Overview
In BillSpree, Credit Notes and Debit Notes are created as Invoice Notes against an existing customer bill. They are not standalone documents with a separate credit balance pool.
Each note:
- Selects one or more bill line components (or manual invoice lines)
- Specifies an amount per line (up to the original line amount)
- Saves an
InvoiceNote record with line detail in InvoiceNoteLine
- Posts a ledger journal entry immediately (AccSpree)
- Updates cumulative totals on the bill:
creditNoteAmount and debitNoteAmount
Purchase invoices do not show the Create Note action in the UI.
Credit Note vs Debit Note
| Credit Note | Debit Note |
|---|
| Purpose | Reduce what the customer owes on this bill | Increase what the customer owes on this bill |
| Bill field updated | creditNoteAmount (cumulative) | debitNoteAmount (cumulative) |
| Typical use | Returns, overcharge correction, post-invoice discount | Undercharge correction, extra fees after invoice |
| Accounting (simplified) | Debit receivable, Credit component/revenue account | Credit receivable, Debit component account |
Multiple notes can be created for the same bill. Amounts add up on the bill. There is no built-in void or reverse flow for posted invoice notes in the current release.
How the bill total changes
On View Bill, the footer shows:
- Net Total — original bill total
- Total LP — late payment charges (if any)
- Credit Note Amount — sum of all credit notes on this bill
- Debit Note Amount — sum of all debit notes on this bill
- Total — adjusted amount:
Total = Net Total + Total LP − Credit Note Amount + Debit Note Amount
Prerequisites
Before creating a note:
- Open a customer bill in Billing → View Bill.
- Bill status is typically POSTED, PARTIAL-PAID, or PAID.
- Each line must be account-backed:
- Subscription bills: connection accounts mapped to service components, plus component accounts in the package definition
- Single/manual invoices: bill unsettled account and line accounts must be configured
- Line amount must be greater than zero; note amount cannot exceed the line original amount.
Create a credit or debit note
Step 1 — Open the bill
Go to Billing, open the bill, and use View Bill.
Step 2 — Open Create Note
Click Actions → Create Note. (Requires unrestricted billing access.)
| Field | Description |
|---|
| Note Type | Credit or Debit |
| Reason | Optional; stored on the invoice note header |
| Use (per line) | Select which bill components to include |
| Note Amount | Amount to credit or debit (≤ original amount) |
| Description | Optional per-line text (used on journal lines) |
Step 4 — Submit
Click Create Note. On success:
- A confirmation shows Invoice Note ID and Transaction Number
- The bill footer refreshes with updated credit/debit amounts
- The Invoice Notes section lists the new note
Step 5 — Review invoice note history
Scroll to the Invoice Notes card on View Bill.
| Column | Description |
|---|
| Invoice Note ID | Unique note identifier |
| Type | credit or debit |
| Status | POSTED after successful journal posting |
| Total Amount | Sum of selected line amounts |
| Transaction Number | AccSpree journal transaction reference |
| Created Date / By | Audit fields |
Credit note — when to use
Use a credit note when the customer should pay less than the invoice total:
- Returned goods — credit product or charge lines partially or fully
- Billing error (overcharge) — credit the excess on specific components
- Post-invoice discount or goodwill — credit selected charge lines
Effect: creditNoteAmount increases → bill Total decreases → receivable balance is reduced after the journal posts.
Debit note — when to use
Use a debit note when the customer should pay more than the invoice total:
- Undercharged invoice — add the missing amount on specific components
- Extra fees agreed after the original invoice
Effect: debitNoteAmount increases → bill Total increases.
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Likely cause |
|---|
| Create Note missing | Purchase invoice, or insufficient access level |
| No eligible components | Lines missing account mapping or zero amount |
| Journal entry failed | AccSpree / chart of accounts configuration |
| Totals unchanged after success | Refresh the bill; verify creditNoteAmount / debitNoteAmount in the database |
| Component does not match bill | Incorrect componentID or columnName for that bill |
