A debit note also known as a debit memo is generally used in business-to-business transactions and is issued by a vendor to inform the buyer of current debt obligations, or it is sent by a buyer to a seller when returning goods received on credit. The intent of this document is to notify the seller that they’ve been debited by the buyer against the goods returned.

When is a debit note issued

A debit note therefore can be issued if for example:

• The invoice value is incorrect
• A customer receives extra goods
• Goods are charged at a lesser value
• & so much more...

In cases such as these due to human err, the creation of a debit note as explained in this article becomes very important or a credit note, wherever applicable.

What does a debit note contain

Generally, the format of a debit note is very similar to that of an invoice or quotation. But unlike debit notes in particular, the format and structure is less strict.

A debit note may include the following information:

• Name, address, and other details of the supplier
• Nature of the document
• Date of issue of the document
• Name, address and unique ID number, if registered, of the recipient
• Signature or digital signature of the supplier or his authorized representative.
• Debit note number
• Customer reference number
• Contact details
• Reason for issuing the debit note
• & so much more ...

How to locate a debit note

From your administrative dashboard, on the left main menu navigate to Debit Notes under Accounts as shown in the screenshot below:

What can be done on the debit notes page

Adding debit notes

To add a debit note, click on the plus button next to the tab with the title Debit Notes. That should then be able to open up a page like the one shown in the screenshot below.

Enter the details of the debit note such as the owner id of the person whose account is to be debited, their account number, the account number of your company that is to be credited, the name of the asset, the amount, some description about the debit note then saving once all is properly set by clicking on Save & Close.



Searching or downloading debit notes

To search or download a debit note, expand Report Statistics & Controls Tab by clicking on the plus sign on the tab. You then have to select the criteria you would like to use to search for such as debit note number, debit note date, ownerid among others by choosing it from the drop down where the left arrow is pointing.

Enter the search query in the space where the right arrow is pointing and click on either search or download depending on what you would like to do.



Viewing a report about debit notes

You can be able to view more details about debit notes by clicking on the plus button next to the debit note whose details you are interested in. This will help you know the status of the debit note, the amount that the client is to pay, the date when the payment was made, the items that were paid for, the transaction ID among other details.

It is also possible to view details of the actual debit note that was sent to the client by clicking on the debit note number as shown in the screenshot below.

The buttons shown give you the ability to do further manipulation of the debit note such as editing, expanding to a full view, printing the debit note in a browser or downloading it to your own PC.



Debit notes verification statuses

Pending	The first state of the debit note upon saving and closing
Confirmed	The state changed to after first checking and verifying the details
Approved	The state that is changed to approval of the transaction
Closed	The final automatic state to conclude the transaction