How Do Credits Work?

Credits are notes issued to Clients indicating owed services to be provided at a future date to your Clients. These include Credit Notes, Prepayment and Overpayment Credits which are all consolidated into one single Credit balance that can be applied as payments on future Invoices.
 
 

Credit Notes

Credit Notes are used for when you want to offer Items or Services to Clients at a future date without receiving any form of payment first. Credit Notes are often issued as gifts, loyalty rewards, or free offers to entice new customers to try out your Items or Services. They can also be used to provide store credit in lieu of refunding payments. Create a Credit Note with the below steps:
Credit note creation screen with fields to fill out.
  1. Click on either:
    1. The Dashboard section
      1. Then click on the Create New button
      2. Select Credit
    2. The Clients section
      1. Then click on a Client
      2. Click on the Create New... button
      3. Select Credit
  2. On the Prepayment Credit screen, if a Client isn’t selected, click on Select a Client and choose a Client, or click on + Create a Client to add a new Client
  3. Under Settings, click on Credit Type and set it to Credit Note
    Credit Type settings with credit note option selected.
  4. Then click on Currency to change the currency if needed and click Done to apply
  5. Click on Date of Issue to change the date if needed
  6. To edit the Credit Number, click on it and type the new number (up to 10 alphanumeric characters)
  7. Next, click on Add a Line and add Items and/or Services with their Rate and Quantity as needed
  8. When finished, click on Save to save the Credit, or click on Send... to email the Credit to your Client.
Note: A Prepayment Credit can also be converted into a Credit Note by editing it and changing the Type in Settings.
 

Overpayment Credits

Overpayment Credits are created when a manual payment greater than the outstanding Invoice total is entered by you. This automatically creates an Overpayment Credit associated with that Client.
  1. Go to the Invoices section
  2. Click on an Invoice that is associated with the Client you want to create a Credit for
  3. Click on the More Actions button
  4. Select Add a Payment
  5. Add the amount you want to overpay (if the Invoice is still outstanding, add that to the total as well)
    Add payment button.
  6. A pop-up will let you know how much in Credit will be created for this Client
    Overpayment notification.
  7. Click Add Payment to finish. The Overpayment Credit will be added into the Client's Profile for future use on another Invoice.


Prepayment Credits

Prepayment Credits are used when your Client voluntarily pays for the product or service ahead of time. If you’re looking to require payment upfront before starting work at a future date, you can use Deposits instead. Create a Prepayment Credit with the below steps:
Prepayment cedit creation screen with fields to fill out.
  1. Click on either:
    1. The Dashboard section
      1. Then click on the Create New... button
      2. Select Credit
    2. The Clients section
      1. Then click on a Client
      2. Click on the Create New… button
      3. Select Credit
  2. On the Prepayment Credit screen, if a Client isn’t selected, click on Select a Client, or click on + Create a Client to add a new Client
  3. Under Settings, click on Currency to change the currency if needed and click Done to apply
  4. Click on Date of Issue to change the date if needed
  5. To edit the Credit Number, click on it and type the new number (up to 10 alphanumeric characters)
  6. Under Payment Method, select a method, otherwise it will default to Other when saved
  7. Next, click on Add a Line and add Items and/or Services with the Quantity as needed
  8. When finished, click on Save to create the Credit, or click on Send… to email the Prepayment Credit to your Client. 

View, Edit and Delete Credits

Once Credits are created, they are added to the Client's Credit Balance as a pool of available Credit to use on Invoices regardless of the Credit Type. Credits can be viewed in each Client’s profile in several places:
  • In viewing the list of Clients, the Credit column indicates any unused Credits
    List of clients with credit balance column.
  • In a Client’s Profile, the Available Credit area underneath the Outstanding Revenue graph indicates the remaining credit balance - hover over this to see a breakdown
    Client profile showing available credit widget.
  • In a Client’s Profile, the Credits sub-tab will list all Credits created for this Client, regardless of the available credit balance or whether they’ve been applied as payments on Invoices yet
    Client profile showing a sub-tab called Credits with a list of credits.
  • Alternatively, you can run a Credit Balance Report to get a summary of Credits for all of your Clients
  • Find Credits that have been applied to specific Invoices using the Client Account Statement
  • All Credit entries are automatically recorded as Journal Entries when they’re created or added as a payment to an Invoice, you can also view the exact entries on the General Ledger
 
Edit Credits
To edit a Credit, or reduce the Client's Credit Balance, use the below steps:
  1. Click on the Clients section
  2. Then click on the Client whose Credit(s) you want to delete
  3. Next, click on the Credits sub-tab
  4. Click on the Credit you want to edit
  5. Then click on the Edit button
  6. Modify the Credit as needed and click Save or Send… to finish.

Notes:
  • Credits can only be edited as long as the new amount does not cause the Credit Balance to go below zero (resulting in a negative balance); this can be used to reduce a Client's Credit Balance
  • If a particular Credit has been used in full, it will not be editable
  • Only the amount can be edited for an Overpayment Credit

Delete Credits
Credits can only be deleted as long as it doesn't result in a negative balance. To delete a Credit, use the below steps (note that once a Credit is deleted, it cannot be undeleted):
  1. Click on the Clients section
  2. Then click on the Client whose Credit(s) you want to delete
  3. Next, click on the Credits sub-tab
  4. Check the box(es) off next to the Credit(s) you want to delete
  5. Click on the Bulk Actions button
  6. Then click on Delete
  7. Confirm you want to proceed by clicking on the Delete Credit button and the Credit will be removed.

Apply Credit as Payment

Apply Credit to Invoices
For individual invoices, you can either apply the Credit while making the Invoice, or after the Invoice has been sent: 

New Invoices
  1. Go to the Invoices section
  2. Click on the New Invoice button to make a new Invoice, or click on an existing Invoice and then the Edit button
  3. Under the Total and Amount Paid section, if there is any available Credit, Apply Credit ($xx.xx available) will appear, click on this link
    Apply Credit available link in Invoice under Total.
  4.  The full amount is populated by default, click inside the box to overwrite it with a different amount if needed, then click Apply
    Apply credit box with field to fill out.
  5. The Amount Due will reflect the new total after the Credit has been applied
  6. Continue editing the rest of your Invoice as needed, then click Save or Send To... to finish.

Existing Invoices
  1. Go to the Invoices section
  2. Click on an Invoice you want to pay with the Client's Credit balance
  3. Click on the More Actions button
  4. Select Add a Payment
  5. If there is Credit available, it will automatically be selected for you
    Apply credit as a payment.
  6. If the Credit does not cover the full Invoice total, you can make separate partial payments manually after using the full Credit balance
  7. Add Payment Notes if needed and click Add Payment to finish.

Automatically Apply Credits to Recurring Templates
For any generated Invoices from a Recurring Template or a Retainer, Credit can automatically be applied before Recurring Payments with the below steps: 
  1. Go to the Payments section
  2. Click on the More Actions button
  3. Then select Payment Settings
    Payments settings option under more actions button.
  4. Slide the toggle on next to Automatically Apply Credits to enable
    Toggle next to automatically apply credits enabled.
  5. Click Save to finish. 
All Recurring Templates and Retainers that are sent automatically (not saved as a Draft first) will now use any available Credit for the Client before sending the generated Invoice, and before any Recurring Payments are processed. 
 

FAQs

Why can’t I apply Sales Tax to my Credits?
Sales Tax can be added to Credit Notes only. Sales Tax is only applied to an Invoice when a product or service has been provided, and in the case of Prepayment and Overpayment Credits, a service has not yet been provided, so Sales Tax is not applicable. 

Why can't I see the Credit Number associated with a Credit payment on an Invoice?
Payments made from Credits are taken from your Client's Credit Balance overall, not from a specific Credit Note, Prepayment Credit or Overpayment Credit. If you need to reduce a Client's Credit Balance, use the above steps to edit any existing Credit Note, Prepayment or Overpayment Credit down.