Returns and refunds

A return brings goods back into your inventory. A refund gives money back to the customer. On a sales order, both start from the same Return menu in the order toolbar and are created through a single dialog, then each becomes its own document you can review and authorize.

You create a return when items are coming back and may need to be restocked. You create a refund when invoiced value needs to be reversed to the customer. Authorizing either document is the point where stock and financial figures change, so review a document while it is still a draft before you authorize it.

When the Return menu is available

The Return button appears in the order toolbar only when the order is an ordinary (unlocked) sales order and at least one of these is true:

• The order has a dispatched shipment.
• The order has an authorized invoice.

If the order is still a quote, or nothing has been dispatched or invoiced, the button is hidden. The Return button opens a small menu with two choices: Return and Refund.

The order line table has Returned and Cancelled columns. Quantities appear in these columns only after a return is authorized, so what you see there reflects returns that have already been applied, not drafts.

Create a return

Use Return when goods (or not-yet-shipped quantities) are coming back.

1. Open the sales order.
2. In the order line table, tick the checkbox on each line you want to return.
3. Choose Return from the Return menu. If you did not tick any line, Qoblex shows Please select one or more line items to return.
4. In the dialog, review the two groups Qoblex builds from your selection: – Not Shipped items, which are canceled quantities (they were never dispatched). – Shipped items, which can be restocked. The Shipped group has a single location selector at the top that sets where restocked units land, and each line has a Restock checkbox, a quantity, and an optional reason.
5. Set the restock location for the Shipped group, then for each shipped line set the quantity coming back and decide whether Restock should be on. Restock controls whether the returned units are added back into stock.
6. Optionally type a reason for a shipped line. The reason box offers a list of common reasons (for example, damaged or defective product, incorrect item received, wrong size or color, changed mind, or duplicate order), and you can also type your own.
7. Choose Add Exchanges to move to the Exchanges step. If you want to send replacement products, add exchange items there; otherwise leave the step empty.
8. Choose Done to reach the final step, where Create As Draft and Authorize appear. Use Create As Draft to save the return for review, or Authorize to apply it immediately.

If there is nothing left that can be returned, the dialog shows There is nothing left to return.

Authorize is the stock-affecting step. Authorizing a return restocks the units whose Restock box is on, releases canceled (not-shipped) quantities rather than restocking them, and updates the order’s Returned and Cancelled columns. Review the Restock setting on every line before you authorize, because it decides whether returned goods go back into inventory.

Once created, the return opens as its own document at Sales > [order] > Returns > [return number], and it is listed in the order’s Returns card.

The return document

A return document shows a header with Number, Create At, Authorized At, and Sales Rep., and a status of either Draft or Authorized. The line table has Product, Unit, Restock, Location, and Quantity columns, and a totals panel with Subtotal, Total tax, Total, and Units Count. A Comments box carries notes about the return.

From a draft return you can:

• Edit the number, created date, sales rep, per-line quantity, and location, then Save.
• Authorize the return (see the callout above).
• Delete the return. Qoblex asks Are you sure you want to delete this return? and warns This operation cannot be reverted.

Once a return is Authorized, its lines, quantities, and restock settings are locked. The Delete button is available on draft returns only.

If the return line was created for a batch- or serial-tracked product, or a bundle that contains one, an authorized return records which batches or serials came back (see View the batches on a return).

View the batches on a return

When a returned product is batch- or serial-tracked, the return records which batch or serial numbers came back so tracked stock is accounted for on the right batch. Qoblex selects those batches when the return is authorized; you do not enter them by hand on the return.

On the return document, each tracked line shows its recorded batches as small badges beneath the product, each with the batch number, expiry date, and quantity. Click a batch badge to open the Return Batches Details dialog, which lists the batch number, quantity, and expiry recorded for that line. This dialog is for viewing the recorded batches; close it with Cancel.

Batch and serial details are recorded against the return so returned tracked stock lands on the right batch. Bundles are handled per component, so a returned bundle can carry batches for each tracked part.

Create a refund

Use Refund when invoiced money should be returned to the customer. A refund does not move stock; it reverses value against what has been invoiced.

1. Open the sales order.
2. In the order line table, tick the invoiced lines (and any additional-charge lines) you want to refund.
3. Choose Refund from the Return menu. If nothing is selected, Qoblex shows Please select one or more line items to return.
4. In the dialog, review the refundable items. Each line shows the refund quantity against the maximum that can still be refunded, and the unit price.
5. Optionally add an adjustment line with Shipping, Adjustments, etc. to refund an extra charge (for example shipping or handling), giving it a name, amount, and tax class.
6. Finish with Create As Draft to save the refund for review, or Authorize to apply it.

If the selected lines have no refundable invoiced value left, Qoblex shows Selected items have not been invoiced or were fully refunded.

Authorize is the point where the refund is committed against the order’s invoiced value and reflected in the order’s financial totals and the Refunds card. Review a refund as a draft first; once authorized, its line items and adjustment lines can no longer be deleted.

Once created, the refund opens as its own document at Sales > [order] > Refunds > [refund number], and it is listed in the order’s Refunds card. The card also shows the refunded amount against the order total.

The refund document

A refund document shows a header with Number and Create At, and a status of Draft or Authorized. It lists Refunded Items with their quantities, an adjustments table (Adjustment, Quantity, Price, Tax (%), Total), a Comments box, and a totals panel with Total, Total tax, Adjustment, and Units Count.

From a draft refund you can:

• Edit the number, created date, per-line quantity, and adjustment lines, then Save.
• Add an adjustment line with Shipping, Adjustments, etc.
• Authorize the refund (see the callout above).
• Print the refund document.
• Delete the refund. Qoblex asks the same Are you sure you want to delete this return? confirmation and warns This operation cannot be reverted.

On an authorized refund, the refund quantity is shown as a fixed value, and line items and adjustment lines cannot be deleted. The Delete button is available on draft refunds only.

The Print button is available on a refund document. There is no equivalent print action on a return document.

Moving between a return and a refund

On an integration-locked order (one that originated from a connected store such as Shopify or WooCommerce and is in the locked state), the return and refund documents carry a cross-link button:

• From a return document, a Refund button lets you raise a refund for the same items. It opens the same creation dialog in refund mode.
• From a refund document, a Return button lets you raise a return for the refunded items. It opens the creation dialog in return mode.

These cross-link buttons appear only on integration-locked orders; on an ordinary sales order you create returns and refunds from the order toolbar’s Return menu instead.

Validation and locking

When you create or save a return or refund, Qoblex checks the lines before it will proceed:

• A quantity cannot be zero.
• A price cannot be negative.
• A custom (adjustment) line must have a name, a non-zero quantity, a non-zero price, and a tax class.

For refunds specifically, a line cannot refund more than the invoiced quantity that is still refundable; if you exceed it, the dialog reports the maximum that can still be refunded. If nothing is selected or invoiced, it shows Selected items have not been invoiced or were fully refunded.

Locking rules to keep in mind:

• Draft documents can be edited, saved, and deleted.
• Authorized documents cannot be edited the same way: return quantities, restock settings, and refund lines are fixed, and the Delete button no longer appears.
• The Restock column on a return is set from your choices when the return is created and is not changed on the saved document.

Troubleshooting