Make a sales return

A sales return records goods a customer brings back. It names the bill they were sold on. Saving it puts the units back into their batch, takes the sale and its GST out of your books, and brings the customer’s balance down, or pays them back in cash.

Open a new return

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

1 E N: Transactions, G S T Inward (Direct), New Entries.

The cursor starts in the Type field. The inward screen makes Purchases and Sales Returns; choose Sales Returns. When the type has one bill book, the book (SR/ here) is chosen for you.

Enter the return number, dates and customer

• Return no. is the number you type for this return. SimplyERP does not save without it, and refuses a return number already used for the same customer. When you save, SimplyERP also gives the return its own number from the book (SR/1 here).
• Ret. dt. is the date of the return, and Recd. is the day the goods came back. Both start on today’s working date. The books post the return on the Recd. date, and the original bill cannot be dated after the return.
• Due starts on the working date and cannot be before Recd.
• Payment starts on Credit: the return is taken off the customer’s account. On Cash, the bill book’s cash account is credited instead, which is how a refund paid at the counter is recorded.

Return RN/1, made and received on 18 October.

For a credit return, type part of the customer’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 customer is chosen, their place, GSTIN and state fill in, and their balance shows beside the name.

The customer owes ₹35,537 before this return.

As on a sale, a customer with a GSTIN is entered at rates before GST, and one without at rates that include GST.

Choose the original bill on each line

Type the item as on any bill. The Original bill column then lists the customer’s 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 sold and the rate, and how many are left to return when some have been returned already.

When the customer has only one bill 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 and batch they left at. You can still type another rate. The band under the grid shows the bill, how many units it had and how many are left.

The column shows the chosen bill. Its list entry reads P/284 · 14-10-2026 · CP5-2609D · 13 @ 235.00: bill, date, batch, units sold and rate.

Original bill P/284 had 13 units, none returned yet.

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

3 units at ₹235.00 before GST. At 18%, the price including GST is ₹277.30.

The batch and its expiry come from the original bill, so you do not type them.

The goods return to the batch they were sold from.

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 customer’s bill of that item, with units left. An older bill is recorded as you typed it.

A customer may also bring back goods with no bill. Leave Original bill empty, then type the rate and choose the batch yourself. SimplyERP does not check such a return against any bill.

Check the totals and save

₹705.00 before GST, ₹63.45 each of CGST and SGST, ₹831.90 to take off the customer’s account.

You cannot return more than the bill had left. If you type 14 units against a bill with 13 left, 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 sales return is not printed when it is saved; to print it, open it from All Bills and press F10. A notice names the return in your book.

SR/1 is your number for the return. RN/1 is the number you typed.

The saved return shows every recorded detail, including the original bill of each line and the customer’s balance after it.

The customer’s balance went from ₹35,537.00 to ₹34,705.10 Dr.

What saving does to your books

The postings are dated on the Recd. date. They reverse a sale:

For this return: Sales Returns is debited ₹705.00, CGST Output 18% and SGST Output 18% ₹63.45 each, and Kisan Seva Kendra is credited ₹831.90. Both sides come to ₹831.90.

In Kisan Seva Kendra’s ledger the return appears on 18-10-2026, the day it was received, as ₹831.90 credit, and the customer’s balance becomes ₹34,705.10 Dr.

The 3 units go back into batch CP5-2609D, so the item’s stock rises from 14 to 17.

The item shows 17 in stock on the next sale.

The return also shows in the sales returns statement and the stock statement. GSTR-1 lists it with the credit notes, under your own number (SR/1).

Keys on the return screen

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

Common questions

How do I refund the customer in cash? Set Payment to Cash. The bill book’s cash account is credited instead of the customer’s account, so the money paid out shows in the cash book.

Is a sales return the same as a credit note? No. A sales return takes goods back into stock. A credit note only adjusts an amount; see GST credit note.

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