You process a purchase credit note in Exact Online as a negative purchase invoice: the Scanning service recognises it and ticks the credit memo check box in the entry proposal, you check the amount and VAT and save the proposal. Then you match the credit note against the original invoice, or group them when you pay so you only transfer the difference. The VAT on the credit note reduces your input VAT.
Sounds simple. Until you post it as a normal invoice, forget to link it or pay the invoice in full anyway. Below are the steps in Exact Online with menu paths, the mistakes we see most and how Glimps handles credit notes. I checked all menu paths on 24 September 2026 in the Dutch Exact knowledge base, so Dutch interface labels come with an English gloss.
What is a purchase credit note?
A credit note is an invoice with a minus in front. Your supplier uses it to reverse an earlier purchase invoice, fully or in part. Think of a return, a price error, a discount afterwards or a delivery that was invoiced twice.
For the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst), a credit note is a change to the original invoice. Your supplier may use a simplified invoice for it, but it must refer to the original invoice. You will need that number to link the two. Missing? Ask for it.
An example. Voorbeeldleverancier BV sends an invoice of 1,210 euro (1,000 euro plus 210 euro VAT). You return two boxes and receive a credit note of minus 242 euro (minus 200 euro plus minus 42 euro VAT). Your debt to Voorbeeldleverancier BV is now 968 euro. That is the amount you want to see in Exact and pay.
Step by step: processing a credit note in Exact Online
Step 1. Let the credit note come in like an invoice
A credit note arrives the same way as a purchase invoice: the digital postbox, an upload or email. How to set that up is in posting purchase invoices automatically in Exact Online. According to the Exact knowledge base, when an invoice is a credit memo, the Scanning service ticks the credit memo check box in the entry proposal.
Step 2. Check the entry proposal
Go to Inkoop > Facturen > Inkoop > Overzicht (Purchase > Invoices > Purchase > Overview) and open the Boekingsvoorstellen (Entry proposals) tab. Click the credit note in the Invoice column. Check three things:
- Is the credit note box ticked? If not, you are about to post an extra debt instead of a lower one.
- Are amount and VAT right? With an unreadable or half scanned amount, the Scanning service sets all amounts to zero.
- Is it the right supplier? If Exact shows Nieuwe relatie controleren (check new account), it did not recognise the supplier and created a new one. If the credit note sits on a duplicate account, matching gets hard: by default Exact looks for outstanding items within the account.
Put the number of the original invoice in the description. Then save the proposal. It is now an entry and an outstanding item with a negative amount.
Step 3. See how the outstanding items look
Go to Inkoop > Openstaande posten > Openstaande posten > Overzicht (Purchase > Outstanding items > Overview). Here you see per creditor what is still open. In our example there are now two items: the invoice of 1,210 euro and the credit note of minus 242 euro.
Step 4. Pay the difference and group the credit note with the invoice
Exact says that in a batch payment you first group a credit note with an invoice of equal or higher value:
- Go to Financieel > Bank en kas > Betalingen > Betalingen selecteren (Financial > Cash and bank > Payments > Select payments).
- Select the invoice and the credit note and click Verzamelen (Collect).
- Click Verrichten (Make payment).
The total of a collective payment must be positive. If it contains a credit note that is larger than the rest, Exact does not process the payment until you balance the amounts. In our example 968 euro goes to Voorbeeldleverancier BV.
Step 5. Match them, so invoice and credit note belong together
In Exact you link a credit note to the invoice by matching (afletteren) them together. There are two routes.
- Through the bank statement. Import your statement and, in Financieel > Bank en kas > Afschriften > Af te handelen (statements to process), click Automatisch (Automatic). On payment reference, Our ref. or date, Exact can match several outstanding items at once, as long as the total equals the amount on the statement. If that does not work, click the Afletteren (Match) hyperlink on the line and select both the invoice and the credit note on the Outstanding items page.
- Without a bank line. The knowledge base describes an Afletteren (Match) button on the Outstanding items page: you select the two entries that belong together and click Match. After that they share the same Our ref. Exact documents this for sales; for suppliers the overview sits under Purchase. Handy when a credit note cancels exactly one invoice.
Step 6. Does the supplier pay money back?
If you already paid the invoice in full, the supplier transfers the credit note amount to you. You match that receipt against the credit note: on the statements to process page, click Afletteren (Match) on the bank line and pick the credit note.
Step 7. Credit note for a return with a purchase order
Work with purchase orders? Then it starts with the return. Go to Inkoop > Ontvangsten en retouren > Retouren > Aanmaken (Purchase > Receipts and returns > Returns > Create), select the receipts and click New. Enter the return quantity and select the Creditnota (Credit note) option if your supplier sends a credit note. If the supplier replaces the goods, leave the option off. You see the credited amount on the purchase invoice page through Inkoop > Facturen > Inkoopfacturen > Te ontvangen facturen (invoices to be received). How order, receipt and invoice add up is in 3-way matching explained.
Step 8. Posted it wrong anyway? Reopen the entry
If you posted the credit note as a normal invoice, reopen the entry. Tick Toestaan: Heropenen: Boekingen (Allow: Reopen: Entries) under Administratienaam > Instellingen > Financieel > Algemeen (Company name > Settings > Financial > General) and open the entry through Financieel > Boekingen en grootboekrekeningen > Boekingen > Overzicht (Entries > Overview, Show: Processed). If the entry is already part of a VAT return, that is not possible and you create a correction entry through Boekingen > Aanmaken (Entries > Create), tab Correctieboeking.
VAT on a purchase credit note
You may deduct the VAT on a purchase invoice straight away, even before you pay. If you get the invoice amount back in full or in part, the Belastingdienst says you must repay the VAT you deducted too much. A credit note does exactly that: the 42 euro VAT from our example comes off your input VAT.
If you post the credit note as a credit note, with the same VAT code as the invoice, that entry lowers your input VAT. If you post it as a positive invoice, you deduct that 42 euro once more.
Common mistakes
- Posting the credit note as a positive invoice. The credit note box is off, so your debt goes up instead of down. And you deduct the VAT once more.
- Not linking it to the original invoice. The credit note sits alone in your outstanding items. Months later nobody knows what that minus 242 euro belonged to. Put the invoice number in the description and match them.
- Paying twice. The invoice goes out in full and the credit note stays behind. Now you have to ask for your own money back. Group the credit note with the invoice when you pay.
- Wrong VAT. A different VAT code than on the invoice, or the whole amount at 0 percent. Take over the VAT code of the original invoice.
- Treating a partial return as a full credit note. Two of ten boxes back leaves the invoice open for the difference. If you work with purchase orders, create a return with only the quantity you sent back.
- A duplicate supplier. If the credit note hangs on a newly created account, Exact will not find it next to the invoice. Always click through on the new account notice.
Overview: where do you do what in Exact Online?
| What | Where in Exact Online (Dutch menu) | Watch out |
|---|---|---|
| Check the credit note | Inkoop > Facturen > Inkoop > Overzicht, tab Boekingsvoorstellen | Credit note box ticked, amount not zero |
| Outstanding items per supplier | Inkoop > Openstaande posten > Openstaande posten > Overzicht | Invoice and credit note on the same account |
| Pay the difference | Financieel > Bank en kas > Betalingen > Betalingen selecteren, Verzamelen, Verrichten | Group with an invoice of equal or higher value; total must be positive |
| Match with the bank | Financieel > Bank en kas > Afschriften > Af te handelen | Several items at once works if the total equals the statement |
| Return with credit note | Inkoop > Ontvangsten en retouren > Retouren > Aanmaken | Credit note option on |
| Fix a mistake | Financieel > Boekingen en grootboekrekeningen > Boekingen > Overzicht | Already in a VAT return? Then a correction entry |
How Glimps handles credit notes
Glimps only works with Exact Online. The Inbox Agent picks invoices and credit notes out of your Microsoft 365 mailbox. Glimps reads every line and codes G/L account, VAT and cost centre per line from your own posting history in Exact. Then it posts the entry in Exact Online itself, per supplier as far as you allow.
With a credit note, Glimps does not go ahead by itself. A credit note is one of the eight checks that stop automatic posting, next to a possible duplicate invoice, a duplicate check that could not run, a different bank account than usual, amounts that do not add up, an amount above your limit, a supplier that was silent for twelve months and a different currency than usual. So even for a supplier that otherwise posts automatically, a credit note comes to a person first. When Glimps is in doubt about a field, it stays empty. And Glimps never pays. You decide who authorises: see authorising invoices in Exact Online.
You start today. You connect Exact Online yourself and your first invoice is processed within minutes. You try it free for 14 days. Prices are on the pricing page. Prefer to look around first? Open the demo. More terms explained are in the glossary.
Conclusion
Processing a purchase credit note in Exact Online comes down to four things: post it as a credit note with the box ticked, take over the VAT code of the invoice, group it with the invoice when you pay and match the two together. Skip a step, and you will find it again in your outstanding items. Usually at the worst moment.