Returns handling

Returns connect a physical movement to the original commercial and stock scope. Sales Manager or Warehouse Manager authorizes the bounded request; the warehouse records what actually came back or went to a supplier.

A return identifies its direction, party, reason and authorized quantity. Return lines retain the original shipment, receipt or invoice lineage and the actual returned quantity. Disposition records what happened to the physical goods. A credit or refund follows a separate finance decision after the evidence supports it.

• Prepare. Link the request to the original shipment or receipt and the unreturned quantity.
• Decide. Sales Manager or Warehouse Manager authorizes the physical scope and disposition.
• Record. Record actual movement before Accountant prepares any credit or refund.

Agree who verifies original scope, who records condition on arrival and who decides disposition. Rehearse a request above the unreturned quantity and an authorized return that arrives short. Keep the physical result and customer financial correction linked but separately approved.

A dealer reports three damaged cases from a delivered shipment. Sales Manager checks the original shipped and already returned quantity before authorization. Warehouse Operator records the cases that physically arrive. If only two return, the actual quantity remains two; Accountant prepares any supported credit against the original invoice rather than crediting the full request.

At the handoff, the receiving person checks the source record, approval and remaining quantity. The team keeps the exception with its owner until the actual result is recorded.

For a customer return, Sales Manager compares the request with the shipped quantity less earlier returns. Warehouse Operator then records the actual items received and their condition. Warehouse Manager decides whether each item can return to available stock or needs another disposition. Accountant uses the physical result and original invoice when preparing a credit; Finance Manager approves the financial correction separately. If the carrier brings fewer cases than authorized, the difference stays open on the return.

• Returns awaiting authorization — Return requests awaiting an independent decision.
• Delivery exceptions — Shipment outcomes that may lead to a return review.

Follow the related process and use implementation to plan a representative operating cycle.