No matter how well you want to do things in your sales processes, it is possible that a customer may ask you for the return of an item he/she bought from you, or the back of an invoice that is considered wrong: today we will learn more about the credit invoices, some elements that are almost always in the daily life of any company.
Table of Contents
Definition of a credit memo invoice
The document we commonly know as invoice reflects all the data of a commercial transaction, and has a series of linkages, both for the issuing entity and for the recipient:
- It legally implies an obligation to pay and a right to collect.
- It may have entailed a inventory movement.
- It has a fiscal impact.
- It entails a accounting adjustment in the company’s accounts.
- It can act as source of guarantee on the products or services invoiced.
Create credit invoices with STEL Order, one of the best invoicing programs of 2023
By definition, a credit invoice is that document that allows a company to cancel or correct a previously issued invoice; If the company has ERP software or an automated accounting module, it will be crucial that they know how to make a credit invoice, or have some sample credit invoice template. It should be noted that companies have the obligation to issue a credit invoice if they have previously issued an invoice that presents some irregularity according to the official provisions of the State, which are included in sections 6 and 7 of Royal Decree 1619/2020 , of November 30.
Characteristics of a credit invoice
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The sign of credit and amendment invoices
It is important to bear in mind the accounting implications when carrying out this administrative procedure: the Royal Decree mentioned above establishes that credit invoices are a type of rectifying invoice: while the amount shown on rectifying invoices has a positive sign, the amount shown on credit invoices has a negative sign.
Requirements of a credit invoice
For a credit invoice to be legally valid, it must include some reference to the ordinary invoice on which it acts; it is also required to detail the cause that has motivated the issue of such invoice.
Also, the rest of the elements of the credit invoice must coincide with all those contained in the ordinary invoice, namely: identification of the two parties, reflection of the concept, tax rate, date of issuance, due date…
Situations in which you need to make a credit invoice
Disposiciones de la Agencia Tributaria
Below, we show you a summary of the suppositions for which a company, for legal purposes, must make a credit of an erroneous invoice:
- Defect in formal requirements: the Royal Decree establishes the requirements that all invoices issued must meet: an error in the price, a discrepancy in the concept of the invoice, or when the invoiced item does not match the physical product that has been delivered.
- Error in tax calculation: in this case, a tax would have been reflected that does not correspond to the tax nature of the product or service invoiced, for example, by failing to apply a VAT quota or applying a rate of 4% instead of 21%, and so on.
- Change in the taxable base: any change in the taxable base entails a modification of its added taxes, so the law requires regularizing them. This change must be duly justified: otherwise, the Tax Agency will not accept this credit invoice.
The Tax Agency, however, exempts companies from the responsibility of issuing corrective invoices, in the event that the irregularity of the original invoice has been detected four years after its date of issue.
Everyday situations in which credit invoices are used
In addition, in the day to day of the company, we can find that a client requests the return of a product that we have sold him: in this case, we will have to emit a invoice of return in the form of credit invoice (with negative sign). On the one hand, we have to regularize the customer’s statement of account with a credit entry and, on the other hand, adjust our inventory with an inward movement that regularizes the stock outflow of the original invoice.
It may also be that, by virtue of the agreement with a customer, he is entitled to receive some financial compensation from us: for example, that he has earned a Rappel, that we compensate him for some mistake of ours in the past, or that we transfer Marketing development funds to him. In these cases, we would issue an invoice with a positive sign, and not a credit invoice.
As you can see, issuing corrective and credit invoices is a very common administrative procedure that you should be able to perform effortlessly: our invoicing program will allow you to issue them in a matter of seconds.
How to make a credit invoice
To make a credit invoice, we must always start from a previously created ordinary invoice. In the STEL Order invoicing program you can do this from the total invoice list or from within the invoice as explained in the video below. You have in your hand a multitude of options with a couple of clicks (send invoices, check profitability, know if they have seen the invoice…), but now we will focus on how to make a credit invoice:
- From the invoice list: Right click on the one you want to rectify, go to “Generate” and then “Credit memo invoice”
- From within the invoice: Click on “More” -> “Generate” -> “Credit memo invoice”
We already have a credit invoice created from an ordinary invoice.
Now, we can print or send the invoice in case we need it and have full traceability over the document we just created (original quote, invoices, events, attachments, incidences…). You can also customize your invoice templates with different watermarks, colors or fonts so that your brand image accompanies you at all times.
