Vendor Credit in QuickBooks or Zoho Books, a vendor refund in Odoo, or a negative purchase in Naqood. It follows the same rules, and is only sent while self-billing is on for the entity and the supplier is registered for it.
Through the OAuth API
Send invoice_type: "Credit Note" with credit_note_reason_code, preceding_invoice_id and, optionally, preceding_invoice_issue_date. It is filed as a credit note (381) under the same rules. The value is exact — anything other than "Credit Note", "381" or "81" is sent as a tax invoice. The fields are on Invoices.
If a credit note is rejected
These are the credit-note-specific messages, and what to change.
| The message says | What to do |
|---|---|
| Credit note reason code (BTUAE-03) is required | No reason is set. Choose one under Credit Note on PINT Mapping (or send credit_note_reason_code on the API). |
| must be one of DL8.61.1.A/B/C/D/E or VD | The reason is not one of the six codes. Codes are exact: DL8.61.1.D, not "return". |
| Preceding invoice reference (IBT-025) is required | The original invoice number was not found. Map Preceding invoice reference to the field that holds it, or fill that field in your ERP — then the credit note revalidates. |
Anything else is the same as for an invoice — see When an invoice fails.