Credit note or cancellation invoice after a refund
Goods come back and you refund them in Shopify. Which German document then belongs to the invoice, and how the app makes it from the refund.
The invoice itself stays as it is. You issue a second document that points to it. For a partial refund that is a credit note, a Gutschrift, for the part refunded. When the whole amount goes back, it is called a Stornorechnung, a cancellation invoice.
In the app you click Create credit note next to the refund on the order. Credit notes and cancellation invoices are on the Starter plan.
Which document when
| What happened | What the app creates |
|---|---|
| You refund part of the order, say one mug of two | a credit note for that part, titled Rechnungskorrektur (Gutschrift) |
| You refund part of it twice | two credit notes, one per refund |
| One refund gives back the whole invoice amount | the same document, titled Stornorechnung |
| Cancelled before payment and before anything shipped | a Stornorechnung that cancels the invoice in full |
| Cancelled after the goods shipped | no document, because it depends on whether the goods came back |
Credit notes and cancellation invoices share one number series, the credit note series. Both name the number and the date of the invoice they correct. Once an invoice has been cancelled, the app creates no second document for it.
In the app
From a refund to its credit note:
Refund in Shopify, as you always do. The app writes nothing to the order.
Open the order in the app and reload it. Under Refunds there is now a line with the date and the amount.
Click Create credit note there. If the order has no invoice yet, create the invoice first, because the credit note names its number.
Download the PDF and send it to your customer.
If you cancel an order before it is paid and before anything ships, click Create cancellation invoice on the order instead.
Why Gutschrift is in brackets
In German VAT law a Gutschrift is something else: an invoice the buyer issues instead of the seller (§ 14 Abs. 2 UStG). In everyday German the correction after a refund is called a Gutschrift too. So the app prints Rechnungskorrektur (Gutschrift) as the title, which makes clear which of the two it is.
What the app does not do
The app makes the credit note from a refund that is in Shopify. Not part of it:
It moves no money. You refund in Shopify.
If you refund a different amount from the one Shopify suggests, less a fee for example, it creates no credit note for it.
It creates no cancellation invoice for an order cancelled after shipping.
It never changes an invoice once issued.
The Free plan has no credit notes and no cancellation invoices.
Next
The home page shows how the invoice, the delivery note and the credit note of one order fit together. More on refunds and cancellations is on the support page.