Supplier returns

A supplier return authorizes goods you received to go back to the supplier: a case of regulators that fail a leak check, cylinders that arrived with damaged valves, or the wrong fittings. It ties the original receipt and purchase order to the shipment that sends the goods back, the credit the supplier owes you, and any replacement order.

How to start a return when goods need to go back to a supplier

1. Open Purchasing → Returns and select Add Supplier Return.
2. Fill in:
   • Supplier, with its Supplier Contact and Supplier Location.
   • Supplier RMA #: the supplier's own return authorization number.
   • Order Date and Expiration Date.
   • Return Location: the bulk plant or warehouse the goods ship from.
   • Currency.
   • Return ID comes from your numbering unless you type one.
3. Add lines. Add Lines offers two ways:
   • Add from receipt lists the posted receipt lines from this supplier that still have quantity you can return, newest first. Search by receipt, purchase order or item. Lines added this way remember their receipt, purchase order and invoice.
   • Add manually (a blind return) takes an item and quantity you enter yourself, with no source document. Check the item, unit, price and quantity carefully, because nothing limits them.
4. On each line, set Return Quantity, Unit Price (what the supplier credits per unit), Restock Fee Percent and Return Reason.

Return quantities and prices are always in your stocking unit, even when you bought in the supplier's pack. For example, returning 3 regulators from a case of 12 is a quantity of 3, not a quarter of a case.

How to return serial or batch tracked items when you need the exact pieces

For items tracked by serial number or batch, pick the exact pieces under Serial numbers to return or Batches to return. AimRack offers only pieces on hand that came in on a receipt from this supplier. A line added from a receipt with exactly one matching piece selects it for you.

When the return ships, a returned serial or whole batch is marked consumed. A partial batch is split, and the part that leaves is consumed while the rest stays available.

How to confirm and ship the return when the supplier has authorized it

1. Select Confirm. The return moves to To Ship. From here the item, quantity, unit, price, restock fee and source links are fixed. AimRack refuses to confirm more than was received on the source lines, after counting other open returns against them.
2. Select Ship to create the shipment for everything still outstanding, and post it when the goods leave. Stock and cost change only when that shipment posts. Selecting Ship again opens the same draft shipment.
3. When the supplier will not take the rest of a line, select Stop Shipping on it. Resume Shipping undoes it.

The return becomes Completed when every line is fully shipped or stopped. Posting the shipment raises each line's shipped quantity, and voiding it lowers it again.

How to claim the credit when the supplier accepts the return

After goods ship, select Issue Credit. AimRack creates a draft debit memo for the shipped quantity not already credited: quantity times unit price, less the restock fee. Open it under credit and debit memos and post it. AimRack calls it a debit memo because it lowers what you owe the supplier. The Credited total on the returns list counts only posted memos.

A memo that is not voided, even a draft one, blocks voiding the return's shipment. Void the memo first if the goods did not actually leave.

How to order replacements when the supplier is sending new goods

Select Create Replacement. AimRack makes a separate draft purchase order linked to the return, with every authorized line converted back to the supplier's purchase unit. It copies all authorized lines, not only shipped or credited ones, so check quantities and prices before you finalize it. Replacement Order on the return opens it later.

How to undo a return when plans change

• Reopen returns a confirmed return to Draft. It is refused once quantity has shipped, until you void the shipment.
• Cancel Return withdraws it. A draft or posted shipment blocks cancelling, so delete or void the shipment first.
• Delete Supplier Return removes one created by mistake.
• PDF prints the Return to Supplier document for the driver or the supplier.

Where this fits

A return starts from a receipt or purchase order, ships on a shipment, is settled by a debit memo under credits, and may lead to a replacement purchase order. A quality issue whose affected material is marked Return to Supplier can create a draft supplier return, and the issue cannot close until that return ships, stops or is cancelled.