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A return starts from a shipped sales order. adorabl recommends whether to take the goods back or credit the customer for keeping them, then posts the credit memo and, when goods come back, the inventory restock.

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Prerequisites

  • The sales order is Fulfilled, Invoiced, or Closed.
  • Returns rules are set if you want a default keep-or-receive answer. Until you save rules, adorabl uses the starting settings.
  • The return date falls in an open accounts receivable period. Receiving goods also needs an open inventory period. See Period close.

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Start a return

1

Open the sales order

In the sidebar, open Commerce → Sales Orders, then open the order the customer is sending back.
2

Create the return

Click Create return. adorabl opens a draft return for the shipped lines.Drafts display as Draft return. The RMA- number is assigned when the return leaves draft.
3

Set quantity and warehouse

Enter the quantity to authorize on each line, and choose the warehouse that will receive goods you take back.
You can also open Commerce → Returns and click a row. The list opens unfiltered, including supplier returns. Click a tile to narrow it, and click that tile again to see every return.

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How adorabl chooses keep or receive

The Keep or receive panel compares two numbers: the inventory value you would recover by restocking, and the cost to bring the item back (its share of return freight plus warehouse handling). A draft still shows that recommendation. After you authorize, the panel and the Decision column show what you did: Received and restocked or Customer kept the item. Rules said: … appears only when you chose a different path. The sales order Returns tab uses the same outcome.

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Authorize, receive, and credit

1

Choose a reason

Set Reason before you authorize: Damaged or defective, Wrong item, Not as expected, No longer needed, or Other. Other asks you to say why in a few words.
2

Authorize

On a draft, click Authorize when any line is coming back. Click Authorize & credit when every line stays with the customer — the credit memo posts immediately and nothing waits for a receipt.
3

Receive goods

When an authorized return is waiting for product, open it from the Awaiting receipt tile. Enter Received and Damaged on each line. Restock is the quantity that goes back on the shelf — received minus damaged.If the receiving warehouse uses bins, choose Bins for the restock. Then click Receive & credit.Restocked units increase on-hand at the receiving warehouse. The journal debits inventory and credits cost of goods sold at the item’s posting cost. A quantity that did not arrive stays available for a later return; the line notes how many were not received.
4

Close

A credited return shows Close. Closing does not create another journal entry. The credit memo already reversed revenue, and a receive already restocked inventory.
The credit is a partial credit memo against the original invoice. An open balance absorbs it. Amount already paid becomes refund payable. Click View credit memo to open that memo. The return’s Journal entries tab lists both postings when they exist:

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What the customer is credited

The merchandise credit is the price they paid for the returned units, plus that item’s share of tax. Shipping charged on the original order is never credited. Change the amounts and the default path under Returns rules. Shopify returns use those same rules.

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Returns list

Decision is the choice on the return. A draft the rules could not decide still says Needs review. Status moves from Draft to Authorized, Received, Credited, Closed, or Void.

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Change or void a return

Editing quantity, disposition, return freight, or the receiving warehouse on a return that has left draft asks Why is this return changing? The reason is stored on Return actions. Activity is the field log. Choosing a different keep, receive, or scrap path than the rules recommended asks for a reason that matches that decision — for example Needed back in stock, Customer will not keep it, or Needed for a claim. Void is available while the return is Draft or Authorized. Void return asks for Customer cancelled, Entered in error, or Other. A credited return is closed rather than voided; reverse the credit memo if the credit itself must come off the books. See Invoices & adjustments. The header Relationships control opens the map back to the sales order, invoice, fulfillment, credit memo, and restock journal. Credit memos lists the memo on this return.

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Example: Trail Ridge Outfitters

Aspen Sports Co. sends back two Summit Fleeces from a shipped order.
  1. On the sales order, the clerk clicks Create return and authorizes both units to the Denver warehouse.
  2. The rules are ahead on the fleece, so the panel recommends Receive and restock. The clerk clicks Authorize.
  3. When the carton arrives, they click Receive & credit. Stock goes back on hand, and a credit memo posts against the original invoice, less the restocking fee.
  4. They click Close. The return shows Received and restocked on the Returns list and on the order’s Returns tab.
A later return of a low-cost cap is cheaper to leave with the customer. The rules recommend Customer keeps the item, the clerk clicks Authorize & credit, and no receipt is expected.

Returns rules

Set the default credit, restocking fee, and cost to bring an item back.

Supplier returns

Send received goods back to a supplier and post an accounts payable debit.

Sales orders & fulfillment

Ship the order before you start a return.

Invoices & adjustments

Read the credit memo a return posts.

Items

Posting cost used when a return restocks.

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Troubleshooting

The order has to be Fulfilled, Invoiced, or Closed. Draft and open orders have not shipped yet.
Freight or item cost was unknown, so the rules did not pick a path. Open the draft, choose keep or receive, and authorize it. If you want a default next time, set If shipping cost is unknown on Returns rules.
A keep posts on the credit memo, not on the return. Open Journal entries and look for Credit memo. Inventory restock appears only after goods are received. Close does not post another entry.
Choose a Reason, and authorize at least one unit. If the message names a closed period, reopen accounts receivable or inventory for that date, or change the return date. See Period close.