Handle customer returns and refunds

Quick summary: Separate the physical return, invoice correction, and money repayment while keeping the original documents linked.

Before you start

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• Sales

Find the original order, delivery, invoice, and payments. Inventory and Accounting are needed for the corresponding actions. Return acceptance and refund authorization follow your employer’s policy.

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Open sales orders in Odoo

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Choose the required correction

A physical return changes stock. A credit note corrects an invoice. Repaying the customer is a separate payment action. A case may require one, two, or all three.

• An unconfirmed quotation can be corrected before it is accepted.
• For a confirmed order with no completed delivery, coordinate cancellation of the open fulfillment with the warehouse or service team.
• Delivered goods coming back require a return linked to the original delivery.
• A posted invoice that needs reducing requires the accounting correction process, even if no goods come back.
• If the invoice was paid, an approved credit may remain as customer credit or require repayment under the agreed settlement; a return alone does not refund money.

Check the next handoff

Choose what is happening to the goods and invoice to identify the teams needed. This guide does not approve a return or calculate a refund.

Are delivered goods physically coming back?

YesNo

Process the case

1. Open the original sales order. Record the reason, affected products and quantities, and agreed outcome: replacement, price correction, or return with credit.
2. Check all linked deliveries and invoices, including partial deliveries and earlier returns or credits. Establish what was actually delivered, invoiced, and paid.
3. If goods are coming back, have the warehouse use physical returns from the original delivery. Record only the quantities actually received and the correct lots or serial numbers.
4. If the customer needs an invoice reduction, pass the original invoice and agreed amount to accounting. For a posted invoice, accounting follows correct a posted invoice to create and check the credit note; a draft invoice can be corrected before posting. Do not create a second unrelated negative sales order as a substitute.
5. If repayment is due, have accounting process and reconcile it against the credit using the approved payment method. If credit is retained for future use, record that agreement instead.
6. For a replacement, confirm the replacement delivery or order under your configured workflow and check whether any price difference must be invoiced or credited. Do not assume the returned goods automatically create or pay for a replacement.
7. Review the original order’s delivered and invoiced quantities, the return, credit, and settlement. Tell the customer what has been completed and what remains pending.

Result and common problems

The original order retains a traceable return and financial correction. Inventory and accounting totals reflect the actual resolution.

• Stock returned but customer balance unchanged: verify whether the credit note has been created and posted.
• Credit note posted but no money received by customer: inspect the separate repayment and bank reconciliation.
• Wrong return quantity: inspect earlier returns and the exact original delivery before validating another transfer.
• Price-only adjustment: do not make a stock return when no goods moved back.