Refunding a cash purchase (partial refund)

A cash purchase refund lets you return unwanted or defective items to your vendor and receive a credit or money back. This article covers a partial refund—when you return only some of the items. Use this when you keep part of the purchase and send back the rest.

Before you start

• You must have created and saved the original cash purchase in Usystems
• Only the user who created the purchase, or an admin, can refund it
• You need to know which items you're returning and the quantities
• Partial refunds only work on cash purchases in "Posted" status—check the document status first
• You'll need the vendor's contact record with correct payment terms

Steps

1. Go to Cash Purchases and find the purchase you want to refund

Open in Usystems

2. Open the purchase document and click the Refund button (located in the document header or action menu)

3. In the refund form that appears, you'll see all the items from the original purchase. For each item you're returning:

   • Check the box next to the item (or leave unchecked if keeping it)
   • Edit the Quantity field to show how many units you're returning
   • The price per unit and total will calculate automatically

4. Review the Total Refund Amount at the bottom—this is the money you'll receive back

5. Click Create Refund or Post Refund (depending on your setup)

6. The refund is now recorded. You'll see it linked to the original purchase.

Accounting impact

When you create a partial refund:

• Your bank or cash account is credited (money comes back to you)
• Your inventory increases by the quantity of items returned
• Accounts payable (what you owe the vendor) decreases
• Cost of goods sold or expense accounts may reverse depending on how the original purchase was categorized

Tips & common mistakes

• Don't edit the refund after posting. If you need to change it, delete and recreate it.
• Check quantities carefully. Returning the wrong amount affects both your cash and stock levels.
• Link it to the original purchase. Usystems does this automatically—don't create a separate document.
• Match the vendor's credit note. Before refunding, verify the vendor's refund offer or credit note to avoid disputes.