Return goods to a supplier

Quick summary: Coordinate the supplier agreement, physical return, and vendor credit without losing the purchase history.

Before you start

Apps

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• Purchase

You need the original purchase order, receipt, and supplier bill if received. Warehouse users handle stock; accounting handles vendor credits and settlement. Follow your employer’s return approval rules.

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Open purchase orders in Odoo

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Agree and record the return

1. Open the original purchase order and identify the receipt containing the affected goods. Record the reason and the supplier’s agreed resolution, including whether replacement or credit is expected.
2. Check the received quantity, product variant, lots or serial numbers, and any previous return. Goods still awaiting delivery are an open-order issue, not a completed receipt to reverse.
3. Ask the warehouse to create and validate the physical supplier return from that receipt with the quantities actually dispatched.
4. Review the purchase order’s received and billed quantities after processing. If replacement goods are due, coordinate their receipt under the configured replacement workflow; do not assume a return alone creates a new purchase order.
5. If a bill has already been posted and the supplier grants credit, pass the supplier credit document and original bill to accounting for a linked correction. If the bill is still a draft, accounting checks it against the final agreed quantities before posting.
6. Have accounting reconcile the credit with the original payable, future bills, or the supplier’s actual refund according to the settlement agreement.
7. Check that the warehouse return, supplier credit, and any replacement are all accounted for before closing the case.

Result and common problems

The return records goods leaving the warehouse; the vendor credit records the financial adjustment. Neither one proves that the supplier has repaid money.

• No supplier credit yet: retain the original bill and follow up; a stock return does not generate the supplier’s credit document.
• Wrong received quantity: check the original receipt, previous returns, and the return’s effect on purchase quantities with the warehouse owner.
• Replacement still outstanding: track the agreed replacement separately from the financial credit.
• Invoice is price-only wrong: resolve the bill or credit with accounting; do not return stock that physically remains with you.