Manage Purchase Returns

Receiving compensation from a vendor for a purchased item that you are dissatisfied with is important for recovering costs and maintaining satisfactory vendor relationships. Typically, a purchaser responsible for the interaction with specific vendors would also be the person to make contact with those vendors in case of purchase returns.

Managing returns to vendors includes a series of tasks. The number and scope of these tasks generally depend on who initiates the return: the company itself (when, for example, dissatisfied with the quality of purchased items or in case of wrong delivery) or a company's own customer. Irrespective of that. A typical vendor-oriented return process may include the following tasks:

• Determining the compensation agreement with the vendor.

• Debiting the vendor, either by means of receiving a credit for physically returned items, or by means of a purchase allowance (if the company is not required to physically return the items).

• Creating a replacement purchase order (if replacement is part of a compensation agreement)

In relation to the vendor-oriented process, there are a number of internal handling tasks:

• Shipping items to the vendor (if the purchase return, including repair, is part of a compensation agreement).

• Receiving replaced/repaired items.

• Ensuring the accurate inventory value of the items to be returned to the vendor.

• Combining several return shipments to the same vendor into one credit memo document.

The following table describes a sequence of tasks with links to the topics that describe them. These tasks are listed in the order in which they are generally performed:

To	See
Learn about the business requirements and steps involved in returns management, such as compensation agreements and inventory value considerations.	About Returns Management
Get an overview of different ways to process purchase returns.	How to: Process Purchase Returns
Determine who supplied a certain defective serial/lot number before starting the purchase return process.	How to: Trace Item-Tracked Items
Ensure that after returning the item(s), your inventory is revalued using the unit cost that is connected to the original purchase entry.	Assigning Exact Cost Reversing
Create the purchase return order and fill the lines with a function to automatically reverse posted purchase invoice lines or receipt lines.	How to: Create Purchase Return Orders
Have the vendor compensate you for a purchased item by replacing the item.	How to: Create Replacement Purchase Orders
Have all relevant return documents be created automatically, such as the purchase return order, a replacement purchase order, or a new sales order.	Create Ret.-Related Documents
Return several items covered by different purchase return orders.	How to: Combine Return Shipments
Accept and post a purchase allowance granted by the vendor because the received items are faulty.	How to: Create and Post Purchase Allowances
Ensure that the originally received serial/lot numbers are reversed in the purchase return process.	Handling Item Tracking Lines when Getting for Invoices/Credit Memos
Determine where a returned defective serial/lot number originates from and if the defective lot is sold on other orders.	How to: Trace Item-Tracked Items
Undo the quantity posting of a return shipment where the purchase return document (purchase credit memo) has not yet been invoiced.	How to: Undo Quantity Posting on Posted Return Shipments

See Also

Concepts

Receiving
Put Items Away

Other Resources

Manage Sales Returns
Collect Supplier Refunds
Work with Data