Does validating a return in Odoo create the credit note automatically?

No. Validating the return only lowers the Delivered quantity on the sales order. You still create the credit note, either with the Credit Note button on the invoice or, for products invoiced on delivered quantities, with Create Invoice on the order, which turns the negative quantity into a credit note.

Can returned goods go to a separate location for inspection?

Yes. Create a Receipt-type operation type whose destination is a returns location, then set it as the Returns Type on your Delivery Orders operation type. Returns created from deliveries then land in that location instead of sellable stock.

Does Odoo 19 have RMA numbers or return reasons?

Not as standard. Odoo 19 has no RMA document or return-reason field, so most teams use the return transfer's reference as the RMA number and put the reason on the credit note. Odoo 20 adds configurable return reasons for returns requested through the customer portal.

Sales Returns in Odoo: Return Stock and Credit Note Together

By Sajjal Bajaj · Oct 13, 2026 · 9 min read · Odoo Odoo 19 Setup Sales Invoicing Inventory Management Customer Management After Sales

Short answer: in Odoo 19 a sales return is two linked documents. Open the validated delivery from the sales order, click Return, enter the quantities coming back and validate the return when the goods arrive: Odoo lowers the order’s Delivered quantity. Then issue the credit note, either with Credit Note on the invoice or, for products invoiced on delivered quantities, with Create Invoice on the order, which turns the negative quantity into a credit note. Stock and accounting only agree once both halves are done.

This is the hands-on setup guide. For how credit notes fit into billing in general, start with my explainer on customer invoicing in Odoo.

Applies to

Odoo version: Odoo 19. I also checked the Odoo 20 documentation. The return and credit note steps read the same, but Odoo 20 adds customer-initiated returns: an Allow Spontaneous Returns setting in Inventory with a return window in days, configurable Return Reasons, and a Request a return pop-up in the customer portal. None of that exists in Odoo 19.
Edition: Community and Enterprise for returns, credit notes and the Repairs app. Returns, refunds and repairs started from a Helpdesk ticket are Enterprise only, because Helpdesk is an Enterprise app.
Apps: Sales, Inventory and Invoicing (or Accounting). Optional: Repairs and Helpdesk.

Before you start

Choose the invoicing policy for returnable products. On the product form, Invoicing Policy is Ordered quantities or Delivered quantities. With Delivered quantities, a validated return pushes the order line’s quantity to invoice below zero, so Odoo can raise the credit note from the order. With Ordered quantities it can’t, because the ordered quantity doesn’t change. More in invoicing policies in Odoo Sales.
Decide where returned goods go. By default, a return from a delivery comes back through the warehouse’s Receipts operation type into its destination: WH/Stock in a one-step warehouse, where the goods are sellable straight away. If returns need checking first, set up a returns location (Part A below).
Storage Locations is ticked in Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings, if you want that separate location.
Agree the refund rule: money back, or credit against the next invoice.

Step by step

Part A: a returns location for inspection (once)

Go to Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Locations, click New and create an internal location, for example WH/Returns. Set its Parent Location to the warehouse itself (WH), not to WH/Stock. Deliveries reserve from WH/Stock and the locations below it, so goods in a sibling location aren’t picked for customers.
Go to Inventory ‣ Configuration ‣ Operations Types, click New and create a type called, say, Customer Returns: Type of Operation = Receipt, a Sequence Prefix such as RET, your warehouse, and WH/Returns as the Destination Location.
Open the Delivery Orders operation type and set Returns Type to Customer Returns. Every return created from a delivery now uses this type and lands in WH/Returns.

Part B: receive the goods back

Open the sales order (Sales ‣ Orders ‣ Orders), click the Delivery smart button and open the validated delivery.
Click Return. The pop-up lists each delivered product. In Odoo 19 each line starts at 0: type the quantity coming back, or click Return All for everything not yet returned. Remove lines you don’t need with the bin icon.
Click Return. Odoo creates the return transfer, with a Source Document reading “Return of WH/OUT/…”. If the customer is shipping the goods, print the Return slip report from the transfer’s gear menu to go in the parcel.
When the goods arrive, check the quantities and click Validate. The order’s Delivered column drops by the returned quantity.

If the customer wants replacements rather than credit, click Return for Exchange in step 6 instead. Odoo creates the return and a new delivery for the same quantity, so once both are done the Delivered quantity is back where it was and no credit note is needed.

Part C: the credit note

Products on Delivered quantities: the order now shows To Invoice. Click Create Invoice, keep Regular invoice and click Create Draft. Because the total is negative, Odoo creates a draft credit note for the returned units, at the order’s prices and taxes, instead of an invoice. Check it and click Confirm.
Products on Ordered quantities (or if you prefer working from the invoice): open the invoice from the order’s Invoices smart button and click Credit Note. Fill in Reason displayed on Credit Note, check Journal and Reversal date, and click Reverse. Edit the draft so it holds only the returned products and quantities, then Confirm.
Use step 8 or step 9 for a given return, never both, or the customer is credited twice.
Refund or keep as credit. A posted credit note is an outstanding credit on the customer. Click Pay on it to record money paid back, or leave it: the customer’s next invoice shows a banner offering to allocate the outstanding credit.

Recording why it came back (the “RMA” part)

Odoo 19 has no RMA document, RMA number or return-reason field. What works in practice:

Use the return transfer’s reference (WH/RET/00001, for example) as the RMA number you give the customer.
Put the reason on the credit note so it prints as its reference: Reason displayed on Credit Note does this when you work from the invoice (step 9); after step 8, type it in Customer Reference on the credit note’s Other Info tab. Note the details in the return’s chatter too.
With Helpdesk (Enterprise), open the team in Helpdesk ‣ Configuration ‣ Helpdesk Teams and tick Returns, Refunds and, if you need it, Repairs in its After-Sales section. The ticket then holds the whole case: its Return button creates the return with a Return Location, and Refund creates the credit note from the ticket.

Worked example: a dealer returns damaged fans

A ceiling-fan manufacturer (illustrative) ships 20 fans to a dealer on one sales order. The fans are invoiced on Delivered quantities, the invoice for 20 is posted, and the dealer reports 4 fans damaged in transit. Part A is already set up.

Step	Document	Order line after the step
Return 4 from the delivery	Return transfer, destination `WH/Returns`	Delivered 20, Invoiced 20
Fans arrive, return validated	Return done	Delivered 16, Invoiced 20, To Invoice
Create Invoice on the order	Credit note for 4 fans, confirmed	Delivered 16, Invoiced 16, Fully Invoiced

The dealer stays on credit terms, so nobody clicks Pay: the credit note is allocated against the dealer’s next invoice.
In WH/Returns, the storekeeper inspects the fans. Three are repairable: with the Repairs app installed, they open the validated return and use the gear (Actions) menu, Create Repair, which links the repair order to the return. The fourth is beyond repair and is scrapped from the same return (gear menu, Scrap), which takes it out of WH/Returns. No damaged fan ever sat in sellable stock.

Had the dealer wanted four new fans instead, Return for Exchange would have avoided the credit note altogether.

What you should see

On the return: Source Document “Return of WH/OUT/…”, and destination WH/Returns (or WH/Stock without Part A).
On the sales order: a lower Delivered quantity; with Delivered quantities, To Invoice until the credit note exists, then Fully Invoiced. The Invoices smart button counts the invoice and the credit note.
In the customer portal: the order page lists the return under Returns, as “Awaiting arrival” and then “Received”.

Troubleshooting

There’s no Return button on the delivery. Only validated (done) transfers can be returned. If the goods never left, cancel or reduce the delivery instead.

“No products to return”. Everything on that delivery has already been returned.

The Delivered quantity didn’t drop. The return isn’t validated yet, or someone unticked Update quantities on SO/PO on the return line. That column is hidden and only appears in developer mode; it’s ticked by default.

Create Invoice made nothing, or the order never showed To Invoice. The product is invoiced on Ordered quantities. Use Credit Note on the invoice (step 9).

After a credit note, the order shows To Invoice again (Ordered quantities). Odoo compares ordered with invoiced quantities, so the credited units look invoiceable. Lower the order line’s quantity to what the customer kept, or use Delivered quantities for returnable products.

Returned goods went straight into sellable stock. The Delivery Orders operation type has no custom Returns Type, so the return used Receipts and WH/Stock. Set up Part A, or change the Destination Location on the draft return before validating it.

The customer was credited twice. Someone used both step 8 and step 9. Cancel the extra credit note (reset it to draft first if it’s posted).

Backorders in Odoo 19: partial deliveries and receipts, for shortfalls that aren’t returns
How to set up a warehouse and storage locations in Odoo 19
Invoicing policies in Odoo Sales: ordered vs delivered
Odoo Repairs: managing repair jobs end to end
How to set up a helpdesk in Odoo
Returns, dealer credit and inspection all landing at once? See Odoo implementation.

Official references

Odoo 19 documentation: Returns and refunds
Odoo 19 documentation: Credit notes and refunds
Odoo 19 documentation: Invoicing policy
Odoo 19 documentation: Operation types
Odoo 19 documentation: Repair orders
Odoo 19 documentation: After-Sales services (Helpdesk)

How this guide was checked: menu paths, field names and Enterprise-only status were checked against the Odoo 19 documentation and the Odoo 19 code for the return wizard, operation types, sales order invoicing and credit notes in October 2026. The Odoo 19 returns page says return quantities default to the delivered quantities; in the Odoo 19 code they start at 0, with a Return All button, so this guide follows the code. The worked example is illustrative and wasn’t run on a live database, so there are no screenshots; labels can vary slightly with your installed apps and language.