Return and refund

Connect returned goods, customer credit and the actual refund without losing the original purchase.

9 stages · 4 approvals

Roles and responsibilities

Sales Associate Warehouse Manager Fulfillment Operator Accountant Finance Manager System 1 Record request PurchaseContexts 2 Authorize return Returns 3 Receive goods ReturnLines 4 Review disposition ReturnDispositions 5 Approve credit Invoices stock return · system 6 Prepare refund Refunds 7 Approve refund Refunds 8 Confirm refund PaymentTransactions 9 Resolve replacement ExchangeLinks
  1. Step 4Review disposition
    Returns Awaiting DispositionPrepared
    Disposition NumberReturn LineKindBase Quantity
    Scrap
  2. Step 5Approve credit
    Invoices Awaiting ApprovalPendingApproval
    Invoice NumberDocument TypeAccountContext
    Credit Note
  3. Step 6Prepare refund
    Unapplied Customer Cash
    Receipt NumberAccountContextSource Kind
    Cash
  4. Step 9Resolve replacement
    Sales Orders Awaiting ApprovalSubmitted
    Order NumberAccountChannelFulfillment Mode
    Pickup
Red diamonds require approval.Rows show responsibility for each step.Dashed lines are records the system creates.

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.

Responsible
Sales Associate
Records
PurchaseContextsReturnsReturnLinesFulfillmentLines
Effect
Preserve the original purchase and requested return
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.

Responsible
Warehouse Manager
Records
ReturnsReturnLinesApprovalDecisions
Effect
Independently authorize eligible physical return scope

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.

Responsible
Fulfillment Operator
Records
ReturnLinesLotsSerialsStockEvents
Effect
Record actual returned identity and custody
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.

Responsible
Warehouse Manager
Records
ReturnDispositionsStockEventsStockLayersApprovalDecisions
Effect
Independently decide the eligible physical treatment
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.

Responsible
Finance Manager
Records
InvoicesInvoiceLinesCreditApplicationsApprovalDecisions
Effect
Authorize the bounded customer credit

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.

Responsible
Accountant
Records
RefundsCashReceiptsCreditApplicationsPurchaseContexts
Effect
Reserve one eligible funding source
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.

Responsible
Finance Manager
Records
RefundsPaymentAccountsApprovalDecisions
Effect
Independently authorize the exact refund instruction

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.

Responsible
Accountant
Records
PaymentTransactionsPaymentEventsProcessorEntriesRefunds
Effect
Reconcile actual settlement and consume its claim once

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.

Responsible
Sales Associate
Records
ExchangeLinksSalesOrdersSalesAllocations
Effect
Retain a separately approved replacement commitment
Approvals and exception handling

4 approvals required in this process

  • Authorize return Warehouse Manager signs · receive goods waitsReturns, ReturnLines, ApprovalDecisions
  • Review disposition Warehouse Manager signs · approve credit waitsReturnDispositions, StockEvents, StockLayers, ApprovalDecisions
  • Approve credit Finance Manager signs · prepare refund waitsInvoices, InvoiceLines, CreditApplications, ApprovalDecisions
  • Approve refund Finance Manager signs · confirm refund waitsRefunds, 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

  • shortage Receive goods

    Short, damaged or mismatched arrivals remain separate from the requested quantity.

  • exception Review disposition

    Required loss or value exceptions also need independent Finance Manager review.

Records and postings

StageRecordsEffect
1 Record request PurchaseContextsReturnsReturnLinesFulfillmentLines Preserve the original purchase and requested return
2 Authorize return ReturnsReturnLinesApprovalDecisions Independently authorize eligible physical return scope
3 Receive goods ReturnLinesLotsSerialsStockEvents Record actual returned identity and custody
4 Review disposition ReturnDispositionsStockEventsStockLayersApprovalDecisions Independently decide the eligible physical treatment
5 Approve credit InvoicesInvoiceLinesCreditApplicationsApprovalDecisions Authorize the bounded customer credit
6 Prepare refund RefundsCashReceiptsCreditApplicationsPurchaseContexts Reserve one eligible funding source
7 Approve refund RefundsPaymentAccountsApprovalDecisions Independently authorize the exact refund instruction
8 Confirm refund PaymentTransactionsPaymentEventsProcessorEntriesRefunds Reconcile actual settlement and consume its claim once
9 Resolve replacement ExchangeLinksSalesOrdersSalesAllocations Retain a separately approved replacement commitment
Data model →

Process reports

All reports

Order Fulfillment

Each accepted SalesOrderLines base quantity and original promise versus live cancellation, actual handover/title, delivered, returned and billed allocations. On-time percentage uses eligible quantity completed by OriginalPromiseAt over quantity due in the stated cohort; open/late/cancelled scope is disclosed. Partial handovers determine full completion only when all uncancelled scope completes. Revised promises and repeated failed confirmations cannot inflate success.

Returns and Credits

Authorized versus actual physical return/disposition, original issue value, independently approved credit, reserved/actual refund and separately approved replacement by original purchase context. Physical and financial populations remain separate; a commercial credit is not proof of returned stock or cash. Refused/returned/accepted delivery overlap uses exact unit/scope union rather than adding duplicate quantities.

Sales by Channel and Store

Posted invoice net revenue and independently approved credit reductions by entity/channel/store/product at a stated posting cutoff, joined to accepted PurchaseContexts without inventing customer identity. Show booked orders, fulfilled-unbilled and recognized revenue as distinct populations. Margin uses matched title-issue/return cost for the same scope; zero revenue or unknown cost gives unavailable percentage. Document currencies stay separate unless a disclosed retained functional conversion is used.

Receivables and Payables Aging

As-of posted remaining debits by entity/party/document currency/due-date bucket net exact live application/correction lineage. Unapplied cash, supplier prepayments and credit surplus remain separate, with purchase-context restrictions and functional carrying reconciliation. No silent cross-party/entity offset.

Payment Reconciliation

Actual capture/cash receipt, customer unapplied/reserved/held balances, signed open processor asset/payable sources, fees/debits/recoveries, actual payouts/merchant bank debits, cash deposits and uncertainty by entity/account/currency. Intent/authorization contributes zero received money. Show gross positive and negative remaining clearing separately and their net; reconcile to clearing/suspense/bank controls with prior FX. Payout does not add customer collection or revenue a second time.

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.

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# 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

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