Authorising a return on a credit note says what you expect back. A Return Stock Disposition records what you actually did with the goods when they arrived: put them back into stock, hold them for inspection, write them off, or record that they never turned up. It is the document that moves stock and posts the accounting for a return; the credit note's return lines only set the expectation.

One return can have several dispositions — for example an On Inspection disposition when the carton arrives, then a Restock disposition for the good units and a Write-Off for the damaged ones once inspected.

Before you start

• The credit note must be a Return type with its return Authorized. Otherwise the tab shows Return stock dispositions are only available on a credit note whose return has been authorized.
• Sale — Fulfilment full access (SaleFulfillmentFA) and Sale — Billing full access (SaleBillingFA) to edit a disposition — it is saved together with its credit note. Authorize/Undo Sale Fulfillment/Return to authorise; Sale Fulfillment Void to void.
  ✏ Updated after full article audit (15 Oct 2026): Used the permissions' on-screen names.
• For batch- or serial-tracked products, the batch or serial numbers being received.
• The GL account each line posts to (inventory, inspection holding, write-off expense). Chart of accounts (link pending: admin article)

Disposition types

Not Returned and On Inspection can only consume the open return quantity (not yet dispositioned). Restock and Write-Off consume stock already On Inspection first, then the open quantity — that's how an inspected carton gets resolved.

Create a disposition

1. Open the Return Stock Dispositions tab

Open the credit note and click the Return Stock Dispositions tab. It has two sections:

• Disposition Documents — existing dispositions with Disposition #, Date, Status, Summary.
• Disposition Lines / Return State — per-product view with state tabs To Process, Not Returned, On Inspection, Restock, Write-Off. To Process lists what's still open.

There are two ways to start a disposition:

• From the product state. On the To Process tab, tick the products you're processing, then click Create Disposition and choose the type — Not Returned, On Inspection, Restock or Write-Off. The new disposition opens pre-filled with those products, their open quantities and the chosen type. On the On Inspection tab the same control offers Restock or Write-Off for inspected stock.
• Blank. Click Add Disposition in the Disposition Documents section and add lines by hand.

The editor opens at … / Credit Notes / ‹CN›/ New Disposition, status Draft. Return Location and Return Date from the credit note are shown read-only.

2. Set the date

In Return Stock Disposition Details, confirm Date (defaults to today).

3. Add the lines

Click Add Line and fill each row:

• Type — Not Returned, On Inspection, Restock or Write-Off.
• Product — from the products still available to disposition. The lookup shows Available and To Process quantities.
• Qty (Logistics) and Qty (Valuation) — both must be greater than zero and consistent with the product's UOM conversion.
• Bin — for Restock (and On Inspection), the destination bin at the return location, or Unbinned stock. Not applicable to Not Returned.
• Batch/SN — required for batch- or serial-tracked products on every type except Not Returned. For On Inspection and Restock the batch quantities must equal the line quantity; for Write-Off they may be less, with the remainder written off directly.
• Unit Cost (Valuation) — the cost the returned units come back in at. Click Use average cost to default it from the product's current average cost. If you leave it blank, the current average cost is used whatever the product's costing method; if there's no cost either way, authorising fails (Unit cost could not be determined for one or more return stock…).
  ✏ Updated after backend review (15 Oct 2026): Added the cost used when the field is blank.
• Account — required on every line; the GL account the movement posts to. It defaults to Inventory On Quarantine for On Inspection, Inventory Write-Off for Not Returned and Write-Off, and the product's asset account (or Inventory) for Restock.
  ✏ Updated after Confluence cross-check (15 Oct 2026): Added the default accounts.
• Comment — optional, up to 1000 characters.

A line can't exceed what's available: Disposition quantity for ‹product› exceeds the quantity available to process. Requested: X, available: Y. Lines of type Not Returned / On Inspection are further limited to the open quantity (…Only restock and write-off can consume stock already on inspection.).

4. Add a note (optional)

Click Add disposition note for an internal note about how the goods were processed. It's not customer-facing.

5. Save or authorise

• Save keeps the disposition as a Draft. At least one product line is required to save.
• Authorize Disposition saves and applies it. Authorising an unsaved draft creates and authorises it in one step.

Authorise the disposition

Click Authorize Disposition. On success the status tag reads Authorized, the lines lock, and:

• stock moves according to each line's type;
• the credit note's return lines update their To Process Qty, On Inspection Qty and Processed Qty;
• the Financials tab appears on the disposition with the postings. Every type posts, including Not Returned, which moves no stock but still records a ledger entry.
  ✏ Updated after backend review (15 Oct 2026): Confirmed. Exact journal lines are pending accounting review.

The credit note's combined disposition status moves to Partially Processed or Processed.

Undo or void

From the ⋮ menu on the disposition:

• Undo Disposition — on an Authorized disposition. Are you sure you want to undo this disposition? It will be reverted to an editable draft and the stock and accounting movements it created will be reversed.
• Void Disposition — on any saved disposition not already voided. This voids the disposition and reverses any stock and accounting movements it created. This action cannot be undone.

Neither is available once the credit note's return has been voided or the sale is voided — existing dispositions open read-only.

An authorised disposition also blocks Undo Return and Void Credit Note on the parent credit note until it is undone or voided.

What happens next

• Restocked units become available at the return location for allocation and sale.
• The Return State tabs on the credit note show where every returned unit ended up; To Process empties when the return is fully dispositioned: All return lines have been assigned to return stock dispositions.
• Dispositions are listed in Sale → Invoicing & Payments → Credit Notes via the credit note, and each has its own Attachments (inspection photos) and Audit tabs.
• The financial side of the return — the credit itself — is settled separately on the credit note's Refunds tab. See Refunds vs customer credits.

See also

• Issuing a credit note
• Refunds vs customer credits
• Pick, pack and ship