Free credit note template
Correct an invoice without deleting it.
A credit note cancels or reduces an invoice you have already issued — the correct way to fix a mistake you cannot simply delete.
Once an invoice has been sent and entered into your books, editing or deleting it breaks the audit trail and, if you are VAT registered, misstates a return you may already have filed. A credit note is the accepted fix: a separate document that reduces the amount owed on a specific invoice, leaving both the original and the correction visible.
- No signup
- Instant PDF
- No watermark
- A4 or US Letter
- Nothing uploaded
Step 1 of 10
Document
Add your business name, a client name and at least one item.
When to use a credit note
- You invoiced the wrong amount, or the wrong customer, and it has already been sent
- Goods were returned or a service was not delivered as billed
- You have agreed a discount or a goodwill reduction after invoicing
- A duplicate invoice was issued and needs cancelling
Always reference the original invoice
The credit note must name the invoice it corrects, by number and date. Without that reference it is an unexplained reduction, and neither your accountant nor your customer’s can reconcile it.
Amounts are positive; the document does the reversing
Enter the values as normal figures. It is the fact that the document is a credit note, not a minus sign, that tells everyone the amount reduces what is owed. Mixing negatives into a credit note double-reverses it.
Credit the VAT too
If the original invoice charged VAT, the credit note must credit the proportional VAT as well, at the rate that applied on the original. Crediting the net alone leaves you having paid over tax on income you never received.