The IDR recognises and processes credit notes in the same way as regular invoices. However, there are a few important points to be aware of to avoid problems.

A credit note should always have its own unique invoice number. It is incorrect to reuse the invoice number of the original invoice on the credit note. The credit note refers to the original invoice via a reference field, not via the invoice number itself.

If the supplier does not give the credit note its own number, this can cause problems with duplicate detection (see below).

A credit note may be incorrectly held as a duplicate. This happens if the IDR recognises the order number on the credit note as the invoice number. That order number has previously appeared on other invoices, causing the platform to think the document has already been received.

How do you recognise this? The credit note does not appear in your Inbox and the platform shows a duplicate notification.

What can you do?

1. Mark the document as "Mark as original" in the platform to process it anyway
2. Report it to support so the recognition for this supplier can be improved

Note: the invoice number in the XML is not correct in this case (it contains the order number instead of the credit note number). Check this in your accounting system.

After processing, the credit note is converted to a UBL Credit Note. The e-invoice contains:

• The credit note number as invoice number
• A reference to the original invoice (if stated on the credit note)
• The credited amounts (negative)

Want to know more about duplicate detection? Read How does eConnect recognise duplicate invoices?.