Put the same reference on credit notes as on the invoice

A credit note posts to Xero with the Shopify order number as its reference, the same way an invoice does. If your invoices carry a purchase order number or another custom reference instead, the credit note no longer matches the invoice it is crediting — awkward for you to find, and awkward for a trade customer matching it against their own paperwork.

We can set credit notes to reuse whatever reference went on the original invoice.

How it Works

The credit note takes its reference from the invoice it relates to, so an invoice referenced by a PO number produces a credit note referenced by that same PO number. Where the invoice reference can't be read back, we rebuild it from the same field on the order the invoice was built from, so the two still agree.

The credit note number is untouched. It keeps its usual form: CN, then the order number, then which refund on that order it is, so a second refund on order 1234 is CN-1234-2. Numbers stay unique and stay traceable back to the order. It is only the reference that changes.

This is the refund half of a setup that has to exist on the invoice side first. Put a PO number or custom reference on your Xero invoices covers that part, including where a PO number tends to live on an order when you're not on Shopify Plus.

How to Request Setup

Email us at help@hyvelabs.co with your shop URL and a refunded order we can look at. If your invoices already carry a custom reference, tell us and we'll match the credit notes to it.

Credit notes that have already posted keep the reference they were given. The change applies to refunds from the point we switch it on.