Project

General

Profile

Wiki » 07 EDI-Web and email notifications »

Сredit note

01 What is a credit note

  1. A credit note is a commercial and accounting document issued by the seller to the buyer to reduce the amount payable on a previously issued invoice.
  2. Typical reasons are returns, quantity or price corrections, discounts, rebates or other adjustments related to the original invoice.
  3. In EDI, a credit note is an electronic business document similar to an invoice, but with negative quantities and/or amounts, so ERP systems automatically update receivables, payables and VAT.
    ​

02 When a credit note is used

Credit notes are used in typical business scenarios:

  1. Returned or damaged goods – part or all of the delivered goods are returned; the seller issues a credit note for the returned quantity instead of a new “negative” invoice.
  2. Price or quantity correction – the original invoice contained wrong unit price, tax rate, discount or quantity, and this needs to be corrected while keeping a clear audit trail.
  3. Bonuses and retrospective discounts – the buyer fulfils agreed conditions (turnover, payment discipline etc.), and the seller grants an after-the-fact discount via credit note, reducing the total amount due.
  4. Service level or quality issues – if the seller compensates the buyer (e.g. delays, quality problems) by reducing the invoiced amount, this is often documented with a credit note for transparency and tax purposes.
  5. In many jurisdictions the credit note is required to legally reduce VAT and revenue tied to the original invoice.

03 Credit note structure in Docura

*Main elements:/

  1. Parties – Buyer, Seller and Delivery address fields identify the trading partners (e.g. Rapavis OÜ as buyer, Docura OÜ as seller, and a specific store as delivery location).
  2. Document metadata – document number, document date, payment due date, currency (EUR) and delivery date ensure traceability and link the credit note to the business process and original # invoice.
  3. Line item data – item description, GTIN, supplier item code and unit of measure describe the product that is being credited.
  4. Negative quantity – quantity is set to -1, which technically means that one unit is removed from the previously invoiced quantity.
  5. Amounts and VAT – net price is positive, but net amount, tax amount and total gross amount are negative, so the total document value is -4.33 EUR in this example.
  6. Because the structure mirrors a normal invoice, Docura and partner ERPs can process the credit note automatically and post the opposite accounting entries.

The first Docura screen shows a credit note that looks almost identical to a sales invoice, but represents a negative adjustment.
​

The second Docura screen focuses on the single credit line and resulting totals.

  1. Quantity: -1 piece of “Alma pasteurized whole milk 3,8–4,2”.
  2. Net price: 3.490 EUR; with quantity -1 this becomes net amount -3.49 EUR.
  3. VAT: with a 24% tax rate, VAT on -3.49 EUR is -0.84 EUR (rounded).
  4. Total gross amount: net amount -3.49 EUR + tax amount -0.84 EUR = -4.33 EUR.
  5. This means the buyer’s payable and the seller’s receivable are both reduced by 4.33 EUR compared to the original invoice, while VAT is corrected by -0.84 EUR in tax reports.

04 Integration with EDI

  1. In an EDI environment, the credit note follows the same automated flow as an invoice, but with negative QUANTITY values.
  2. Standard formats – credit notes are exchanged in formats such as EDIFACT, XML (including Docura XML), Peppol BIS or other agreed standards between partners.
  3. Reference to original invoice – the EDI message typically includes the original invoice number so both ERPs can match the credit note and apply the correction automatically.
  4. Seller’s ERP generates the credit note and sends it via EDI provider (Docura).
  5. Docura validates and converts the document if needed and forwards it to the buyer.
  6. Buyer’s ERP imports the credit note, links it to the original invoice and updates accounting entries (AP/AR and VAT) without manual data entry.

​
This automation ensures consistent balances between trading partners and provides a clear, auditable history of all corrections to original invoices.