Using RMAs

31 0 0 12/01/2021
Return Material Authorization

A Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) is used to record and track the actions and outcome in the process of returning a product:

  • for a credit or refund,
  • for replacement or substitute,
  • for repair.

RMA Types

Follow the links below to learn about how to do an RMA, and understand the relevant accounting transactions:

Wherever possible we recommend you begin the RMA process from the original Customer Sales Order. Alternatively you can create an arbitrary RMA from the Customer Master, and then refer to the appropriate workflow.

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

Transactions on RMA

  • An RMA does not directly affect the General Ledger.
  • An RMA can increase the Stock level
  • You can generate two variants of a Credit Note from an RMA. One variant credits the Customer balance (and therefore the Accounts Receivable), the other does not.  See the appropriate workflow above for a detailed explanation.
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 the 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 the 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:

  • Credit Note can be prefixed as CN321
  • Sales Invoices can be prefixed as SI345
  • Customer Payments can be prefixed as CP234.

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:
  • Approved
  • Not Approved
  • Submitted
  • Rejected
Users need relevant permission to change the value of this field. To learn more, refer Using Approvals
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.
Email 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 into which the 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:
  • Open Invoices,
  • Overdue Invoices,
  • Money In transactions,
  • Money Out transactions,
  • All Transactions.

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 in
View mode)		 Actions can be used to perform various tasks on a RMA document:

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.

Create Credit Note

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.

Create Sales Order

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.

Show History

You can view the complete history of the Credit Note Document and who has performed them.

Void this document

Documents 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.

Delete

This 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.

Print

(available in
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.

Email

(available in
View mode)		 You can send emails directly from the RMA document. The email message will automatically include the RMA document as a PDF attachment.

  • Blank Message
    • You can compose and send a custom email using this option.

  • RMA Issued
    • You can send an email to notify the Customer about the RMA issued.

To learn more , refer Using Email

Configure

(available in
Create | Edit | View mode)		 Takes you to the Customer Credit Note configuration screen. Discussed in the Configuration section in this article.

Help

(available in
Create | Edit |
View mode)		 Takes you to the Salesorder help documentation.

In this article

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