Record a Customer Return and Generate the Return DDT, Credit Note and Label in SamBooks
12 min read
The Returns module ties together the three documents a return produces: the delivery note that puts the goods back in stock, the credit note that reverses the invoice, and the return shipping label.
What this is for
When a customer sends back goods you already invoiced — because they are defective, wrong, damaged, or simply returned on second thought — you don't reverse the invoice by hand in SamBooks: you open a return (RMA, "return merchandise authorization"), which starts from the original invoice and, from there, generates up to three linked documents in sequence: the return delivery note (which actually puts the goods back into stock), the TD04 credit note (which reverses the amount on the invoice) and, if the carrier needs to collect the parcel, the return label. The return keeps all three pieces under the same number (RMA-YYYY-NNNNN), so you always know where things stand without cross-checking delivery notes and invoices by hand.
Before you start
- A return is created starting from a sales invoice that has already reached a final status: Accepted by SDI, Delivered, Delivery failed, or Paid. An invoice still in Draft, Ready, or "Sent to SDI" awaiting a response does not appear in the selector, because the credit note that follows can only be issued on a document that has actually been finalised.
- You need a role with write permissions on the Warehouse/Logistics area: Manager, Administrative or Logistics — here, unlike the rest of the sales cycle (quotes, pro forma invoices, orders), the Logistics role can also create and manage returns. A Viewer can only look at them.
- For the returned goods to actually load back into stock, the returned item must be stock-managed: service lines never generate a stock-in movement, exactly as they never generate a stock-out one when sold.
How to do it, step by step
1. Open Returns
In the left-hand menu, open the Logistics group and choose Returns (/resi): this opens the list of returns already recorded, with the columns Number, Customer, Invoice, Reason and Status, and a Status filter at the top. If you haven't recorded anything yet, you'll see "No returns. Create a return from an issued invoice."
2. Press "Create from invoice" and pick the source invoice
In the top right, press Create from invoice: the "Create return from invoice" window opens. In the Invoice field, search for and select the customer's invoice the return starts from — only invoices in a final status appear in the list; if you see none, you'll read "No invoice in a final status (accepted by SDI/delivered/paid) available for a return." As soon as you select the invoice, all its lines appear below.
3. Choose the lines and quantities to return
For each invoice line you see the description, the invoiced quantity ("Invoiced: N") and a To return field, pre-filled by default with the entire invoiced quantity. Reduce the number on the lines the customer is only partially returning, or leave it untouched and ignore the lines that don't belong to the return: SamBooks automatically distinguishes a full return (every line returned in full) from a partial return (even a single line reduced), and treats the first as a complete reversal, the second as a targeted reversal limited to the quantities you indicated.
If you've already recorded a previous, non-cancelled return on the same invoice, the "To return" field is pre-filled with the returnable residual, not the full invoiced quantity: below the line you'll read "Already returned: X · Returnable residual: Y", so you immediately know how much has already been returned and how much is still available. You can never return more than that residual: a second return on the same line can never exceed the quantity actually invoiced.
4. Indicate the reason for the return
In the Return reason field, choose between Defective, Wrong item, Damaged, Withdrawal/change of mind or Other (the default, if you leave the field untouched). It's a commercial category, useful for internal reporting: it does not appear on the credit note and has no effect on the tax calculation.
5. Create the return
Press Create return. SamBooks assigns the sequential number (format RMA-YYYY-NNNNN, for example RMA-2026-00001) and immediately opens the detail of the newly created return, in Draft status. At this point no linked document exists yet: the return is just a header with the chosen lines, ready to generate its artefacts.
6. Generate the return delivery note (loads stock)
On the return's detail page, press Generate return DDT. SamBooks creates a delivery note with reason "return" and issues it in the same instant — unlike an ordinary sales delivery note, the return DDT does not go through a separate draft stage: generating it and issuing it are the same click. At the same time, for every returned line whose item is stock-managed, SamBooks generates a stock-in movement with reason "Customer return (stock-in)": the available quantity increases, and the item's average cost (weighted average) stays unchanged, because the goods come back at their current average cost. Service lines (or lines whose item isn't stock-managed) never move stock.
You'll see "Return DDT generated (goods loaded into stock)." and the return moves from Draft straight to Stock returned status. The button turns into Download return DDT, which gives you the document's PDF. Trying to generate the DDT again on a return that already has one doesn't create a duplicate: SamBooks returns the existing one.
7. Generate the credit note
Press Generate credit note: SamBooks creates a TD04 credit note on the source invoice, reusing exactly the lines, prices, discounts and VAT rates of the invoice for only the quantities you returned — a value-preserving reversal that recalculates nothing from scratch. Like every credit note, it's created in Draft status: it has no fiscal effect until you send it to SDI, following the exact same procedure as any invoice (see Issue a credit note to reverse an invoice and Send an invoice to the Interchange System (SDI)).
You'll see "TD04 credit note generated." and the return moves to Credit note issued status. The buttons turn into Credit note PDF and Credit note XML, to download the document in both formats; both the PDF and the XML reference the original invoice you reversed. A return without a source invoice can't generate a credit note: the button simply doesn't appear, because there's nothing to issue it on.
8. Generate the return label, if the carrier needs to collect the parcel
If the customer needs to ship the goods back to you, press Generate return label: SamBooks calls the ShippyPro shipping aggregator with reversed addresses (sender = the customer, recipient = your company) and the return flag on. Returns are only supported by a subset of connected carriers (among others SDA, Poste Italiane, MyDHL): if the carrier you're using doesn't support them, you get an error message that tells you so explicitly, instead of generating an unusable label. On success you'll see "Return label ready." and the button turns into Download return label; once a label has been generated, the button to regenerate it doesn't reappear — the label is final.
The recommended order (the three artefacts are technically independent)
The three buttons have no technical sequence constraint: you could technically generate the credit note before the DDT. The recommended order — return DDT → credit note → label — exists for a practical reason, not a system lock: you can only cancel a return as long as the credit note hasn't been generated (see below). If you generate the credit note first and then realise something in the return DDT was wrong (say, the loaded quantity), you can no longer undo it from the Cancel button: you'd have to fix things with the ordinary stock and invoicing tools. Doing the return DDT first therefore leaves you a window to correct mistakes before making everything final with the credit note.
The states of a return
A return moves through these states, in order: Draft (just created, no artefact generated yet) → Stock returned (after generating the return DDT) → Credit note issued (after generating the credit note). An intermediate "Confirmed" state exists at the data level, but no action on the page triggers it explicitly today: in practice, a return created with "Create from invoice" moves from Draft to Stock returned the moment the first return DDT is generated. From any state other than Credit note issued, a return can move to Cancelled.
Cancelling a return
On the return's detail page, the Cancel return button appears only if the return isn't already cancelled and doesn't yet have a linked credit note. Pressing it opens a confirmation: "Confirm cancelling return RMA-…? The stock-in will be reversed." If you had already generated the return DDT (so the goods had been loaded back), cancelling automatically generates an opposite stock-out movement, which brings the stock level and average cost back exactly to the starting point; the return DDT itself moves to Cancelled status. On confirming, the return moves to Cancelled status and you'll read "Return cancelled."
Once the credit note has been generated, the return can no longer be cancelled from here: the credit note is a standalone fiscal document, and if it's genuinely wrong it must be handled through the ordinary invoice workflow, not the Returns module.
A "manual" return (with no source invoice): only via Sam today
SamBooks also supports a return with no source invoice — useful for goods that were never invoiced, for example a sample or a gift that gets returned — but today this path has no command on the Returns page: the only button visible in the header is "Create from invoice". A manual return exists on the system side (you can ask Sam for it) and it still creates a return DDT that loads stock, but it can never generate a credit note, because a credit note is always issued on an invoice, and a return with no source invoice has none to reverse. If you need this case, ask Sam directly, describing the customer, items and quantities; a dedicated manual command isn't available on the page yet.
Returning goods from an e-commerce order (B2C on a receipt) is a different path
If the starting document isn't an invoice but a daily receipt generated from an e-commerce order (retail, B2C), the return isn't recorded from this page: you open the linked order in Orders and press the Register return button on its page. In that case SamBooks reverses the amount with a new negative receipt — not a credit note — and, if the item is stock-managed, still loads stock back using the same mechanism described above. For the detail of this second path, see Record daily retail receipts.
Who can record a return
Manager, Administrative and Logistics roles can create returns and generate all three artefacts. A Viewer can see the list and the details but can't press any of the creation or generation buttons.
Ask Sam
You can get the same result by talking to Sam instead of opening the dialogs: for example "create a return from invoice 45/2026, the customer is returning 2 units of the ballpoint pen line, reason damaged" creates the return exactly as the "Create from invoice" button would, including partial quantities. You can then ask "generate the return DDT for RMA-2026-00003", "generate the credit note for that return" or "generate the return label": these are the same three artefacts, with the same result as the matching button. Both paths — the form and the chat — are equivalent for all three artefacts and for cancelling; the only case where Sam does something the form doesn't offer today is the "manual" return with no source invoice, described above.
If something goes wrong
- I can't find the invoice in the "Create from invoice" selector: the invoice hasn't reached a final status yet (Accepted by SDI/Delivered/Delivery failed/Paid), or it's already a credit or debit note — a return is never created from another note.
- The "To return" field proposes more than I thought was left: check the "Already returned / Returnable residual" line under the invoiced quantity; if it doesn't appear, there are no previous returns on that line and the residual equals the full invoiced quantity.
- I can't generate the credit note: check that the return has a source invoice (manual returns can't have one) and that it isn't already cancelled.
- The "Generate return label" button gives an error: the connected carrier may not support returns; check which carrier you've selected in the shipping configuration.
- I can't find the "Cancel return" button anymore: the credit note has already been generated (not cancellable from here anymore), or the return is already cancelled.
- I returned goods that were never invoiced (a gift, a sample): the Returns page currently always requires a source invoice; ask Sam for a "manual" return.
Frequently asked questions
How do I record a customer return? Open Returns from the Logistics menu, press "Create from invoice", pick the customer's invoice, indicate the returned quantities and the reason, then press "Create return".
The customer is sending goods back: how do I issue the credit note? Create the return from the original invoice, then on the return's detail page press "Generate credit note": a TD04 is created in draft, which you send to SDI just like any invoice.
Can I record a partial return, for only some items on the invoice? Yes: in the "Create return from invoice" window, reduce the "To return" quantity only on the relevant lines, or ignore the lines that don't belong to the return.
How do I generate a label so the carrier can pick up the return? From the return's detail page, press "Generate return label": SamBooks generates a ShippyPro label with reversed addresses (from the customer to your company).
Does a return put the goods back into stock? Yes, but only after you press "Generate return DDT", and only for stock-managed items: service lines never generate stock movements.
How do I cancel a return I created by mistake? From the detail page, press "Cancel return": it only works if you haven't generated the credit note yet. If the return DDT had already been generated, cancelling also reverses the stock-in.
Can I record a return without starting from an invoice? Yes, but today only by asking Sam: the Returns page doesn't have a dedicated button for a "manual" return yet. That return can load stock but can't generate a credit note.
What's the difference between the return DDT and the credit note? The return DDT is the logistics artefact: it physically loads the goods back into stock. The credit note is the fiscal artefact: it reverses the amount on the original invoice. They are two separate, independent documents, and can be generated in either order.
Does the return's credit note need to be sent to SDI like a normal invoice? Yes: it's created in draft exactly like any credit note and must be transmitted to SDI with the same procedure, from its own detail page.
How do I indicate the reason for the return (defective, wrong item, etc.)? In the "Create return from invoice" window, "Return reason" field: choose between Defective, Wrong item, Damaged, Withdrawal/change of mind or Other.