Keeping on top of it
Close off a discrepancy
Recording what actually happened about a shortfall: credited, replaced, returned or accepted.
Flagging a shortfall records that it happened. It does not record what you did about it, and in a month’s time “five short” on its own will not tell you whether the credit note ever came. So close the line off once you know.
Any flagged line can be closed off with one of four outcomes:
| Outcome | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Credited | The supplier knocked it off an invoice. |
| Replaced | They sent the missing or damaged goods again. |
| Returned | It went back to them. |
| Accepted | You decided to live with it. Common on a small overage or cosmetic damage. |
Until one of those is chosen, the line stays open, which is its own useful signal.
Put another way
A repair job on a car. “Making a noise” is the fault. “Replaced under warranty” is the outcome. A garage that only ever recorded the first would be a bad garage.
Add the detail
Each resolution takes a note. Credit note numbers go here, so the next person does not have to ask you which one it was.
Did this page miss something?
If you came here with a question and left without the answer, that is a fault in the page rather than in the question. Tell us what you were trying to do and we will write it up, usually the same week.