Make a purchase return

A purchase return records goods you send back to a supplier. It names the supplier’s bill they were bought on. Saving it takes the units out of their batch, reverses the purchase and its GST in your books, and brings down what you owe the supplier, or records the money they pay you back in cash.

Open a new return

A purchase return is made on the same screen as a sale. Press Alt+1 for the Transactions menu, F for G S T Outward (Direct), then N for New Entries.

1 F N: Transactions, G S T Outward (Direct), New Entries.

The cursor starts in the Type field. The outward screen makes Sales and Purchase Returns; choose Purchase Returns. When the type has one bill book, the book (PR/ here) is chosen for you. The next number in the book shows beside the heading.

Choose the date, payment and supplier

The date and the due date start on today’s working date, and the payment on Credit.

• Date is the date of the return. The books post the return on this date.
• Payment is Credit or Cash. A credit return is taken off the supplier’s account. On Cash, the bill book’s cash account is debited instead, which is how money a supplier hands back at the counter is recorded.

For a credit return, type part of the supplier’s name. The list shows each matching account with its place, GSTIN and balance.

Typing finds the account by any part of its name. Enter takes the highlighted account.

Once the supplier is chosen, their place, GSTIN and state fill in, and their balance shows beside the name.

You owe the supplier ₹1,35,407 before this return.

As on any bill, a supplier with a GSTIN is entered at rates before GST, and one without at rates that include GST. A supplier in another state is charged IGST instead of CGST and SGST.

Choose the original bill on each line

Type the item as on any bill. The Original bill column then lists the supplier’s purchase bills of that item, newest first, from this year’s books and, when last year’s books are beside these, last year’s. Each entry shows the bill number, its date, the batch, the units bought and the rate.

The supplier’s bill GAC/1250 of 8 October.

When the supplier’s bills have only one line of the item, SimplyERP chooses it for you. Choosing a bill sets the line’s rate, batch and GST rate from that bill’s line, so the goods go back at the price they came in at. You can still type another rate. The band under the grid shows the bill, how many units it had, how many have already been returned against it, and how many are left to return.

The bill had 36 units, none returned yet.

Type the units being returned. Enter moves along the line from the original bill to the units.

6 units at ₹182.00 before GST is ₹1,092.00. At 18%, the price including GST is ₹214.76.

If the bill is not in the list, for example a bill from before last year, choose Type another bill… at the end of the list and type its number and its date. Both are needed, and the bill cannot be dated after the return. When the bill is in this year’s books, or in last year’s books beside these, SimplyERP checks it when you save: it must be this supplier’s purchase bill of that item, with units left. An older bill is recorded as you typed it.

A return may also be made with no bill. Leave Original bill empty and choose the batch yourself. SimplyERP does not check such a return against any bill.

Choose the batch

The batch comes from the original bill, so it is already chosen. To change it, open the Batch list. It shows each batch’s expiry, what is Left in stock after the return’s other lines, and what you Bought of it from this supplier. Batches bought from this supplier come first.

Stock can differ from what you bought: 36 units of NM-2412 came in, and 30 are left.

The goods leave from the batch they came in with.

Check the totals and save

₹1,092.00 before GST, ₹98.28 each of CGST and SGST, ₹1,288.56 to take off the supplier’s account.

You cannot return more than the bill had left. If you type 37 units against a bill with 36, F3 does not save: it says how many units are left to return.

Correct the units, and press F3 again.

Press F3 to save. A notice names the return in your book.

PR/1 is the number of the return in your bill book. Click it to open the return.

The saved return shows every recorded detail, including the original bill of each line and the supplier’s balance after it. To print it, press F10 on it.

The supplier’s balance went from ₹1,35,407.00 to ₹1,34,118.44 Cr.

What saving does to your books

The postings are dated on the return’s date. They reverse a purchase:

For this return: Godavari Agro Chem is debited ₹1,288.56, Purchase Returns is credited ₹1,092.00, and CGST Input 18% and SGST Input 18% ₹98.28 each. Both sides come to ₹1,288.56.

The return posts on its own date, as a debit that reduces the amount you owe.

The closing balance, ₹1,34,118.44 Cr, is the balance the saved return showed.

The 6 units leave batch NM-2412, so the item’s stock falls from 49 to 43.

The item shows 43 in stock on the next sale.

The return shows in the supplier’s ledger, the purchase returns statement and the stock statement, and GSTR-2 includes it. Every return is in All Bills.

Keys on the return screen

On a Mac, ⌥ stands for Alt and ⌘ for Ctrl.

Common questions

How do I take the money back in cash? Set Payment to Cash. The bill book’s cash account is debited instead of the supplier’s account, so the money received shows in the cash book.

Is a purchase return the same as a debit note? No. A purchase return sends goods back out of stock. A debit note only adjusts an amount; see GST debit note.

Can I change a return after saving it? Yes. Open it from All Bills and press F4. See Edit a bill.