A Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) is used to record and track the actions and outcome in the process of returning a product:
- to receive a refund,
- replacement, or
- repair during the product’s warranty period.
In Salesorder, a RMA is defined using a RMA Document.
RMA Workflow
A RMA document allows you to apply a credit, refund or send replacement, substitute or repair Items.
You can create Credit Notes and Sales Orders from a RMA Document.
Use the Credit Note to apply credit to the Customer’s account, or create a Refund from the Credit note.
Use the Sales Order workflow to fulfill a replacement, substitute or a repair.
The RMA has no effect on the Balance Sheet.
Your returns or warranty process will determine the actions to be taken. These will generally fall into one of these RMA types discussed below .
RMA Types
Salesorder offers the following types of RMAs:
- Repair,
- Replace,
- Substitute,
- Credit,
- Return – no action.
Each of these types can be captured and the subsequent actions in the commensurate process can be recorded and tracked by the RMA Document as discussed below:
Repair |
Item is repaired and sent back to the Customer. Allows you to return items and subsequently create a Sales Order. The RMA Status will be set to Fulfilled once all the Item(s) are returned and the Sales Order has been created. |
Replace |
Allows you to return items and subsequently create a Sales Order. The RMA Status will be set to Fulfilled once the item is returned and the Sales Order has been created. Customer is given another item in place of the returned item. |
Substitute |
Allows you to return items and subsequently create a Sales Order. The RMA Status will be set to Fulfilled once the item is returned and the Sales Order has been created. Customer is given a different item in place of the returned item. |
Credit |
You can issue a credit note (this replaces the return items step). RMA is marked as Fulfilled as soon as the Credit Note has been created. |
Return - no action |
Only the Item is returned. RMA is marked as Fulfilled as soon as Items are returned. No credit note or replacement is issued. |
New RMA
RMAs can be issued in the following ways:
Use Sales Order(recommended) |
To issue a RMA, go to: SALES > Sales Orders > Select Order > Actions > Create RMA |
Use Customer Master |
To issue a RMA, go to: SALES > Customers > Select Customer > Actions > New RMA |
Use RMA |
To issue a RMA, go to: SALES > RMAs > + |
Transactions on RMA
Salesorder allows you to perform following transactions through the RMA Document:
| Transaction | More information |
| Return Items | It enables you to return selected Line Items in the RMA. Return Items are applicable for all RMA types except for Credit. If WMS is enabled, before executing this action, you need to receive the returned Items via the WMS console > RMAS tab. Receiving Items via the WMS, sets the Picked column in the Line Item table with the quantity that is actually received at the warehouse. If WMS is disabled, you may directly use the Return Items option to return the selected Line Items. On clicking Return Items option, a Credit Note with the associated amount is issued against the RMA. Thereafter, the Received column in the Line Item table gets updated with the quantity for which the Credit Note is issued. |
| Credit Notes | This option is used to issue a Credit Note when the RMA type is set to Credit. After the Credit Note is issued for the RMA, the Received column in the Line Item table is updated to the quantity for which the Credit Note is issued. The RMA Status is updated to Fulfilled when the Credit Note for entire amount is issued for RMA. |
| Sales Orders | Once the Items are returned using the Return Items option, a new Sales Order can be created (applicable for RMA Types - Repair, Replace, Substitute). The RMA Status is updated to Fulfilled when the corresponding Credit Notes and Sales Order are issued for the RMA. |
RMA Document: Configuration
To configure RMA document, go to:
SETUP > Configuration > RMA
Or
SALES > RMAs > Select RMA > Configure
The following configuration options are available:
New Template |
You can create new RMA Note Document templates using this option. For more details on how to implement this, refer Setup Print Template |
Customize Fields | The Salesorder app allows you to customize fields, sections or tabs in a RMA document. For more details on how to implement this, refer to Using Customization. |
| General tab | |
Default RMA Template |
Using this option you can choose a print template for the RMA document. This template defines the layout of the RMA document when its being printed. Custom templates, defined by users using the New Template option, are also listed here. Salesorder app provides a default layout template Standard for the RMA document. To learn more about templates, refer Setup Print Template |
Show collapsible sections |
Checking this option collapses the header sections of the document.It implements a drill down effect on the header sections to make the RMA document appear compact on the screen. |
| Reference # Generation tab | |
Use Auto-generated Ref # |
Reference numbers can be set to auto-generate by checking this option. |
Ref # Prefix |
You can prefix reference numbers for meaningful distinction and recognition. For example:
|
Current Sequence Number |
Reference numbers can be set to increment from a fixed starting point. For more details on customizing Ref #s, refer Using Ref #s (Reference numbers) |
RMA Document: Reference
Fields in first Section |
|
| Customer | Customer Name |
| Customer # | Customer Ref# (auto-assigned). |
| Owner | The user creating or owning this document. See Using Owners |
| Approval |
The approval status of RMA. The values are:
|
| Date | Date when the return was initiated. By default, it is the document creation date. If the date you received the return is not the current date, you should enter the corresponding date. |
| Ref # | The unique identifier for this Document. |
| Status | The Accounting Status of this Document: Open: Open, by default, when creating a new RMA document. Allocated in Full: All credit has been applied (either to an unpaid invoice or during a payment) OverPaid: Credit Note has been Fully Allocated and also refunded. Void: Document is not in use. |
| Authorised by | The user who approved this RMA document. |
| Template | The Template applied to this Document. See Using Document Templates. |
| Currency | The Currency in which this Document is presented. See Using Currencies. |
| Exchange Rate | The exchange rate applied to the relationship between this Document’s currency and the base currency of your general ledger. See Using Currencies. |
Fields in second Section |
|
| Customer Ref | A reference description. |
| Contact | The main or a selected Contact. In Edit mode, you can select from the associated List of Contacts. |
| Telephone | The phone number associated with the above Contact. |
| The email address associated with the above contact, and where this document will be emailed from a List or the Document itself. | |
| Our Ref | Reference # of parent document - Customer or Sales Order document. |
| Job | A reference to the Jobs List. |
| Price List | The Price List applied to this Document. See Using Price Lists |
| Tax Code | Group | The default Tax code inherited from the Customer and applied to Line Items on this Document. You can change the Tax code on an Item. See Using Taxes |
| Terms | The default Payment Terms inherited from the Customer and inherited by subsequent child Documents. See Using Payment Terms |
| Price Level | The Price Level applied to this Document. See Using Price Levels |
| Default site | The site from which a subsequent RMA would be received. |
| Tabs | |
Items |
You can view all the Item details such as Description, Unit Price, Qty, Discount, etc.for which the Credit Note has been issued. To return Items, select the Items in the item table and click Actions > Return Items. To issue Credit Note for an arbitary amount, click Enter under Item column. This will insert a N/A line item row, you can enter the amount details. To learn more, refer Using Line Items |
Notes |
You can add notes to the document. To learn more, refer Using Notes |
Transactions |
This tab provides a granular view of all the transactions on a RMA document under one dashboard. For eg. For a given RMA, you can view the Credit Note, Sales Order, etc.
For the selected RMA document, you can view:
|
Addresses |
You can mention billing and shipping addresses using this tab. To learn more, refer Using Addresses |
Customer Message |
Add a message to the Customer. |
Classification |
Refer Using Classifications |
RMA Document: Settings
The document settings are available when creating | editing | viewing a Customer RMA document (create | edit | view mode).
The following settings are available:
Save(available in Create | Edit mode) |
Saves the Document. RMA is a non- posting document which implies that saving the document does not post values to the General Ledger. |
Edit(available in View mode) |
Edit the document. |
Actions(available inView mode) |
Actions can be used to perform various tasks on a RMA document:
Return ItemsIt enables you to return selected Line Items in the RMA. Return Items are applicable for all RMA types except for Credit. If WMS is enabled, before executing this action, you need to receive the returned Items via the WMS console > RMAS tab. Receiving Items via the WMS, sets the Picked column in the Line Item table with the quantity that is actually received at the warehouse. If WMS is disabled, you may directly use the Return Items option to return the selected Line Items. On clicking Return Items option, a Credit Note with the associated amount is issued against the RMA. Thereafter, the Received column in the Line Item table gets updated with the quantity for which the Credit Note is issued.Create Credit NoteThis option is used to issue a Credit Note when the RMA type is set to Credit. After the Credit Note is issued for the RMA, the Received column in the Line Item table is updated to the quantity for which the Credit Note is issued. The RMA Status is updated to Fulfilled when the Credit Note for entire amount is issued for RMA.Create Sales OrderOnce the Items are returned using the Return Items option, a new Sales Order can be created (applicable for RMA Types - Repair, Replace, Substitute). The RMA Status is updated to Fulfilled when the corresponding Credit Notes and Sales Order are issued for the RMA.Show HistoryYou can view the complete history of the Credit Note Document and who has performed them. Void this documentDocuments can be voided to imply that they are not in use. It is a soft delete.Voided Documents remain in the system and are set to Void status. You can still search for the document on the app. Once a Document is voided it cannot be edited or changed in any way (you can attach a Memo though). It will also remove the corresponding entries from General Ledger.DeleteThis option permanently deletes the Document from the Salesorder app. However, if the document has associated transactions then you will not be able to delete the document. You cannot recover the document once it is deleted. Also, you will not be able to search for the document in the Salesorder app. However, you do have an option to view the history of the deleted Document. Go to, ACCOUNTING > Find Transactions > Search Document History Hence, caution is advised in using the Delete option. |
Edit | View mode) |
You can print RMA document using this option. The document is printed as a PDF and the print style and layout depends on the template set for the document. Refer to the Template field in the Reference section in this article. |
View mode) |
You can send emails directly from the RMA document. The email message will automatically include the RMA document as a PDF attachment.
|
Configure(available inCreate | Edit | View mode) |
Takes you to the Customer Credit Note configuration screen. Discussed in the Configuration section in this article. |
Help(available inCreate | Edit | View mode) |
Takes you to the Salesorder help documentation. |