Returns and exchanges

Returns run in both directions: from a dealer back to you (customer to us) and from you back to a supplier (us to supplier). Each Returns record names the dealer or supplier, the reason, the requested date and the date the authorization expires. Its return lines point back to the original shipment line or goods receipt line and, where billed, to the original invoice or bill line. The authorized quantity cannot exceed what was delivered or received and has not already been returned.

• Authorize first. A return moves from pending approval to Authorized as a return authorization decision. The Sales Manager decides dealer returns and the Purchasing Manager decides returns to suppliers.
• Record the actual quantity. return lines hold the authorized quantity, the actual quantity, the lot number and the date the goods physically arrived or left, along with the value that was originally issued.
• Decide the goods separately. return dispositions record what happens to the returned quantity: Restock, Hold, Rework, Scrap, send to supplier or return to dealer. Each disposition is approved and posted as its own stock event.

Agree the return reasons your dealers and suppliers use, how long an authorization stays valid and which locations hold returned goods until a decision is made. Agree who approves each disposition kind and when held stock must be inspected. A disposition does not create a credit note or refund on its own, so agree how the Accountant raises a credit note in customer invoices with document type credit note, or a supplier credit in supplier invoices, and who approves any refund.

A dealer reports hardened bags in a recent delivery and asks to send them back. The Sales Representative raises a return against the original shipment line with the reason and lot number. The Sales Manager authorizes it, bounded by the quantity that was delivered and not yet returned.

When the bags arrive, the Warehouse Operator records the actual quantity, which is lower than authorized. The return moves to pending disposition. The Warehouse Manager approves Scrap for the hardened bags and Restock for a few that are still sound, and each disposition posts its own stock event with the carrying value it moves. The Accountant then prepares a credit note against the original invoice line for the returned quantity, and the Finance Manager approves it.

During the pilot, try to authorize a second return for the same shipment line that would take the total above the delivered quantity. The authorization should be refused.

• Returns awaiting authorization — dealer and supplier returns waiting for a decision, with direction, party, reason and expiry.
• Stock by location — held and restocked quantities in the locations that receive returned goods.
• My pending decisions — return authorizations and dispositions assigned to you for a decision.

• Return to disposition: Authorize the return, receive the goods, decide the disposition and settle the credit.
• Invoice to cash: Credit notes and refunds follow the same approval and posting rules as invoices.

Check roles and permissions before assigning return approvals.