Posting credit notes against bills

It is possible to post credit notes against bills using the BC posting slip. This posting type is used when you wish to credit, in full or part, a bill that has previously been delivered, e.g. Because you have overcharged a client or possibly raised an invoice by mistake. Posting a credit note involves selecting the bill to be credited and then allocating the amount to be credited across the bill. You select the bill to be credited and the bill values are automatically brought through on to the posting slip.

To post a credit note:

From the Accounts button drop-down menu, select BC. The Bill Credit Note posting slip opens prompting you to enter the posting details.

You can also open the posting slip from the Batch Posting screen, if this is your preferred method of working. In the top pane highlight the BC batch (or add it if it not already open) and then click Add in the lower pane.

On the Summary tab, enter the bill number into the Credited Bill Number field or use the lookup to find it. The appropriate bill details are automatically completed.

If you try to credit a bill for which there is already a credit note sat in a batch, the message 'Unable to credit selected bill – credit notes exist' appears as soon as the bill number is selected.

Next, enter the amount to be credited against the appropriate disbursements, NYPs and/or costs. It is possible to part credit any of the disbursement and costs values.

Click the Non-VATable Disbs tab or click Next. A list of outstanding Non-VATable disbursements for the selected matter is displayed. Highlight the relevant disbursement(s) and click Allocate (or double-click the disbursement) to apportion the value of the disbursement.

In certain circumstances the system will allocate the disbursements it is easily able to match against the value entered on the Summary tab, otherwise you must double-click the disbursements to be included in the bill, keeping an eye on the Amount allocated and the Amount to allocate fields as these advise how much has been allocated and how much is left to allocate.

Repeat this process for the VATable Disbs, Non-VATable NYPs and VATable NYPs tabs, until all the values have been allocated.
If you have billed at stages at a marked-down rate and are now crediting the final bill, ticking Apply profit split adjusted for life of matter on the Time tab will adjust the bill so that the balance of the costs are allocated as appropriate for each fee earner. The remaining costs to be billed figure must be entered manually in the Costs field on the Summary tab.

On the Profit Split tab, divide the costs between fee earners.
(Split bills only) On the Billing tab, allocate the credit against/across the relevant invoicee(s). See Crediting split bills.

Select Update Now to post the entry directly to the Accounts Ledger.

If you want to add the entry to a batch for checking, select Add to Batch.

(Optional) If you have the required permissions, you can merge the posting slip data into a pre-defined template. This allows a document to be easily produced when a time posting is made. Tick Merge posting slip, choose a template (if different to the default) and what happens after the merge has finished, e.g. opens for editing, closes or prints.
Click OK to post the credit note. The disbursements/costs affected by the credit note are updated in the Accounts Ledger.

When a paid disbursement has been credited it reappears as an unbilled value against its original disbursement line on the Disbursement ledger – it still contains a date in the billed field which is the date of the original bill. When a NYP has been credited the memo disbursement is not reinstated onto the ledger.
The Time ledger is not affected by credit notes. Items of time originally included in a bill posting are still displayed as billed on the ledger.

It is possible to reverse a credit note.
The Bills Delivered Audit report displays credit notes and reversed credit notes, and the Costs Delivered report displays credit notes. VAT audits and figures also reflect credit notes.