An issue return puts previously issued stock back into inventory. It is the reversal of an issue note: the goods come back on hand at a location, and the cost that the issue note booked as an expense is reversed. A storekeeper or manager raises one when stock that was issued out (for consumption, internal use, or a job) is not used and comes back into store.
An issue return posts to the ledger the moment you save it, as the mirror image of the issue note. You normally raise it against the issue note the stock left on, which pulls that note's lines onto the return so you only bring back what actually went out. Each line you return is capped at the quantity still outstanding on that issue note line, and saving the return moves the issue note along its lifecycle from Open to Partial to Returned.
Find issue returns under Inventory → Issue Return.
An issue return brings stock back and reverses its cost
Saving an issue return raises on-hand quantity at the return location and posts a ledger entry that reverses the cost the issue note recorded: it debits Inventory and credits your cost of sales. There is no revenue, no customer, and no tax, because nothing was sold or unsold. It simply unwinds an issue.
Before you start
- An issue note with stock still out must exist. Only notes that are Open or Partial (that is, not yet fully returned) have quantity left to bring back.
- The Location the stock returns to must exist in Warehouses & Locations.
- Each line returns a product. Only Inventory-type products can be returned. Service and Non-Inventory items are rejected on save, because they hold no stock. At least one product line is required.
- Every product you return needs an Expense Account and an Inventory Account set on its product record. The cost reversal posts to these, the same accounts the issue note used.
- You need the Create Issue Returns permission, granted per user under Permissions. List Issue Returns lets you open the screen, and Edit, View, Delete, and Print Issue Returns cover the rest. See Users, seats & permissions.
Return against an issue note
Raising a return from its issue note is the reliable way to do it, so the return only covers what actually went out and drives the note's status.
Select the issue notes to return
Go to Inventory → Issue Note and tick the issue note, or issue notes, you are returning against. You can select more than one only if they share the same Name and Location. Only notes that are Open or Partial can be selected. Then choose Create issue return.
Review the prefilled return
The issue return form opens full screen, prefilled from the issue notes: the destination Name, the Location, the Branch, and one line per issue-note line that still has stock out, each set to the quantity you can still return. Fully returned lines are left off.
Check the template
The Template picker sits in the toolbar at the top of the form. ZyncLedger pre-selects your default issue return template, so you can usually leave it. The template decides which fields the form shows and how the printed return looks; switch it here if you keep more than one layout. See Print templates for how these are set up.
Set the return date
Enter the Return date (required). This is the date the stock comes back and the date the cost reversal posts to your accounts.
Set the transaction number
The Txn number identifies the issue return. How you fill it depends on the number mode for issue returns:
- Automatic (the default): the field shows Auto-generated and ZyncLedger assigns the next number when you save. Leave it alone.
- Manual: you type the number yourself. It is required and must be unique across all transactions.
See Document numbering to change the mode or set up a multi-series numbering scheme.
Confirm the header details
Check the fields carried over from the issue note, and edit them if your template shows them:
Field What it does Location (required) The location the stock returns to. Each line returns to this location by default. Name The destination the stock was issued to, carried from the issue note. Optional. If the issue note had none, you can set one here. Reference Your own reference for the return, such as a request or job number. Branch The branch this return belongs to, for reporting. Adjust the return lines
Each line is a product coming back into stock. The lines are prefilled from the issue note; adjust the quantities down to what is actually being returned.
Column What it does Product (required) The item coming back. Must be an Inventory-type product. Description The line text, prefilled from the issue note. Edit it for this return if needed. Location The location this line returns to. Defaults to the header Location; change it to return a single line to a different location. Quantity (required) How many units to return. Must be greater than zero, and cannot exceed the Available quantity on a line tied to an issue note. Available The quantity still outstanding on the linked issue note line (issued quantity minus what has already been returned). This is the most you can return on that line. Shown as a dash on a line not tied to an issue note. Unit cost The cost per unit, shown for reference. You do not type it: ZyncLedger fills it from the product's current average cost. Total The line cost, the quantity times the unit cost. Calculated for you. To remove a line, select the trash icon at the end of its row. The Summary on the right totals the Line items, Total qty, and Total (cost) as you type. There is no price or tax on an issue return; the amounts are costs, not a sale value.
Add a return reason and notes (optional)
Use the Return reason box to record why the stock is coming back, and the Notes box for any other message, if your template shows them. For notes you keep as standard wording, pick one from the note selector to autofill; a note marked default fills in on its own for a new return.
Save
Select Save & New to save and start another return, Save & Close to save and close, or Save & Print to save and print this one. Use Print to print without saving and Reset to clear the form. The stock comes back and the cost reverses the moment you save, and the return is saved with a status of Open. Each returned line also moves its issue note toward Partial or Returned.
You do not have to return an issue note in one go
Return part now and the rest on a later issue return. ZyncLedger tracks how much of each issued line has already come back and will not let you return more than went out. A partly returned issue note stays Partial and remains available for another return.
Starting a return from scratch
You can also open a blank return with New Issue Return and add product lines by hand. Lines added this way are not tied to an issue note: they still bring stock back and reverse the cost, but they have no remaining-quantity cap and do not move any issue note's status. To keep the link and the cap, start from the issue note list instead.
What it posts
Saving an issue return does two things: it brings the stock back, and it reverses the cost the issue note recorded.
Stock. On-hand quantity increases at each line's location (the header Location, or a line's own location if you changed it) by the quantity on the line. Each unit comes back valued at the product's current average cost at the return date. This is the product's moving-average cost at the moment you save, not the cost the issue note happened to use, so a return can re-enter stock at a slightly different unit cost if the average has moved since. The change shows in your inventory reports, where the location's balance rises.
Ledger. For each line, ZyncLedger reverses the cost of the goods, the mirror of the issue note:
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| The product's Inventory Account | Line cost | |
| The product's Expense Account (its cost of sales account) | Line cost |
In plain terms, the value of the goods comes back into your Inventory asset and leaves your cost of sales. The amount is the quantity times the current average cost. There is no revenue, no receivable, no customer balance, and no tax, because an issue return is not a sale. The entry balances on its own and flows through to the Trial Balance, the General Ledger, and the Profit & Loss (the cost of sales falls), and it raises the Inventory line on the Balance Sheet.
Which accounts the reversal posts to comes from the product
You do not pick the accounts on the issue return. The cost debits each product's Inventory Account and credits its Expense Account, both set on the product record, which are the same accounts the issue note used. To change where a product's cost posts, edit the product, not the return.
How a return drives the issue note
Every line you return against an issue note adds to that line's returned quantity, and ZyncLedger recomputes the issue note's status:
| Issue note status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Open | Nothing has been returned yet. |
| Partial | Some of the issued quantity has come back on an issue return, but not all of it. |
| Returned | Every line has been fully returned. The issue is completely reversed. |
The issue return's own status is simpler. A return is Open once saved and stays that way; deleting it sets it to Deleted. There is no Partial or Closed on the return itself.
Tips & gotchas
You can only return what was issued
On a line tied to an issue note, the quantity cannot exceed the Available amount, that is, the issued quantity minus what has already come back. ZyncLedger caps each line at the remaining quantity, so you cannot return more than went out.
A product issued at zero cost returns at zero cost
The cost reversed is the product's average cost at the return date. If the product has no cost basis (for example the original issue posted no cost because the product had no cost history), the return likewise posts no cost of goods for that line. Only the quantity comes back.
Only inventory products can be returned
An issue return brings physical stock back, so its lines accept Inventory-type products only. Service and Non-Inventory items are rejected on save. See Products & Items for how the inventory type is set.
Only an open return can be edited or deleted
You can edit or delete an issue return only while it is Open. Editing re-syncs the issue note's status to match the new quantities. You cannot change a return whose date falls in a period closed by the Ledger close date, or whose ledger entries have been reconciled on a bank reconciliation.
Deleting an issue return unwinds it
Deleting an issue return sets its status to Deleted and reverses everything it did: the returned quantity leaves stock again at each line's location, the cost entry is removed, and the issue note's returned quantity and status roll back (a Returned note becomes Partial or Open again). The record is kept so its number and history stay intact. You cannot delete a return whose date falls in a closed period, or whose ledger entries have been reconciled.
Related
- Issue Note is the document an issue return reverses. Raise a return from the issue note list to pull its outstanding lines onto the return.
- Products & Items hold the Expense Account and Inventory Account the cost reversal posts to. Only Inventory-type products can be returned.
- Warehouses & Locations are the locations stock returns to.
- Stock Transfer moves stock between locations without posting to the ledger. Use it when goods relocate rather than come back from an issue.
- Inventory reports show the on-hand balance and the movement an issue return creates.
- Document numbering controls the issue return's transaction number.
