Return and refund
Connect returned goods, customer credit and the actual refund without losing the original purchase.
9 stages · 4 approvals
Roles and responsibilities
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Step 4Review disposition
Disposition NumberReturn LineKindBase QuantityScrap
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Step 5Approve credit
Invoice NumberDocument TypeAccountContextCredit Note
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Step 6Prepare refund
Receipt NumberAccountContextSource KindCash
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Step 9Resolve replacement
Order NumberAccountChannelFulfillment ModePickup
Process steps
Follow the process from start to finish. Select a step to see who acts and what changes.
Record request
Sales Associate records the original purchase, requested goods, reason and customer or recipient evidence. Check remaining eligible quantity. Walk-in requests retain purchase-specific entitlement; unrelated shoppers cannot share it.
Approval required
Authorize return
Independent Warehouse Manager reviews the exact unreturned fulfillment scope, excluding preparation and material edits. Freeze quantity and receiving location. Authorization does not prove goods arrived, restore inventory or grant a financial refund. Changes need renewed review.
Receive goods
Fulfillment Operator records actual returned custody, product, quantity and required lot or serial identity. Short, damaged or mismatched arrivals remain separate from the requested quantity. Preserve the original handover and accepted-delivery history rather than reducing it to make the old fulfillment eligible again.
Approval required
Review disposition
Independent Warehouse Manager decides eligible restock or other physical treatment from actual condition evidence. Required loss or value exceptions also need independent Finance Manager review. Customer restock restores original issued cost once; any later standard alignment is a separate approved effect. Held goods do not become available merely by arriving.
Approval required
Approve credit
Finance Manager independently approves every credit revision prepared by Accountant, binding the original eligible net, tax and quantity allocations. A financial credit does not create a stock return. Credits on paid invoices preserve historical cash applications and establish only the remaining bounded credit entitlement.
Prepare refund
Accountant selects the eligible funding source and settlement path, retaining the original purchase context and beneficiary evidence. Active applications or other refund reservations reduce availability. A credit-funded refund must not also consume the original receipt; money cannot be refunded from two paths for the same claim.
Approval required
Approve refund
Independent Finance Manager reviews the exact source, amount, currency, beneficiary, purchase entitlement and current revision. Exclude preparers and material editors. The approved instruction cannot be redirected by a later customer, account or payment-destination edit without renewed review.
Confirm refund
Accountant reconciles the authoritative cash, bank or processor outcome before the guarded financial effect. A submitted request or uncertain acknowledgment is insufficient. Uncertainty retains claims; an actual conflicting debit requires reviewed reconciliation rather than negative spendable credit or a blind retry.
Resolve replacement
Sales Associate links the return to a replacement order and settlement difference. Sales Manager independently approves the new order; Finance Manager independently authorizes any cross-context credit transfer. New stock claims and handover use that separately approved scope, never the old fulfillment's exhausted allocation.
Approvals and exception handling
4 approvals required in this process
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Authorize return
Warehouse Manager signs · receive goods waits
Returns, ReturnLines, ApprovalDecisions -
Review disposition
Warehouse Manager signs · approve credit waits
ReturnDispositions, StockEvents, StockLayers, ApprovalDecisions -
Approve credit
Finance Manager signs · prepare refund waits
Invoices, InvoiceLines, CreditApplications, ApprovalDecisions -
Approve refund
Finance Manager signs · confirm refund waits
Refunds, PaymentAccounts, ApprovalDecisions - Credit cannot restock goods; arrival cannot approve a refund.
- Returned or resolved units cannot reopen old fulfillment eligibility.
- Purchase entitlementPrior effects and reservations bound credit/refund capacity.
- Corrections preserve consumed stockSettled cash history.
When the process needs attention
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shortage
Receive goods
Short, damaged or mismatched arrivals remain separate from the requested quantity.
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exception
Review disposition
Required loss or value exceptions also need independent Finance Manager review.
Records and postings
Process reports
All reportsReturns and Credits
Follow authorized returns, actual custody, credits and confirmed refunds against the original eligible customer purchase.
Receivables and Payables Aging
Review outstanding customer and supplier amounts by entity, currency and due-date bucket after actual allocations and corrections.
Order Fulfillment
Track original customer promises, actual supplied quantities and the remaining commitment without counting repeated delivery attempts twice.
Payment Reconciliation
Reconcile captures, fees, refunds and actual payouts while keeping unsettled, disputed and uncertain amounts visible.
Run by an agent
Agent support
An assistant cannot provide a required independent human approval, invent customer acceptance or treat an uncertain provider response as confirmed money. It cannot promise goods already held or committed to another order, receive the same finished kit twice, or release a refund without its eligible source and decision.
# Example after configuration
$ curl -fsSL https://www.erp.ai/skill.md | paste into your agent
› return and refund · record request on PurchaseContexts, Returns, ReturnLines, FulfillmentLines
✓ Sales Associate records the original purchase, requested goods, reason and customer or recipient evidence.
› return and refund · authorize return on Returns, ReturnLines, ApprovalDecisions
⏸ approval · waiting for the warehouse manager
# 7 more stages after approval: receive goods, review disposition, approve credit, prepare refund, approve refund, confirm refund, resolve replacement
Other processes
5 moreOrder to cash
Carry the accepted order through shipment, invoice approval and cash application.
5 stages · 2 approvals
Collect and reconcile
Connect actual collections, invoice applications and processor payouts without counting the money twice.
7 stages · 2 approvals
Procure to pay
Purchase needed supply, accept the goods received and settle the right supplier balance.
7 stages · 3 approvals
Close a store shift
Reconcile register cash with actual source activity and an independently reviewed close.
5 stages · 1 approval
Manage customer rewards
Keep earning, redemption, returns and expiry tied to the original customer purchase.
6 stages · 2 approvals