A credit note is a written notice or act drawn up by a supplier of goods or services to a buyer. The document is actively used in international trade. It can act as an additional regulator of relations or be designed to provide bonuses or discounts.
A credit note is a tool used to simplify the procedure for settlements between buyers and suppliers of products. More often the concept is used in international trade relations.
Credit note: main features
This is a written notice from the seller to the buyer that a certain amount of money has been credited. The purpose of the form is to document changes in the sales price of products that occur under certain circumstances. The latter may be the need to transfer money to the supplier in a timely manner or the organization of full prepayment before each delivery.
Thanks to the documents, clarifying conditions for this can be negotiated:
- a separate section or clause of the original contract between the buyer or seller is used;
- an additional agreement to the current agreement is signed.
A credit note can be issued by the vendor when adjusting the amount owed by the customer. The form becomes legally significant only upon the occurrence of the circumstances that were spelled out in the contract. The signs of such an act include:
- registration in any form;
- bilateral agreement of the transaction;
- one-sided registration.
The possibility of registration of the form is prescribed in the supply agreement. The act comes into force from the moment it is drawn up and sent to the seller.
Scope of application
This official paper is often used when providing discounts for productive cooperation. At the same time, new bonuses should not be spelled out in the contract. Discounts that are unilaterally initiated by a supplier are called "Request for Debt". The price of goods transferred without payment by the seller cannot be taken into account when calculating the tax base.
The discount can be taken into account if the primary documentation for the shipment of goods and invoices are drawn up without deducting the discount. A condition may also be the situation when the counterparty receives a corresponding notification from the seller in the form of a special document.
Thanks to such official paper, it is possible to settle the relationship between the parties, minimize time and other costs when returning defective goods. In the latter case, an act is drawn up when the buyer makes a claim for defective goods. If ownership has passed to the buyer, then:
- an act is drawn up with the fixed defects of the goods;
- a claim is drawn up on the basis of the data specified in the act;
- the return of defective goods is reflected;
- tax subtleties of reverse implementation are taken into account.
A credit note can also be used to pay off counter obligations to the buyer. These include the costs of the buyer, including those associated with the return of defective products.
Thus, a credit note is often used in international trade relations. In our country, it is not popular, since it seems to be a complicated and unnecessary method of calculations.
