In an E-commerce store, refunds for orders may arise from various circumstances, whether initiated by the customer or the store owner. Regardless of the initiator, it is crucial to inform customers about the refund process through the issuance of credit notes. The WebToffee’s WooCommerce PDF Invoices, Packing Slips, and Credit Notes plugin helps to automatically email PDF copies of credit notes to customers upon refunds. The plugin attaches the credit note with the refund email. To effectively email credit notes to customers upon order refund, follow the below steps:
- Head to the Create credit notes automatically option.
- Select Order Statuses for credit note generation.
- Enable the Attach Credit Note in Refund Email option.
- Update Settings.
Configuring the credit note settings for a full refund
Step 1: Head to the Create credit notes automatically option
- Navigate to Invoice/Packing > Credit Note > General from the WordPress dashboard.
- Scroll down to the Create credit notes automatically option.
Step 2: Select Order Statuses for credit note generation
- Select ‘Refunded‘ as the order status.
Step 3: Enable the Attach Credit Note in Refund Email option
- Head to the Attach credit note in ‘Refund’ email option and enable it.
Step 4: Update Settings
- Click on Update Settings to save the changes.
In the following example, the store owner chooses order #279 to make a full refund. The order falls into the “Refunded” status. The plugin automatically generates a credit note for the refund, and a PDF copy of it is attached to the refund email and sent to the customer, as shown below.
Configuring credit note settings for a partial refund
Step 1: Head to the Create credit notes automatically option
- Navigate to Invoice/Packing > Credit Note > General from the WordPress dashboard.
- Scroll down to the Create credit notes automatically option.
Step 2: Select Order Statuses for credit note generation
- Select the order statuses for credit note generation. For partial refunds, store owners should choose any status other than “Refunded.” A credit note is generated for partial refunds when an order is in one of these selected statuses.
Step 3: Enable the Attach Credit Note in Refund Email option
- Head to the Attach credit note in ‘Refund’ email option and enable it.
Step 4: Update Settings
- Click on Update Settings to save the changes.
In the example below, the store owner chooses order #593 to make a partial refund. The order is in the “Completed” status. The store owner initiates the partial refund. We have set up the plugin to auto-generate credit notes for partial refunds in the “Completed” and “Cancelled” order statuses. So on making the partial refund, a credit note will be generated, attached to the refund email, and sent to the customer as shown below:
van Oostrum
December 13, 2024
Hi, when I create a credit note for a cancelled order, I would like the credit note not only being send to my customer, but als to our company’s accountancy mail address. Now I have to download and mail credit notes manually…
any thoughts on how this can be achieved?
thanks
Sanjai Valsan
December 17, 2024
Hi Van Oostrum,
Thank you for reaching out,
Our plugin automatically generates a credit note for specific order statuses when a refund is processed. However, the refund notification email itself is handled by WooCommerce, and we don’t have direct control over adding additional recipients, such as your company’s accountancy email address.
To achieve this, you can use a custom code snippet. We recommend reaching out to the WooCommerce support team for further assistance in implementing this solution.
André
September 24, 2024
Dear Sanjay, hello support team,
I’m currently evaluating your invoice plugin and there is one specific question on a function, which is relevant according to tax regulation in Germany.
Scenario:
1. Order was placed, processed and payed. Invoice was created with unique invoice number.
2. Same Order was cancelled and payments were refunded.
In order to book this transaction in line with tax rules a cancellation invoice or reverse invoice with a new invoice number (which must not be the same as the initial, unique invoice number) must be created, which is linked to the initial invoice and outlines the products and paid amounts which were refunded.
Would somehow look as follows:
Initial invoice number = 250023
Reverse invoice number = 25002x cancellation to invoice number 250023
Is this function available with the payed version of your WooCommerce PDF Invoices, Packing Slips and Credit Notes plugin?
Many thanks in advance for looking into this!
Sanjai Valsan
September 27, 2024
Hi Andre,
Thank you for reaching out to us,
Currently, our plugin does not create a reverse or cancellation invoice for canceled or refunded orders. Once an invoice is generated, it remains unchanged, even if the order is later refunded or canceled. The original invoice will still be linked to the order, but a new invoice with a different number is not automatically created.
However, when an order is refunded, our plugin does issue a credit note, which details the refunded products and the amounts refunded. This ensures that the transaction is accurately documented for tax and accounting purposes.