Supplier returns

A Supplier Return records goods your company is authorized to send back to a supplier. It connects the original receipt or purchase order to the outbound shipment, supplier credit, quality issue, and any replacement order while keeping those events independently auditable.

What a Supplier Return controls

Start from Purchasing → Returns, choose Supplier Return, and select the supplier. The supplier may give you its own authorization number; record that in Supplier RMA #. Carbon's customer-facing RMAs are a different Sales entity.

Whenever possible, choose Add from receipt. Carbon lists posted receipt lines for the supplier that still have quantity available to return, newest first. A source-linked line retains its receipt, purchase order, and invoice provenance. At confirmation, Carbon locks the relevant source rows and prevents active returns from authorizing more than was received.

Use Add manually for a blind supplier return when no source document is available. A manual line deliberately skips the source-quantity cap, so confirm the item, unit, price, and quantity yourself.

Header fields

Line fields

Purchase quantities may use a supplier pack or other conversion factor, but Supplier Return quantities and prices are stored in the inventory unit. When a line comes from a receipt or purchase order, Carbon converts it during authoring rather than carrying the supplier unit into the return.

After confirmation, the item, quantity, unit, price, restock fee, and source links are fixed. Those fields can only be changed while the return is Draft. Return reason and the selected serials or batches remain operational details while the return is open.

Status

Status is driven only by shipping. Posting the return shipment increases each line's shipped quantity; voiding it reverses that quantity. Stop Shipping short-closes a remainder, while Resume Shipping makes it outstanding again. Supplier credit and a replacement purchase order do not participate in completion.

Only one Draft shipment can exist for a Supplier Return. Choosing Ship again opens it, and Carbon fills it with the outstanding quantity on lines that have not been short-closed.

Tracked items

For a Serial- or Batch-tracked item, pick the specific on-hand identities to send. Carbon offers Available identities whose receipt provenance resolves to a posted receipt from this supplier. A receipt-linked line with exactly one eligible identity selects it automatically.

Posting a full serial or batch return changes that tracked entity to Consumed. A partial batch return splits off a consumed departing child while leaving the reduced parent available. Voiding the shipment restores the identities and records a separate genealogy event.

Supplier Return lines do not have a disposition field: the material leaves inventory. If an issue's affected material is marked Return to Supplier, Carbon can create a Draft Supplier Return from the issue and preserve its source and tracked-entity links. That issue cannot close until the linked return is shipped, short-closed, or cancelled.

Supplier credit and replacements

Issue Credit is available after quantity ships. It creates a Draft supplier memo for shipped quantity not already reserved by a non-voided memo. Although the button uses the business phrase “Issue Credit,” Carbon stores this AP document as a Debit memo because it reduces what you owe the supplier.

The memo amount is quantity × unit price, less the restock fee. Creating it does not post the memo or settle cash. Open it under Credit / Debit Memos and choose Post. A Draft memo already reserves the creditable quantity, while the Supplier Returns list counts only Posted credit in its Credited total.

Create Replacement makes a separate Draft purchase order and links it back to the return. It copies all authorized lines, not only shipped or credited quantities, and converts them back to the appropriate purchase unit. Review pricing and quantities before releasing the replacement PO.

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