Recording Customer Returns
Overview
For instances when you have to process a customer return or refund, the following are assumed (inside the note section below). This knowledge article will guide you on how to record a customer return in Paradigm using the Accounting module.
NOTE
When recording customer returns or making refunds, the following are assumed:
The invoice (all or part of the invoice items) in which you are going to make a return/refund has already been raised and paid, refer to the workflows below for your reference:
Raise an Invoice [Enrolment Invoice | General Sales Invoice | Invoice in Bulk]
The paid invoice has already been issued a credit note, see Issuing Credit Notes workflow.
With the assumptions above, the current invoice to be refunded has an Invoice Type of Customer Return and an In-Process status.
Workflow
Outlining the step-by-step instructions on recording customer returns:
1. There are two areas in Paradigm where you can record a customer return using the Accounting module: (1) Accounting > Summary (2) Accounting > Invoices. Whichever of the two areas you’ve chosen, find the credit notice that you just created, click the ACTIONS button and choose the Edit Invoice option.
NOTE: Take note of these two fields when creating a customer return / refund:
Invoice Type : Customer Return
Status : In-Process
2. After clicking the Edit Invoice button, it will open the details of the invoice with all the items associated with it. If you choose to edit the items to be refunded, refer to the optional workflow below, else, proceed to step 3 to process the refund without editing the items/amount.
[OPTIONAL Workflow – Editing Items / Amounts to be Returned / Refunded]
You have the option to edit the amount that you wish to refund to the student under the ITEMS section, as long as the status is still in In-Process. Click the EDIT (pencil icon) button against the item that you want to edit the amount.
Once you’re done with editing the items/amounts to be refunded, scroll up and click the EDIT INVOICE button under the INVOICE HEADER section, or you can go back to the Invoices screen and edit the customer return invoice from there again, (1)set the Status to Sent or click the STATUS TO SENT button, and (2)SAVE INVOICE.
Proceed to step 4.
3. After clicking the Edit Invoice option, (1)set the Status to Sent or click the STATUS TO SENT button, and (2)SAVE INVOICE.
4. Go back to the Invoices screen (Accounting > Invoices), find the customer refund invoice that you just set the Status to Sent, click the ACTIONS button against it and choose the Pay Invoice option.
5. Go to the APPLY NEW PAYMENT section, the system has auto-populated a payment (Payment Type: CUSTOMER_REFUND) that reflects the amount matching the credit notice. Also take note of / review / check the highlighted fields on the screenshot below, and click the SAVE NEW PAYMENT button.
6. Go to the POSSIBLE PAYMENT TO APPLY section, just above the APPLY NEW PAYMENT section, select the payment that you just created and click the APPLY AMOUNT TO ITEMS.
7. On the Accounting Summary or Invoices screen, you can see the credit note invoice has now been created and we also applied for the refund payment against it.
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Cancelling an Invoice