A returns management system for businesses where goods arrive short, cartons arrive crushed and expiry returns wait in someone's inbox. Every claim gets an owner and a status until a debit note or credit note closes it.
The truck backs in at 6:40 pm. The challan says 120 cartons; the loader counts 114, and two more are soaked at the corners. The driver wants to leave, so the storekeeper signs and scribbles '6 short' on the back. The GRN shows 120 because the PO said so. Three weeks later the supplier bills the full amount, and the challan is nowhere.
At the dock, the storekeeper enters 114 received and 2 damaged against the challan lines, photographs the wet cartons and the driver's copy, and saves. The GRN posts what actually came in. A short-supply claim opens for six cartons and a damage claim for two, each assigned to the buyer who handles that supplier.
Almost every business knows when goods arrive short. That knowledge rarely becomes a record someone else must act on. It stays a remark on a challan, a photo in a WhatsApp group, a line in an email to the supplier's sales rep.
Then month end arrives. Accounts gets the supplier's bill for the full quantity and has nothing to stand on. Purchase says the claim was raised; the supplier says it never reached them. On the customer side, a dealer has sent back damaged stock and a chemist wants credit for expired strips.
The fix is to treat each discrepancy as a record with an owner, a reason, a status and an end. That end is a debit note, a credit note, or a write-off someone senior signs. The audit trail behind each step is what carries the argument with the supplier.
Count, damage and photos go in where the goods are, against the challan or PO line. A GRN discrepancy written up later from memory loses every argument.
Open, sent to supplier, accepted, debit note raised, closed. Each claim shows its owner and age, so the one nobody is chasing turns red long before audit.
A return, exchange or refund opens against the invoice line or payment it reverses, so money goes back to the original UPI or card transaction. See refund tracking.
Expiry returns carry windows, caps and a different credit rate from transit damage. Separate reason codes and approvals keep them apart from genuine short supply.
A recount changes the quantity with a reason and a name; the first figure stays visible. Suppliers accept a trail, not a number that changed silently.
Debit and credit notes are still raised in Tally, Zoho Books or your ERP. The claim stores the note number, or drafts the note through an integration where your system allows.
A 3PL warehouse receives 40 pallets for a brand client, finds 38, and a supervisor types over the GRN. When the client disputes it later, nobody can show the original count. A shortfall posted as its own line, with photos, ends that quickly.
A vendor drops 8 kg of paneer against an indent for 10, and the restaurant outlet signs anyway. Marking the indent 'received short' gets the gap to purchasing that night.
In retail, a customer returns a kurta bought elsewhere in the chain. Staff need the original bill and the category's return window, and the stock must land in the store that accepted it.
For an ecommerce brand, the helpdesk, a warehouse sheet and the gateway each hold part of a return. Opened against the line item, the refund ties to the original payment and the rest of the order is untouched.
A pharma stockist reports two shippers short, one broken and a carton near expiry in one email. That is three claims with three rule sets, split at entry and tracked separately to the C&F.
A construction site receives 380 bags against a challan for 400. Logged against the indent, the shortage stays open until the supplier delivers or credits it.
A food processor weighs a supplier lot of 50 kg bags and finds it light. The claim must carry the supplier lot number and the unit, or nobody can match it to the invoice.
A distributor sees dealer damage claims bunch up around scheme settlement. Claims filed against the invoice, with photos and a cut-off, separate transit damage from negotiation.
When an electronics dealer swaps a faulty unit, the old and new serials must stay linked to the first sale. See serial tracing.
On the last working day, accounts opens the open-claims list instead of searching mailboxes. Every claim is there with its age, owner, amount and evidence. Claims past your agreed limit are flagged, and a supplier payment can be held against open shortages if that is your policy.
Over a few months the list also shows which supplier sends short most often. For the outbound side, where a customer claims short against you, see proof before billing.
An open claim with an owner is a task. An open claim in an inbox is a loss.
The module usually handles the credit note well and the evidence badly: who counted, what the photos showed, who agreed with the supplier. We would build the missing claim workflow around your ERP rather than replace it.
The dock screen is the challan with quantities to confirm, a camera button and a save button. Entries are kept on the phone when the network drops. If it is slower than writing on the challan, it gets skipped, so speed is the design brief.
Yes, when you choose. A supplier login shows only its own open claims, evidence and status, so the back-and-forth stays on the record. Many businesses start internal-only.
Open ones can be imported from the gateway, marketplace or bank statement and matched to orders where possible. Finance clears the unmatched few once; new refunds start from the order.
Where your accounting system accepts outside entries, an accepted claim can create a draft for accounts to post. Otherwise the claim waits for the note number. Accounts always decides what hits the books.
Send the challans, emails and shortage sheet, however untidy. We will walk one claim through and show you where it went quiet.