What This Does
Every credit memo, debit memo, and write-off has a number, so you can find it within a business unit by batch, date, number, or amount. Its detail page shows the invoice it changed, the lines it affected, and the ledger entries its batch created after posting or download.
Each invoice line also keeps its own history of the memos and write-offs that changed it, including the amount of each change. If you prepare exports or downstream finance or tax documents, pull memo activity alongside the original invoice amounts. Credit memos and debit memos are tracked separately from the invoice they changed, rather than rolled into one running invoice total.
When to Use It (and Not)
Use this when you need to review, correct, or reference a memo or write-off. For example, you might need to explain why a customer's invoice balance changed or reconcile a batch. To apply a new credit memo, debit memo, or write-off, use the related article for that task.
Prerequisites
- You have permission to view memos and write-offs in Finance & Billing.
- You must choose a business unit to search. You can't search across every business unit at once.
Steps
- Open the invoice the memo or write-off changed, then select its Related Transactions tab. The tab lists each credit memo, debit memo, or write-off applied to that invoice.
- Select a row to open that memo's or write-off's detail page.
- Alternatively, open the batch that contains the memo or write-off, then review the transactions listed there.
Variants
- Searching directly. Within a business unit, you can search for memos and write-offs by batch, date, number, or amount. You can't search by customer, invoice, the memo's own text, or a write-off's method. Search by batch or date instead, or open the memo from the invoice or customer's page. There is no dedicated credit memo or debit memo query or report beyond this search and quick search in the Financial module. If you need broader reporting on memo activity, use Batches › Subledger Entries as described below instead of looking for a memo-specific query.
- Reviewing applied credit memo amounts for general-ledger reporting. Pull applied credit memo totals from Batches › Subledger Entries rather than a generic credits query. A credits query can return store credits, which are different records from credit memos applied to reduce invoices. Don't treat them as interchangeable when you report on credit activity.
- Reviewing several affected credit memos across batches at once. Use the Subledger Entries view to filter by Transaction Type = Credit Memo and Batch Date so you can find affected records in one place, without opening each memo individually. That view can also show the related event or G/L account, the credit amount, debit-side journal details when applicable, and both the invoice ID and the credit memo ID.
- Seeing which memos and write-offs changed an invoice line. Each invoice line keeps a history of every memo and write-off that changed it, including the amount and when it was applied. That history remains in place even if you later correct the memo's or write-off's own date. A credit memo for registration-related charges can recreate the original registration line items on the memo itself, rather than editing the original line's quantity. Because of that, a line's quantity can look doubled on the memo even though the memo is correctly offsetting the original transaction.
- Reviewing ledger entries. A memo's or write-off's detail page includes a Subledger Entries tab. After the batch has posted or been downloaded, the tab shows the ledger entries that batch created. Before then, the tab explains that entries aren't available until the batch posts. For a credit memo reversal, a debit to deferred revenue usually represents revenue that was previously deferred, and a credit to accounts receivable reduces that receivable. Accounts receivable can appear in more than one related entry, depending on how the original transaction was recorded.
Result
You reach the memo's or write-off's full detail page, where you can review its invoice, total, date, changed lines, batch, and ledger entries once they are available.
What to Do If It Fails
- You can't find a memo by the customer's name or by typing part of its memo text. Those aren't available search criteria. Search by batch, date, number, or amount instead, or open the memo from the invoice's Related Transactions tab or from the customer's page.
- You're not sure whether a number you have is a credit memo or a debit memo. Credit memos and debit memos use the same numbering style, but they have separate sequences. The same number can exist once as a credit memo and once as a debit memo, so confirm which type you need before you search.
- A memo or write-off's ledger entries aren't showing yet. Its batch hasn't posted or downloaded yet. Once it does, the entries appear on the Subledger Entries tab.
- A credit memo has been applied to an invoice, but the invoice or receipt template's memo merge field doesn't show it. That merge field displays the memo text entered directly on the invoice itself, not whether a credit memo has been applied. Review the invoice's Related Transactions tab or the Subledger Entries view instead to confirm that a credit memo was applied.