Credit notes
Put an invoice rightwithout cancelling it.
Goods came back, or you agreed a discount after the invoice went out. A credit note is the only lawful way to reduce an issued invoice: the invoice keeps its number and date, and the note carries its own.
Credit note
CN/26-27/0009
Against INV/26-27/0042
Issued 22 Sep 2026
Apply it to this invoice or any other open one for the same client, or refund it.
Sample · try either. This client has a GSTIN, so the note files as CDNR
No. 01How it works
Draft, number, use.
- 01
Draft against an invoice
Or a standalone commercial credit with no tax on it. Same editor, same calculator, same sheet.
- 02
Give the reason
From GSTR-1's closed list. It is needed before the note can be numbered, not before you draft it.
- 03
Issue
It takes the next number in its own series (CN/26-27/…) and credits the client's statement in full that day.
- 04
Apply or refund
Against that invoice or any other open one for the same client, or as a recorded refund. Some of each is fine.
No. 02The rules it enforces
Refused with the date, not filed wrong.
The 30 November deadline
A credit note against an invoice from FY 2026-27 must be issued by 30 November 2027. Past that, the product refuses it, whatever date is typed on the note, and names the date.
Never more than the invoice has left
Checked per line and in total, under the invoice's own lock, so two people crediting at once cannot together overshoot it.
CDNR or CDNUR
Filed by the table GSTR-1 puts it in: registered buyers in CDNR; unregistered inter-state notes above the B2CL threshold in CDNUR; the rest net inside table 7.
Gross beside net
Every report nets the notes off and shows the gross and the credits beside it, so the figures reconcile against your own invoices.
No. 03GSTR-1's reasons
A closed list, on purpose.
Anything outside it is filed as “Others” in the return anyway, so a free-text box would only produce a note your CA has to re-classify by hand.
- 01Sales return
- 02Post-sale discount
- 03Deficiency in services
- 04Correction in invoice
- 05Change in place of supply
- 06Finalisation of provisional assessment
- 07Others
No. 04Plans
Which plan has it.
| Capability | Starter | Business | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit notes | Included | Included | Included |
Credit notes are core GST compliance, included on every plan. Compare every plan
No. 05Questions
Asked before buying.
01Cancel or credit?
Cancel when the invoice should never have existed (the number stays, marked cancelled). Credit when the client already has it and part or all of it has to come off.
02Can I void a credit note?
Only while none of its credit has been used. Once any of it is applied or refunded, it stands.
03How does it show on the sales register?
In its own section rather than as negative rows, because the register is the run of serials an officer checks for gaps.