The front desk

Correcting an invoice that has already been issued

Do not reopen the bill. Issue a credit note if the value falls, a debit note if it rises.

Once a bill is settled and closed, the invoice is final. You cannot edit it, and you should not want to: somebody has filed it with their accountant.

To correct it, issue a note against it:

Credit note — the guest was charged too much, or a charge is being refunded or waived.
Debit note — something was missed, and they owe more.

The note is a separate numbered document that names the invoice it corrects. The original invoice does not change; the two are read together. That is both what GST requires and what makes the pair reconcilable a year later.

While a bill is still open, do not use a note at all — void or adjust the posting instead. One clean document beats two that have to be read together.

A credit note cannot return more than the invoice took, counting anything already credited against it.

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