Customer Credits
Customer Credits gives your office a tracked dollar balance when you owe a customer money and want to apply it to future invoices instead of losing the promise in notes or spreadsheets.
Use it for refunds, goodwill credits, overpayments, prepaid balances, or a one-off adjustment that should stay tied to the customer record.
When to use this
Use Customer Credits when your team needs to:
- Issue a credit after an overcharge, refund, no-show, warranty adjustment, or customer-service gesture.
- See how much credit is still available before taking payment on a future invoice.
- Apply a full or partial credit while keeping the original issue reason and remaining balance visible.
- Void an unused remainder without deleting the history of credit that was already applied.
- Separate customer-specific dollar credits from broadcast promotions, loyalty points, or recurring auto-charge rules.
Before you start
- Make sure Customer Credits is included in your plan and enabled in Settings → Features.
- Confirm the customer already exists in ToolbagCRM. Credits are issued to a customer, not to a one-off name.
- Decide who on the office team is allowed to issue, apply, void, or delete credits.
- Agree on source labels such as Refund, Promotion, Goodwill, Overpayment, or Manual so reports stay consistent.
Issue a customer credit
- Open Customer Credits from the main navigation.
- Select Issue Credit.
- Choose the customer.
- Enter the dollar amount.
- Pick the source that best explains why the balance exists.
- Add a clear reason, such as
Refund for overcharged August invoice. - Add an optional expiration date or internal notes.
- Save the credit.
The credit starts as Active with the original amount and remaining balance. The page totals active credits, total active balance, total issued amount, and total applied amount so the office can see outstanding exposure at a glance.
Apply credit to an invoice
- Open Customer Credits.
- Use the Active tab to find credits that still have a balance.
- Select Apply on the credit.
- Enter the amount to use.
- Add the invoice ID or a note if your workflow needs a reference.
- Save the application.
Applications can be full or partial. When the balance reaches zero, the credit is treated as spent. The history stays attached to the credit so your team can answer questions later about where the money went.
Review history or void a remainder
Use History to review each application against a credit, including the amount, optional notes, and applied date.
Use Void only when the remaining balance should no longer be available. Voiding removes the unused remainder from future use but keeps prior applications on the audit trail.
Use Delete carefully. Deleting is for mistakes that should not remain as a record; normal business reversals are better handled with voiding and notes.
Tips
- Write reasons in customer-friendly language; they often become the easiest explanation when someone calls later.
- Use source labels consistently so finance can tell refunds, goodwill, promotions, and overpayments apart.
- Review active credit totals before month-end close so outstanding customer balances are not a surprise.
- Pair Customer Credits with invoice payment workflows, but keep it distinct from loyalty points and promotional discount codes.
Troubleshooting
I do not see Customer Credits in navigation
Open Settings → Features and confirm Customer Credits is enabled for your account. The plugin also depends on customer records being available.
The customer dropdown is empty
Add or import customers first, then return to Customer Credits. Credits need a real customer record so balances can be looked up later.
I cannot apply the amount I entered
Confirm the credit is still Active and that the amount does not exceed the remaining balance. If another teammate applied or voided the credit, refresh the page and check the latest balance.
A credit should not be used anymore
Void the credit if you want to preserve prior applications and remove only the remaining balance. Delete only if the credit was created in error and your team does not need the record.