Record a return against its receipt

Keep the affected goods, return record and agreed supplier remedy tied to the same purchase.

Before you start

Agree what failed, which units are affected and the remedy: return, replacement, rework, credit or another outcome. Confirm the quantity, handling destination, transport responsibility, charges and supplier confirmation with the procurement owner.

Rejection is an inspection decision; return is a separate physical and recorded process. A wrong receipt date is a record-correction issue, not a reason to send goods back.

Record an eligible return

1. Open Procure → Receiving → Receipts and the exact source receipt. Match Source Purchase Order, supplier, item, unit and received/accepted quantities with the remedy decision. Check for an earlier return covering the same units. If it already records this agreed return, skip steps 2–5 and inspect it at step 6 instead of creating another.
2. Select Record return and confirm the receipt reference in the form. This route describes accepted goods. If the affected unit was rejected on arrival, have the responsible owner confirm its supported route; do not mark a defective item accepted just to make it eligible.
3. Enter the actual reason in Why are the goods being returned?. Describe the problem and agreed remedy, not merely “return.”
4. Set Quantity to return in the displayed unit and compare it with Available to return. Availability is a system limit, not an instruction to return everything.
5. Review the source, reason, units and intended quantity. Select Create return once when the record matches the agreed action.
6. Reopen the same receipt and return record. Check the saved reference, quantity where shown, reason, state and available history before arranging any dependent next step. If the save is uncertain, inspect this source rather than creating a second return.

Follow through on the remedy

Keep dispatch, supplier receipt, replacement delivery and replacement acceptance as separate checkpoints. Confirm the actual supplier receipt before using a Supplier received action. Inspect a replacement against the original criteria instead of accepting it because it is new.

Give Finance the agreed remedy and any actual invoice, credit or refund reference. A no-charge replacement does not automatically increase the quantity you bought or create an additional billable unit.

Expected result

The return can be traced to the correct goods and purchase, with the remaining remedy clear.

Remember: “One returned line” may contain several units. A return state is not proof of a credit, refund, Inventory movement or completed replacement; check those outcomes separately.

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In this series: Manage purchasing — guide 13 of 17.

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