Credit Notes & Write-Offs
Issue a credit note in Spatiko — refund the payer, hold the amount as account credit, or write off a real estate photography invoice that will never be paid.
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Sometimes the money has to go backwards. A client pays an invoice and then the listing falls through. A reshoot was your call, and you’d rather comp it than argue. A brokerage dissolves owing you $675 that everyone knows is gone. Each of those is a different problem, and Spatiko gives them one instrument with three settlements: the credit note.
A credit note is a numbered document — with its own PDF, emailed to the payer — that formally credits some or all of an invoice. Your accountant gets clean paper; your receivables stay honest.
Issuing a credit note
On the invoice, choose Issue credit note. Three decisions:
What to credit — the full amount, or specific lines. Line credits are fair to the cent: they carry those lines’ share of any invoice discount and their prorated share of the tax, so crediting the drone add-on doesn’t quietly credit tax that belonged to the photos.
How it is settled — the three ways money goes back:
- Refund — “Send the money back through the original payment method.” The refund happens immediately when the note is issued.
- Account credit — “Hold the amount on the client’s account for a future order.” Nothing is sent back; the client spends it at their next checkout.
- Write off — “Cancel the balance without moving money. Marks the invoice uncollectible.”
A reason — printed on the credit note, so the document explains itself later.
The ceilings are enforced for you: a refund or account credit can only hand back what the payer actually paid and hasn’t already had credited, and a write-off can only retire what’s still outstanding.
Which settlement, when
The client overpaid, or the job fell through after payment → Refund. Money leaves your account and returns through the payment method it arrived on, and the payer is emailed the numbered credit note. This is the settlement for “make it like the payment never happened.”
You comped a reshoot for a regular → Account credit. The agent books with you every month; sending $180 back only for them to pay you $180 next week is churn. Credit their account instead — the amount sits with you, appears at their next checkout, and comes straight off that booking. Goodwill that stays in the business.
The invoice will never be paid → Write off. No money moves, because there’s no money coming. The balance is recorded as bad debt, the invoice becomes uncollectible, and it drops out of your outstanding and overdue totals — so your receivables reflect money you might actually collect. The work itself stays billable on a new invoice if the story ever changes.
For a simple write-off there’s also a shortcut that skips the credit-note document: the Write off action on the invoice itself. Use the credit-note version when the payer should receive formal paperwork for the cancelled balance.
Refunds and credit notes stay consistent
You don’t have to pick the “right door” to keep your books straight. Issue a credit note with the Refund settlement and the refund is performed; process a refund from payment history and the credit-note documentation is generated over the money that moved. Either way you end up with the same pair: money returned, numbered document explaining it.
Undoing things
- A credit note can be voided only while no money has moved — it keeps its number but stops counting against the invoice, which becomes collectable again. Once a refund or account credit has settled, the note is permanent; correct further with another instrument, not deletion.
- A direct write-off has Undo write-off — the balance returns to your receivables and reminders resume. Use it when the write-off was premature, or the client pays after all.
- A write-off made via credit note is undone by voiding that credit note instead — the invoice page offers exactly that action, so you can’t take the wrong path.
Everything lands in the invoice’s activity timeline, and credited amounts show in its balance panel — the invoice always tells its whole story.
Go deeper
- Refunding a client — the payment-history side of giving money back, including refunds during cancellation.
- How invoices work — statuses and lifecycle — where uncollectible sits among draft, open, paid, and void.
- Invoice reminders and overdue invoices — what stops (and resumes) when balances are written off and restored.
- When clients pay — payment timing — how account credit is applied when the client books next.
- Client records — where a client’s account credit and billing history live.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between a refund and a credit note?
A credit note is the numbered document; a refund is one of the ways it settles. Crediting with the Refund settlement moves the money back and produces the paperwork in one step, and refunds issued from payment history generate their credit-note documentation automatically — the two always stay consistent.
When should I write off an invoice instead of voiding it?
Void an invoice that was billed by mistake and has nothing paid on it. Write off an invoice that's genuinely owed but will never be paid — it's recorded as bad debt and drops out of your outstanding receivables, while the work stays billable on a new invoice if things change.
Can I delete a credit note?
No — credit notes are numbered documents and can't be deleted. One can be voided, which keeps its number but stops it counting against the invoice, and only while no money has moved.
What is account credit and when would I use it?
Money held on the client's account for a future order instead of being sent back. It suits ongoing relationships — a comped reshoot or a goodwill gesture becomes credit the agent spends on their next booking, applied automatically at checkout.