invoiceninja/docs/credits.rst

Credits
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List Credits
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Your workload and fee structure vary from client to client. What’s more, your work schedule may change from one month to the next, or even from week to week – and often for the same client.

At times, payments can get really tricky. Perhaps you’ve been paid in advance for work that has been delayed, or maybe the scope of work changed and you were overpaid. Whatever the reason, there will come a time when you will need to issue a credit to your client’s account. This is where the Credits function comes in handy.

Overview
^^^^^^^^

The Credits list page is a summary of all credits issued to all clients.

To open the Credits page, click on the Clients tab, open the drop-down menu, and click on Credits.
On the Credits page, credit information is presented in a simple, user-friendly table. Let’s take a closer look at the table elements:

- **Client**: The client’s name
- **Credit**: Amount The amount of the individual credit
- **Credit Balance**: The balance of the individual credit
- **Date of Issue**: The date the individual credit was issued
- **Private Notes**: Comments or reminders that you included FYI
- **Action**: Option to archive or delete the credit

Archiving/Deleting
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

To archive or delete a credit, hover over the credit entry row, and open the Action drop-down list. Select Archive credit or Delete credit from the list. The Credits table will automatically refresh, and archived or deleted credits will no longer appear in the list.

You can also archive or delete one or more credit via the gray Archive button that appears at the top left side of the Credits list page. To archive or delete credits, check the relevant credits in the check boxes that appear in the far left column next to the client field. The number of credits selected for archiving/deleting will automatically update and show on the Archive button. Then click on the Archive button, open the drop-down list and select the desired action.

Want to view archived or deleted credits? Check the box marked Show archived/deleted credits, situated to the right of the Archive button. The table will automatically refresh, and will now feature the full list of credits, including current, archived and deleted credits. The status of the archived or deleted credits will appear in the column at the far right of the table.

- Deleted credits are displayed with a red Deleted button. To restore deleted credits, hover on the red Deleted button. A gray Select button will appear. Click on the Select arrow, and select Restore credit in the drop-down list.
- Archived credits are displayed with an orange Archived button. To restore or delete the archived credit, hover on the orange Archived button. A gray Select button will appear. Click on the Select arrow, and choose Restore credit from the drop-down list. To delete an archived credit, select Delete credit from the drop-down list of the Select button.

Sorting & Filtering
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The sort and filter functions make it easy for you to manage and analyze your credits.

- Sort the credits table via any of the following data columns: Client, Credit Amount, Credit Balance, Credit Date and Private Notes. To sort, click on the tab of your choice. A small arrow will appear. If the arrow is pointing up, data is sorted from lowest to highest value. If the arrow is pointing down, data is sorted from highest to lowest value. Click to change the arrow direction. (If you click on the Client or Private Notes arrow, the data will be displayed in alphabetical or /reverse alphabetical order.)
- Filter the credits table by completing the Filter field, situated on the top right of the page, to the left of the blue Enter Credit button. Credits can be filtered according to the client name, or elements of the client name. Here’s an example: Let’s filter the table for credits issued to “Best Ninja”. You can type “best ninja”, or “best” or “ninja”, or even “bes”, or “nin”, or “ja”, or any other grouping of letters in the client name. The filter function will automatically locate and present all the relevant entries. This function makes it easy to find credit entries with even minimal input of information.

.. TIP:: Need to search for a specific client in your Credits list? Start typing the first letters of the client's name and the filter will automatically present the relevant listings.

Enter Credit
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Creating a new credit is fast and simple. Remember, all credits you create will appear in the Credits list page.

**Let’s Begin**

To issue a credit, you’ll need to open the Credits / Create page.

There are three ways to open this page:

1. Go to the Clients tab, open the drop-down menu, and click on Enter Credit. This will open the Credits / Create page. TIP: This is the quickest way to reach the Enter Credit page.
2. Go to the Clients tab, open the drop-down menu, and click on Credits. This will open the Credits list page, which displays a summary of all your clients’ credits. To issue a new credit, click the blue Enter Credit + button in the upper right corner, above the orange bar.
3. Go to the Client's summary page. Locate the blue New Invoice button at the top right of the page. Click on the arrow at the right side of the button. A drop-down list will open. Select Enter Credit. This will open the Credits / Create page. TIP: This method will automatically pre-select the client's name in the Client field of the Enter Credit page.

Ok, so you’ve successfully landed on the Credits / Create page.

Overview
^^^^^^^^

The Credits / Create page has four fields for you to complete. Let’s take a closer look at each field:

- **Client**: Click on the arrow at the right end of the Client field. Select the relevant client from the client list.
- **Amount**: Enter the credit amount. The currency is determined by the currency setting for the specific client.
- **Credit Date**: Select the appropriate date of issue for the credit. It may be today’s date or any other date.
- **Private Notes**: [Optional] Enter any private comments or reminders (don’t worry - no one can see them but you.)

Saving the Credit
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

To save your new credit, click Save.

You’ve now completed the process of issuing a credit to your client’s account.

When you click Save, you’ll be automatically redirected to the client’s summary page. The credit balance will appear in the Standing column, under Credit.

If you wish to view the client’s credit details in full, click on the gray Credits tab at the right side of the client’s summary page. This will open a table displaying information about all credits issued to the client, including amount, balance, date of issue and private notes.