It’s actually calculated dynamically every time by referencing all payments, credit notes and bad debt write-offs.
HI Glenn
that’s a shame because with how credit notes are handled it’s this figure that you need to see and it’s this figure that the running total should calculate in outstanding purchases because that is what is actually outstanding. It would be useful in the purchase management summary screen as well.
Next question(s), is it possible to dsiplay this figure? can a field be added to the database that holds and updates this dynamic figure? can the running total in Outstanding Purchases use this instead of the original amount?
Reading back up the post I realaised I didn’t explain why this is a issue, just to clarify, it becomes a problem when trying to work out how much to pay a supplier you hold a credit account with and there are multiple invoices and credit notes to include. Current method is to go into the detail of each one and write down the outstanding balance on a piece of paper.
Maybe this is what you’re after?
You can then see in the supplier screen the totals of outstanding invoices and also account credits.
I don’t see why you’d need to manually total the credit notes. If you go into any supplier detail screen the account balance for that supplier already factors in the credit notes and will show exactly what’s owed. You can also look at the creditor ageing report and this will give you a more detailed breakdown of aged debt.
Having a column that stores the credit note total at the invoice level is a bad idea from a programming perspective as it introduces huge margin for errors. You’re basically storing the same information in two places and there’s a good chance these will occasionally go out of sync. Also you need to update this extra reference frequently which puts more load on the database.
Every time I get a credit note from a supplier, my heart sinks as I always have to process it in an unsatisfactory manner. If the credit note is linked and has the same total as an invoice I have not paid, this is fine but any other scenario is frankly the worst thing about quickfile. We are often issued credit notes for invoices that have already been paid so where is the facility for this? Also sometimes we get credit notes for part of an invoice and I can’t find a way to process this either. I have read the various instructions posted by the accounting department at quickfile but frankly I find it all very confusing. If I do actually manage to post a credit note and include it in the running total of a group of invoices to be paid, the system alerts me that there is a credit note in the total and then takes it off, which makes the total more than it should be. I then have to go into the current account section and manually take the credit off the payment which I then post to adjustments - with an explanation for my accountant.
I see that quickfile don’t intend to rectify this any time soon and as it is a scenario that I have do deal with almost every month, I am thinking about looking for accounting software that is more efficient in this respect.
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Hi @chrissiemof
I’m sorry to hear you’re having troubles with credit notes for suppliers. I will however try to help you the best I can.
If the invoice has been paid, simply go to the invoice that you’ve entered, and go to More Options >> Credit Note:
You can then adjust the credit note as you wish, and you’ll be prompted how you would like to save it, for example, whether to hold the money on the supplier’s account, or whether to create a new bank transaction:
Using this method, you can adjust the credit note to be for just a certain part of an invoice.
If you’re having any issues, please don’t hesitate to contact us (like you have here). We’re here to help, as is the rest of the community (including other users). If there’s a part we don’t support, we’re always open to listening to our community and we are happy to investigate reasonable suggestions too.
I hope this helps, but please don’t hesitate to ask further questions 
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The OP is correct in high lighting again that Quickfile is decficent in handling credit notes.
The problem lies in Quickfiles instance to have a bank transaction occur at the same time as you enter the credit note on to Quickfile, on a credit account this is inapropriate but allocating it against an outstanding invoice as per your suggestion above, looses any obvious trace of it as there is no visual entry for the credit note.
.
Neither of the methods suggested within Quickfile credit note options are helpful, so…
Here’s a reasonable suggestion; allow Quickfile to hold a negative value invoice (or credit note) against a supplier so you see on any statement view this sort of senerio
inv A £10
inv B £10
inv C -£10 (Credit Note)
inv D £10
Total owed = £30
and allow it to behave like any normal invoice. Or put another way copy any standard accounting package.
Hi @aos
In your example of invoices A, B, C & D, what’s the purpose of the £10 credit? For example, why would the £10 credit be issued?
If there are already 2 invoices of £10 on the system, couldn’t you credit one of those which eliminates the need for a bank transaction?
If instant bank transaction is not required just hold the funds on credit and next time make reduced payment from bank for outstanding invoice by using credit on a/c figure
At first sight I am with FaradayKeynes on this.
I am guessing that there is an issue with the way that the particular supplier operates. Are the credit notes issued against specific invoices or is a generic credit issued for a return without referencing which of multiple purchases it applies to?
Hi Mathew,
It’s a question of reconciliation with a suppliers statement.
A credit is issued in my case when I return goods that are either excess to requirement or faulty.
In answer to your second point yes it can but there in lies the problem with how Quickfile handles credits you see sometimes that is ok, but for myself and the OP and I suspect many others it’s only appropriate occasionally. I only used £10 in my example for ease of addition and in hindsight that may have distracted you from the issue. Imagine all the transactions are for different amounts and that the credit does not match any of them.
Scenario: I go into my supplier, who I have a 30 day credit account with, and pick up ten items on the 1st of the month, that is then invoiced on the day and sent to me by email, I log that invoice on Quickfile via the dashboard. I return one of the items a few days later as it’s not required, they raise a credit note which I receive in due course. I could post it against the invoice however this is unsatisfactory as at the end of the month (30 days later) when I receive the statement from my supplier and try to reconcile it the two lists don’t match as;
the supplier statement shows
inv A £132
inv B £50
Credit note#1 - £20
inv C £60
Total outstanding £222
(this layout is, I’d say, an accounting package industry standard layout, all my suppliers show both invoices and credits in a simple list as above on their statements)
but Quickfile shows on the outstanding purchases screen
inv A £132
inv B £50
inv C £60
Total Outstanding £242, not stated as such but visible if you select those invoices with the tick box, this is the total regardless of whether you have or have not posted the credit note against one of those invoices.
Only when I select the invoices to pay them and select ‘allocate one lump payment’ option do I see a corresponding value of £222, that is if I’ve post the credit note against one of those invoices.
Simply put the credit note should be able to be held on the suppliers account without being allocated to a purchase so it is visible just like any invoice is and not ‘hidden’, then when I want to pay my supplier I pick the invoices and credit notes I want and get a running total that makes sense and pay that.
Quickfile should allow me to see a list identical to my suppliers statement, because that is how the transactions are managed between companies. A credit note has the exact same worth and effect as an invoice representing the transfer of goods or services between legal entities and should not be relegated to being lost within an invoice.
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By my reading what this seems to boil down to is a need to display a statement for a supplier in the same format as a statement for a client.
Yep, that’s all but it does involve Quickfile being a little less rigid in how it handles credit notes to do this.
Thank you for your posts. I’ll certainly pass these to our development team and we’ll investigate a few options. I can’t give any guarantees or timelines, but if something does change, we’ll be sure to update this post.
I agree with the OP and aos, after using Sage for several years and being used to Sage handling a credit note in the same way a purchase invoice is handled - I really did struggle with the way QuickFile handles credit notes. Especially when one of our suppliers holds a payment on account/prepayment for us to buy goods with. This added extra, unnecessary complexity when recording various credit notes they had given us.
+1 for changing the way credit notes are handled.
Thank you for your reply and explanation. I will try method you have suggested. What I would like to see however, is my total outstanding in quickfile to match the supplier’s statement. Anyway thank you for your help meantime.
Yes! That is what I would like to see. It would make things much more simple.
me too, having a nightmare.
Hi @axispara
If you’d like to start a support topic with a few details of the issues you’re having, we’ll certainly try our best to help you.
It seems like the same issues as the rest of this thread. I have a list of 12 invoices for one supplier i have entered via receipt hub, and a credit not that does not match the value of any of them. how can i get the payment to be correct for the bank rec. I have tried so many times and deleted my attempts, i will probably just cheat now and revalue one of the invoices to the value less the credit. every time i attempted to do this it would not allow the credit in the payment. I tried allocating it to one invoice and still failed.