Free credit note generator
Reduce an invoice you already sent, without rewriting the original.
A credit note reduces what a client owes you after the invoice has already gone out. You overcharged, something came back, a line was billed twice, or you agreed a goodwill reduction once the job was finished. The invoice stays exactly as it was issued, and the credit note sits beside it as the correction.
Why not just fix the invoice
Because an issued invoice is meant to be a fixed record, and because your client’s accounts already contain the original. Editing it and resending gives two different documents the same number — one in your folder, one in theirs, disagreeing about the amount. That is the discrepancy an audit finds, and it is entirely avoidable.
A credit note leaves a trail anyone can follow: here is what was billed, here is what was taken off, here is why. If the whole invoice was wrong, credit the whole invoice and issue a new one with a new number.
Not a refund, and not a negative invoice
A credit note changes what is owed. A refund moves money back. They often happen together, but they are separate events: if the client has already paid and you are sending money back, the credit note is the paperwork and the transfer is the refund. If the client has not paid yet, the credit note is all that is needed — they simply pay less.
Every figure on this document prints positive. That is deliberate. The title and the wording carry the direction, and a PDF full of minus signs is how a client ends up paying the wrong number or a bookkeeper enters it twice. The line under the total says plainly that it reduces the amount owed and is not a request for payment.
About the fields here
Credits invoice is the one field not to skip. It prints in the detail column, and a credit note that does not say which invoice it applies to is very hard to reconcile a quarter later. Use your own numbering — CN-0001 onwards — kept separate from your invoice sequence, and it advances on its own the same way.
If what you actually need is to bill for the work rather than reduce it, the invoice generator is the one you want, and when a client disputes an invoice covers what to do before you concede anything in writing.
Questions people ask
- What is a credit note?
- A document that reduces what a client owes you — because you overcharged, because something was returned, or because you agreed a discount after the invoice went out. It exists because you should not edit an invoice that has already been issued: the original stays as it was, and the credit note is the correction sitting beside it.
- Why not just cancel the invoice and send a new one?
- Because in most places an issued invoice is meant to be a fixed record, and in all places your client's accounts already have the original in them. Rewriting it means two versions of one invoice number exist, which is exactly the mess an audit finds. A credit note leaves an honest trail.
- Should the amounts be negative?
- No, and this tool deliberately prints them positive. The document's title and wording carry the direction — a PDF full of minus signs is how a client ends up paying the wrong number. It states plainly that it reduces the amount owed and is not a request for payment.
- Does it reference the original invoice?
- Yes. There is a 'Credits invoice' field, and the number prints in the detail column of the document. A credit note that does not say which invoice it applies to is very hard to reconcile later.
- Do I have to make an account?
- No. Nothing here asks you to sign up, and the tool works fully signed out.
- Is my client's information sent anywhere?
- No. The credit note is built inside your browser on your own device, and the PDF is created there too. Nothing you type is uploaded to us, because there is nothing on our side to receive it.
- Does it handle sales tax, GST, VAT or HST?
- Yes. Credit the tax as well as the amount when the original invoice charged it, or your return will not balance. Name the tax whatever your country calls it, set the rate, and it appears as its own line. What your own authority requires is worth a five-minute check — this is not tax advice.