Credit Notes

Credit notes are automatically issued when invoices expire after the recovery period. They represent the amount owed by the student/guardian.

Credit Note Lifecycle

Invoice PENDING → Invoice expires → RECOVERY stage
                                          ↓
                    Recovery period ends → EXPIRED + Credit Note issued

Credit Note Fields

Each credit note contains:

Credit Note Statuses

Viewing Credit Notes

Navigate to Platform → Credit Notes to view all credit notes.

Features

• Search - Find by credit note number, student name
• Filter - Filter by status
• Sort - Click column headers to sort

Automatic Generation

Credit notes are generated automatically by the scheduled command:

php artisan invoices:process-statuses

Process Flow

1. Command identifies RECOVERY invoices past recovery_expiry_date
2. Creates a CreditNote record:
   • Unique credit note number
   • Amount from original invoice
   • Status: pending
   • Due date calculated from formula
3. Updates invoice:
   • Stage: EXPIRED
   • credit_note_issued: true

Credit Note Number Format

Credit note numbers follow the format: CN-YYYY-NNNNNN

Example: CN-2025-000042

Credit Note Formula

The due date is calculated based on the payment configuration formula:

New Students - One-time Payment

Due Date = Invoice Due Date + Recovery Period
Example: 45 + 30 = 75 days from invoice creation

New Students - Installments

1st Payment: Due Date = After invoice due date (7 days)
2nd Payment: Due Date = 2nd invoice due + recovery (30+30)

Existing Students - One-time Payment

Due Date = Invoice Due Date + Recovery Period
Example: 7 + 30 = 37 days from invoice creation

Example Scenario

Day 0 - New student enrolled with one-time payment

• Invoice created: LKR 49,500
• Expiry: Day 45 (45 days credit)
• Stage: PENDING

Day 46 - Command runs, no payment received

• Invoice moved to RECOVERY
• Recovery expiry: Day 76 (30 more days)

Day 77 - Command runs, still no payment

• Invoice marked EXPIRED
• Credit note CN-2025-000042 created
• Credit note amount: LKR 49,500
• Credit note status: pending

Database Schema

credit_notes
├── id (primary key)
├── credit_note_number (unique)
├── invoice_id (foreign key)
├── student_id (foreign key)
├── amount (decimal)
├── status (enum: pending/paid/cancelled)
├── issue_date (date)
├── due_date (date)
├── notes (text, nullable)
├── created_at
└── updated_at

Managing Credit Notes

Marking as Paid

When a credit note payment is received:

1. View the credit note details
2. Update status to paid
3. Record payment transaction

Cancelling Credit Notes

If a credit note should be voided:

1. View the credit note details
2. Change status to cancelled
3. Add notes explaining the reason

Related

• Invoice Management - Managing invoices
• Payment Configuration - Credit period settings
• Transactions - Payment records