When a supplier issues a credit note instead of a refund, you can track it in Safari Portal by creating a negative expense.
This ensures the credit remains visible in your financial reporting until it has been applied to a future booking.
Recording a Supplier Credit Note
On the File where the supplier issued the credit:
- Create a new Expense.
- Select the supplier as the Pay To contact.
- Enter the credit amount as a negative value (for example,
-500). - Make the Internal Payment Description include something like "Credit Note"
- Save the expense.
The negative expense now represents the supplier credit available for future use.
Tracking Outstanding Supplier Credits
Because the expense amount remains unpaid, it will continue to appear in:
- Unpaid Expenses
- Supplier expense reports
- Bulk payment calculations when filtering by that supplier
This makes it easy to see at a glance which supplier credits are still available and ensures they are automatically deducted from any amount you owe the supplier in the future.
Example
If you owe a supplier:
- Expense A: $2,000
- Expense B: $1,500
- Supplier Credit Note: -$500
When viewing unpaid expenses or calculating the total owed to that supplier, Safari Portal will show a net balance of $3,000.
Applying the Credit to a Future File
Once you know which future booking will use the supplier credit, you'll need to account for that credit on the new File.
One approach would be to:
- Create the full expense on the new File for the amount owed to the supplier.
- Split the expense into:
- The net amount that will actually be paid to the supplier.
- A second expense representing the credit amount.
- Process the net payment normally through your payment workflow.
- Manually mark the credit portion as paid.
Example
Let's say:
- Supplier expense on the new trip: $2,000
- Available supplier credit: $500
On the new File, you might record:
- Expense installment 1: $1,500 (paid to the supplier)
- Expense installment 2: $500 (manually marked as paid using the supplier credit)
This allows the new File to reflect the full cost of the trip while also accurately showing how the balance was settled.
Closing Out the Original Credit Note
Once the supplier credit has been fully applied:
- Return to the original File containing the negative expense.
- Mark the negative expense as Paid.
- Add a note or update the internal payment description indicating where the credit was applied.
For example:
- Credit Note Applied to Smith Family Safari
- Credit Note Applied to File #12345
- Credit Note Applied to Kenya 2027 Booking
This creates a clear audit trail between the original credit and the booking where it was ultimately used.
Why Use This Approach?
The negative expense serves as a tracking mechanism while the credit remains unused.
The workflow on the future File ensures:
- The full supplier cost remains visible on the booking where the credit was used.
- Profitability is preserved on the original File where the credit originated.
- Supplier balances remain accurate.
- You have a clear record of when and where each supplier credit was applied.
Best Practices
We recommend:
- Leaving the negative expense unpaid until the credit is used.
- Recording where the credit was applied using notes or the internal payment description.
- Using a consistent naming convention such as "Credit Note Applied to [File Name]" for easier reporting and auditing.
Keywords: credit notes, supplier credits, supplier refunds, credit memo, negative expense