What?
What?
Credit Memo Reasons provide a structured way to classify why a credit memo exists (e.g., Billing Error, Service Outage, Goodwill, Pricing Adjustment). Each reason can be mapped to a QuickBooks (QB) Product/Service to ensure accurate accounting and reporting. Credit memos are only synced to QuickBooks when applied to invoices (applied-only sync).
How (Step-by-step guide in Luminous)
How (Step-by-step guide in Luminous)
A. How to Use Credit Memos in Luminous
1. Accessing Credit Memos
Navigate to a Client record in the CRM section.
Click on the Credit Memos tab.
Here, you’ll see existing memos with their statuses (e.g., Applied or Partially Applied).
2. Adding a Credit Memo
Click Add Credit Memo.
Enter details such as:
Memo Name: Example – “Wholesale Credit” or “Damaged Product.”
Amount: The total credit to be applied (e.g., 500).
Reason: Select from predefined credit memo reasons (configured under Sales Admin > Credit Memo Reasons).
Examples include Wholesale, Promotional Kickback, or Damaged Product.
Remarks: Optional internal notes.
(Optional) Apply to an Existing Invoice:
Choose an invoice and specify how much of the credit to apply (e.g., 200).
Once submitted, Luminous marks the credit as Partially Applied.
The credit memo automatically syncs to QuickBooks Online once applied.
3. Applying Credit Memos to New Invoices
When creating a new invoice:
Scroll to the Credit Memo Entry section at the bottom.
View available credits (e.g., the Wholesale memo for $98).
Toggle to apply the credit.
Once the invoice is created, the credit memo is applied and synced to QuickBooks.
B. Set up and manage Credit Memo Reasons
Path: Sales → Sales Admin → Credit Memo Reasons
Create a new Reason
Click the three dots (⋮) "Actions" button → Add Credit Memo Reason
Fill out the necessary details:
Name (unique among active reasons)
Description (what this reason means operationally)
Status → Active to make it selectable on forms
Default QB Product/Service → pick from synced QB Catalog (see section B)
Save. If a duplicate active name exists, you’ll see a uniqueness error. Deactivate or rename the conflicting reason.
Edit / Deactivate a Reason
Open a reason → Click the three dots (⋮) Edit to change name/description/default mapping.
Toggle Active off to prevent future use (existing memos remain valid).
C. Sync & maintain the QuickBooks Product/Service Catalog
Path: Sales → Sales Admin → QuickBooks Catalog
Nightly sync (auto): Runs via cron to refresh the catalog into
quickbooks_catalog_items(fields:id, name, type, is_active, last_synced_at).On-demand sync: Click Sync QB Catalog. Confirm. The Last synced at timestamp updates when complete.
Validate availability: Only active QB items are selectable. If a mapped item becomes inactive in QB, you’ll see a Mapping Invalid indicator.
Heads-up: If you can’t find a product/service, sync first, then search again.
*E. QuickBooks Sync (Applied-Only)
Automatic Syncing: Credit memos push to QuickBooks only when applied; there’s no manual “push” function.
QuickBooks Connection: Functionality depends on active QuickBooks integration—ensure your account is connected.
No Manual Overrides: Users cannot manually force syncs or edit transactions already posted to QuickBooks.
*F. Reason Details View (Drilldown)
Path: Sales → Sales Admin → Credit Memo Reasons → [Open a Reason]
Summary: Name, Status, Default QB Mapping, Created/Updated (by/at).
Associated Credit Memos table:
Columns: Business Account, Memo ID, Label, Amount, Used, Balance, Status, QB Mapping, Sync Status
Filters: Business Account, Status, Date Range, Sync Status
Actions: View Memo, Edit Mapping, Export
Associated Invoices table:
Columns: Invoice ID, Business Account, Applied Amount, Applied At, Applied By, Sync Status
Totals row: Sum of Applied Amounts for the view
Performance: Server-side pagination and filtering for large datasets.
G. Reporting
Path: Reports → Accounting → Credit Memos by Reason
Filters: Reason, Business Account, Date Range, Sync Status
Totals: Sum of Applied Amounts by Reason
Export: CSV export of the current filtered view
Troubleshooting & FAQs
Troubleshooting & FAQs
I can’t save a credit memo.
Ensure Reason and QB Product/Service are selected.
If Reason = Other, add a Reason Note.
If you see Unmapped or Mapping Invalid, pick an active QB item or ask an admin to update the reason’s default mapping.
My QB sync failed.
Open the memo or the application log → check qb_sync_message for details.
Common causes: inactive QB item, network/API failure, permissions. Re-run after fixing mapping or run the job again; retries are idempotent.
Why doesn’t issuance sync to QB?
By design we only sync applied amounts to avoid stray credits in QB.
Who can override the default QB mapping?
Tenant-level configuration controls whether CSR/Finance users can override. If disabled, ask an admin.
Roles & Permissions
Roles & Permissions
Admin: Manage Reasons; run on-demand QB sync; configure override policy.
CSR/Finance: Create and apply credit memos; view statuses and logs.
Auditor/Accounting: Read-only access to Reasons, Memos, Applications, Reports.