Debit Note

What a debit note is

A debit note bills a client for more after an invoice has gone out: a correction to the invoice, a change in the place of supply, or a figure that was only provisional.

It does not change the invoice. It is a separate document for the extra amount, with its own due date, and the client pays it the way they pay an invoice.

Debit notes are issued to clients, but the list is under Purchases & Expenses in the sidebar.

Find your way round the list

Open Purchases & Expenses in the sidebar and choose Debit Notes. Before your first debit note the page shows a short introduction with a Create First Debit Note button. After that it opens on Overview, with your debit notes listed newest first.

• Create Debit Note opens a blank debit note.
• The tabs are Overview, Active (the list on its own) and Deleted (deleted debit notes, which can be restored). Tag-wise Report opens its own page.
• Filters narrows the page by Status, Client, Contact and Date Range. Debit Note Summary and Debit Note Graph under it follow the same filters.
• The Status column shows whether each debit note is unpaid, part paid or paid.
• Each row ends with icons for Quick Preview, Open in New Tab, Edit and Duplicate, and a ⋯ menu with everything else.
• Download As saves the list as a CSV file, with or without line items, and the columns button beside it (Show/Hide Columns) chooses which columns show.

Create a debit note

Click Create Debit Note. The page that opens is the debit note itself: you fill it in where it will print.

1. 1Check the Debit Note No and Debit Note Date. Due Date is set for you from Default Due Date in Business Settings. Change it, or click the gear beside it to set it in days.
2. 2Under Link Invoice, choose the invoice the debit note adds to. Each invoice is listed with its date and amount.
3. 3Pick the reason in Select reason (REQUIRED): Correction In Invoice, Change in POS, Finalization in provisional assessment or Other.
4. 4Under Issued To, pick the client from Select a Client, or click Add New Client.
5. 5Enter the extra amount as items, with the quantity and rate. Tick Deduct from Inventory on a line if it takes goods out of stock.
6. 6Add the tax, then click Save & Continue. Save As Draft keeps it as a draft.

• A debit note needs a number, a date, a client, a currency, a reason and at least one named item before it can be saved.
• Bank details, terms, notes, attachments and a signature are added as on an invoice. The invoice guide describes each part.
• With Advanced Accounting on, a Voucher Book row can appear under the reason and each line shows the ledger it is booked to.

Start from an invoice instead

The quickest way to add to an invoice is from the invoice itself.

1. 1In Invoices, open the ⋯ menu of the invoice and choose Create Debit Note.
2. 2A new debit note opens, filled in with the same client and items and with Link Invoice already set.
3. 3Change the lines to the extra amount, choose the reason, and click Save & Continue.

Send it and record what is paid

Saving opens the debit note on its own page, with the printed copy in the middle and the actions along the top.

• On the debit note page, Share holds Send Email, Send WhatsApp and the public link, and Download / Print holds Print and Download. In the list, the ⋯ menu of a row has Send Email, Send Whatsapp, Copy Debit Note link and Download.
• Record Payment on the debit note page records what the client pays against it: the amount, the date, the method and the Payment Account it went into.
• Payments are listed under Debit Note Payment Records on the page, and the status moves from Unpaid to Part Paid and Paid as they come in.
• Tick Mark Debit Note Sent on the page when you have sent it yourself.
• Customize Debit Note Design changes the template, colour and font, letterhead and footer, page size and watermark.

Statuses and rules worth knowing

• Draft is saved but not raised. Unpaid is raised with nothing received. Part Paid has some received, and Paid is settled in full. Overdue is unpaid past its due date, and Canceled is withdrawn.
• Only a debit note that is still owed can be cancelled. A draft is deleted instead, and a paid one cannot be cancelled. Revert brings a cancelled one back.
• A deleted debit note is kept under Deleted, where Restore brings it back and Delete Permanently removes it for good.
• An invoice cannot be removed for good while a debit note is linked to it.