Return goods to a vendor

A vendor return records goods physically going back to the supplier — defects, wrong items, overshipments. No invoice or credit memo needs to exist yet: the return is the physical document, and the vendor credit is created from it when the supplier's credit memo arrives.

Create the return

1. Go to Orders → Vendor Returns and click Return Goods.
2. Pick the Supplier, the Warehouse the stock leaves from, and the Return Date.
3. Optionally set the Reason — Defective, Wrong Item, Overshipment, Damaged in Transit, or Other — and the supplier's Vendor RMA #.
4. Pick the Purchase Order the goods came from. Its returnable lines load — tick the lines and set the quantities going back. At least one line is required.
5. Click Create Draft.

Authorize and ship

• Authorize locks the return and reserves the returned quantities as planned allocations until shipment.
• Ship posts the movement. If it needs stock reserved for open orders, only the units the return takes move to backorder. A reservation that's only partly needed is split, and the rest stays allocated. The accounting follows the dialog's own rule: un-invoiced units post DR Accrued Purchases (clearing) / CR Inventory; invoiced units post DR Accounts Payable / CR Inventory.

When the credit memo arrives

Create the vendor credit from the return — the return's lines carry over, and the physical and financial documents stay linked. See Create & allocate vendor credits.

Next steps

• Create & allocate vendor credits
• Track a supplier's payables

Video transcript

Returning stock to a supplier? A vendor return records the physical shipment back — supplier, warehouse, reason, and the lines going back. Authorize locks the return and reserves the stock. Ship posts the movement — and the credit is created from the return when the supplier's memo arrives.