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Transfer a Customer Invoice to a Supplier Credit Note in Xero

Use a clearing account in Xero to convert a warranty customer invoice into a supplier credit note when a warranty company deducts payment from amounts owed.

When a warranty company chooses not to pay the dealership directly for completed warranty work, they may instead deduct the amount owed from what the dealership owes them as a supplier. This article explains how to handle that in Xero using a clearing account, since Xero does not have a built-in function to convert a customer invoice directly into a supplier credit note.
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Scenario

A common example of when this process applies:

  • The dealership completed a warranty service job for The Unit Company. The invoice is sitting on The Unit Company's customer record in Xero as outstanding.

  • The Unit Company is also a supplier. Rather than paying the dealership directly, they want the amount owed for warranty work deducted from what the dealership owes them as a supplier.

Steps

Step 1: Create a Clearing Account in Xero

Create a new chart of account in Xero to use as a clearing account. In this example, the account is named BP Warranty Clearing and is set up as a liability account. If you already have a clearing account, you can use it — but confirm that Xero accepts the account type for this process (for example, Xero may require a Current Asset account type in some configurations).
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When setting up the account, make sure the Enable payments to this account checkbox is ticked.
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Shows the 'Add New Account' dialog in Xero. The dialog displays fields for Account Type (set to 'Current Liability'), Co


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Step 2: Pay the Customer Invoice to the Clearing Account

Open the relevant customer invoice for the warranty work in Xero. Record a payment against the invoice, selecting BP Warranty Clearing as the payment account. In the Reference field, enter the credit note number received from the warranty company.
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Shows an invoice payment screen for Invoice INV-00000307 from The Unit Company. At the bottom in the 'Receive a payment'


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Step 3: Create a Supplier Credit Note Against the Clearing Account

Create a new credit note on the supplier's account in Xero. Use the same BP Warranty Clearing account as the account code on the credit note line.
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Shows a 'New Credit Note' form for The Unit Company. The Reference field at the top shows 'C/N 123' and is highlighted w


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End Result

When the process is complete, you should see all three of the following:

  • The customer invoice is marked as paid and no longer appears as outstanding on the customer record in Xero.

  • A supplier credit note is now sitting on the supplier's account in Xero.

  • The BP Warranty Clearing account balance is zero — a zero balance confirms the process was completed correctly.

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