Customer Return Authorizations (RMA)

A Customer Return Authorization (RMA) records a customer's request to return merchandise they previously bought, so your team can review and authorize each item line before anything is physically received or credited. It doesn't move inventory or affect the customer's balance by itself — once the lines you approve are authorized, you generate a Return Reception (to receive the goods back into stock) and/or a Customer Credit Note (to credit the customer's account) from it.

Module: Sales / Accounts Receivable Requires the "Customer Return Authorization" permission of your user group

What is it and what is it for?

Use this screen whenever a customer wants to send back something they bought, before you commit to receiving it or crediting their account. You register the document, add the items the customer wants to return and, optionally, link it to the original invoice. Each item line starts with an authorization status (Pending, Partially Authorized, Authorized or Rejected) that your team reviews line by line — you can approve some items and reject others on the very same document.

The RMA itself never touches your inventory or your customer's balance. Once a line is authorized, you use the "To Receive" action to create a Return Reception that actually receives the item back into stock, and the "Credit Note" action to create a Customer Credit Note that credits the customer for the authorized items. This separation lets warehouse staff and accounting act only on what was actually approved.

You can create an RMA from scratch or link it to the customer's original invoice; linking it lets the system validate that the return belongs to that customer and, depending on your company's settings, that the returned items were actually part of that invoice.

Screens in this area

Screen	What it does
List	Lists every RMA, with filters by customer, subsidiary, date range and reference, and customizable columns. It has a second tab, "Pending Authorization," that switches to a line-by-line view showing only the items still waiting for a decision across all documents, so you can act on them without opening each RMA individually.
Create / Edit	The RMA form: customer, subsidiary, location, currency, reference, the related invoice (optional) and the table of items being returned, with quantity, unit, price, tax schedule and discount.
Details	The same RMA in read-only mode, showing each item's authorization status. From here you authorize, reject or reset lines, and — once lines are authorized — create the matching Return Reception and/or Customer Credit Note, besides the usual edit, duplicate, void, delete, print and email actions.
Print	The printable format of the RMA (your company's default or a custom template), showing each item's authorization status, totals and a signature area for the customer and your company.

How to authorize and process a return step by step

Open the list and click Create. You need the "add" level of the Customer Return Authorization permission; if you don't see the button, ask your administrator for access.
Select the customer and, if your company has subsidiaries enabled, the matching subsidiary and location.
Link the original invoice, if you have it, in the related-invoice field. This confirms the invoice belongs to the same customer and subsidiary, and — if your company requires it — that the items you're returning were actually billed on that invoice.
Add the items the customer wants to return, with their quantity, unit, price, tax schedule and, if applicable, discount and price level. You can attach photos or supporting documents on the attachments tab.
Save. The document is created with its lines set to Pending (or Partially Authorized) — nothing is received or credited yet.
Open the RMA's details, review each line and decide: select the lines and use Authorize Line, Reject Line or Mark Pending Authorization. This requires the "Authorize" level of the same permission, which your administrator can grant separately from edit access.
For the lines you authorized, use To Receive to create the Return Reception that brings the item back into inventory, and/or Credit Note to create the Customer Credit Note that credits the customer. You can generate one, the other, or both, depending on what the return requires.
Print, email or share the RMA with the customer as a record of what was approved.

Key fields

Field	What it's for
Customer	Who is returning the merchandise. Must be an active customer.
Subsidiary / Location	Which subsidiary and location the return belongs to, with subsidiaries enabled; the location must belong to the same subsidiary as the document.
Currency	The currency of the return; taken from the linked invoice when one is selected.
Related invoice	Optional link to the original sales invoice. When set, the invoice must exist, be active (not void), and belong to the same customer and subsidiary as the RMA.
Reference	Free-form text, useful to note the reason for the return; it can be filtered on the list.
Items	The products or services being returned, each with quantity, unit of measure, price, tax schedule, discount percent and, if enabled, attributes, comments and price level.
Authorization status (per line)	Pending, Partially Authorized, Authorized or Rejected — set line by line from the Details screen; it drives whether the item can move on to a Return Reception or Credit Note.
Assigned to / Authorizing user	The person responsible for deciding on the document, shown when your company uses the WMS module.
Attachments	Supporting files for the return (photos, proof of purchase, etc.), subject to your plan's file limit.

Validations when saving

Customer required, active and not void.
Currency required and must not be void.
Sales rep, if set, must be active and not void.
Location must belong to the same subsidiary as the document.
The item list can't be empty, and every line needs an item or a description.
Discount percent must be between 0 and 100 on every line.
A line can't have quantity and price without an item or a manual description.
The number of lines can't exceed the maximum allowed per document.
If a related invoice is set, it must exist, not be void, and belong to the same customer and subsidiary as the RMA.
If your company restricts returns to items already invoiced, every returned item (except services) must appear on the linked invoice.
Open accounting period and electronic-invoicing source-document checks, same as other sales transactions.

Managing the document

From the details of an already-saved RMA you can, depending on your permissions:

Authorize, reject or mark lines back to pending, one at a time or several at once, using the "Authorize" level of the permission.
Create the Return Reception ("To Receive") to bring authorized items back into inventory.
Create the Customer Credit Note ("Credit Note") to credit the customer for authorized items.
Assign or change the authorizing user responsible for the document, if your company uses the WMS module.
Edit it, as long as it isn't void.
Duplicate it to create a new RMA from its data.
Void or delete it.
Print it, email it to the customer, or share its public link so they can view it without logging in.
Jump to related reports: "Items to Receive" and "Pending Credit Items," which show what's still outstanding on authorized lines.

Additional features depending on your setup

Subsidiary field and column on the list and the form, if your company has subsidiaries enabled.
Assigned-to field on the details screen, if your company uses the WMS module.
Price level per line, if the "Price Level on Sales Transactions" feature is enabled for your company.
Comments per item line, if that feature is enabled.
Item attributes (1 and 2) on lines, if your inventory setup uses attributes.
Custom fields on the form, if your company configured them for this screen; you can also create new fields directly from the form.
Form customization (adding, moving or removing fields), if you have the matching permission.
Custom print templates, if your company created one for this document.
Column customization on the "All" list view, with saved configurations per user.

Availability and permissions

Access is controlled by the "Customer Return Authorization" permission of the user group, with separate levels for view, add, edit, delete, void and — importantly — authorize, so you can let someone review and decide on return lines without giving them full edit access.
This screen depends on the RMA capability being enabled on your plan. If the option isn't available, your current plan may not include it; check with your administrator or AdmCloud support.
With subsidiaries enabled, each RMA is tied to a subsidiary and its location must belong to that same subsidiary.
The assigned-to field on the details screen only appears if your company uses the WMS module.

Tips and common mistakes

⚠️

Authorizing a line doesn't receive or credit anything by itself. An RMA only records the decision. You still need to explicitly create the Return Reception and/or the Customer Credit Note from the authorized lines for the inventory and the customer's balance to actually be affected.

💡

Handling many pending returns? Use the "Pending Authorization" tab on the list instead of opening each RMA one by one — it shows every item still waiting for a decision, across all documents, in a single line-based view.

ℹ️

Linking the original invoice isn't mandatory, but it lets the system validate the return against real sales data and, if your company requires it, restrict the return to items that were actually invoiced. Leaving it out gives you more flexibility but less validation.