# Create a credit note

Pick 381 for a plain credit note, 384 when you are correcting an invoice already sent; only the 384 names the original. Download it as XRechnung 3.0.

Source: https://tally-stick.com/create-credit-note

## How it works

The document type starts on 381, credit note, and a box appears for the number of the invoice being corrected. That number is written as BT-25, which is how the receiver's system matches the credit against the original.

Enter the lines being credited as positive amounts. A credit note is not a negative invoice: the type code is what tells the receiver which way the money goes, and a negative quantity is refused here as it is on any other invoice.

`Download XRechnung XML` produces UBL 2.1 declaring the standard chosen at the top of the form. Print is beside it for a paper copy.

Switch the document type to 384 for a corrected invoice instead. The box for the original number stays, because both types refer back to one.

## Standards it can write

A **Standard** selector picks what the file declares. The default is XRechnung 3.0. The choice is remembered in this browser and shared by the three writing tools, and it also sets the usual currency, decides whether a Leitweg-ID applies, and drives how many decimal places the amounts carry: a JPY invoice is written without them.

| Standard | CustomizationID | ProfileID |
| --- | --- | --- |
| XRechnung 3.0 (Germany) | `urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#compliant#urn:xeinkauf.de:kosit:xrechnung_3.0` | `urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:01:1.0` |
| NLCIUS / SI-UBL 2.0 (Netherlands) | `urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#compliant#urn:fdc:nen.nl:nlcius:v1.0` | `urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:01:1.0` |
| Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (Europe and international) | `urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#compliant#urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:3.0` | `urn:fdc:peppol.eu:2017:poacc:billing:01:1.0` |
| EN 16931 (no national rules) | `urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017` | not written |
| Peppol PINT A-NZ (Australia, New Zealand) | `urn:peppol:pint:billing-1@aunz-1` | `urn:peppol:bis:billing` |
| Peppol PINT Japan | `urn:peppol:pint:billing-1@jp-1` | `urn:peppol:bis:billing` |
| Peppol PINT Malaysia | `urn:peppol:pint:billing-1@my-1` | `urn:peppol:bis:billing` |
| Peppol PINT Singapore (InvoiceNow) | `urn:peppol:pint:billing-1@sg-1` | `urn:peppol:bis:billing` |
| Peppol PINT United Arab Emirates | `urn:peppol:pint:billing-1@ae-1` | `urn:peppol:bis:billing` |

The invoice body is EN 16931 in every case. What the standard changes is the two identifiers, the currency rounding, whether a Leitweg-ID applies, the scheme the electronic address is registered under, and which identifiers a national rule insists on: NLCIUS refuses an invoice without a KVK or OIN number on both parties and without a means of payment.

## What is checked before anything is written

The same EN 16931 fields are required as for an invoice, and the download is refused with the missing ones listed: number, issue date, document type, currency, buyer reference or Leitweg-ID, seller and buyer name, street, city, postcode and country, an electronic address for each party, at least one line, a positive quantity, a description and a unit per line, and a VAT rate inside 0 to 100. Totals are computed from the lines rather than trusted.

## Common questions

### What is the difference between 381 and 384?

381 is a credit note: a separate document crediting part or all of an earlier invoice. 384 is a corrected invoice, which replaces the earlier one. Both name the invoice they refer to, and both are in the Document type list.

### Do I enter the amounts as negatives?

No, as positives. The document type is what tells the receiver this is a credit, and a negative quantity is refused here the same way it is on an invoice.

### Does the original invoice number have to be on it?

The standard treats it as optional and it is the reason the document exists. Without it the receiver holds a credit that matches nothing, so the box is shown for this document type and written as BT-25 when filled.

### What do I get out?

An XRechnung 3.0 file in UBL 2.1 syntax.

### Do I need an account?

No. There is no sign-up. Credit notes are free under the site's fair usage limit.

### I already have the credit note and want to check it.

Open it with the [EN 16931 validator](https://tally-stick.com/en16931-validator), which names the rule and the amounts it is about, or drop it on this page to read it back into the form and edit it.

## Related tools

- [Create XRechnung](https://tally-stick.com/create-xrechnung)
- [Excel to XRechnung](https://tally-stick.com/excel-to-xrechnung)
- [XRechnung to Excel](https://tally-stick.com/xrechnung-to-excel)
- [XRechnung to PDF](https://tally-stick.com/xrechnung-to-pdf)