# Return goods to a supplier

> Send broken, wrong or short goods back: a purchase return takes them out of stock and records what the supplier owes you.

*Section: Purchases and expenses · Updated: 2026-10-19*

Goods that arrive broken, wrong or short go back to the supplier. A purchase return takes them out of your stock and records what the supplier owes you. By the end you will have returned part of a purchase.

## Return goods

1. **Open [Purchases › All Purchases](/app/purchases/list)** and find the purchase.
2. **Open the row's menu and click Purchase Return.** The **Create Purchase Return** page opens with the purchase's lines.
3. **Check the Date** and the **Status**.
4. **Set Qty return** on each line you send back, with − and + or by typing. Each line shows the **Qty purchased** and the **Current Stock**. Lines left at 0 are not returned.
5. **Add details** under **Please provide any details**, such as "Cracked on arrival", **and click Submit.** The stock comes off at once, and you land on the purchase returns list.

![Create Purchase Return for PR\_0010: Milk with 48 purchased and 291 in stock, Eggs with 60 purchased and 468 in stock, each with Qty return, and the totals.](https://armpos.online/storage/help/c782e845a6-purchase-returns-1-create.webp)
*Only lines with a Qty return above 0 go back.*

A purchase can't be returned twice: each line offers only what is left after earlier returns.

## Get the money back

[Purchases › Purchases Return](/app/purchase_return/list) lists every return with its **Reference**, **Supplier**, **Purchase Ref**, **Status**, **Total**, **Paid**, **Due** and **Payment Status**. A new return is **Unpaid**: the supplier owes you its total.

![Purchases Return: RT\_0001 from Lakeside Dairy Ltd for purchase PR\_0010, Completed, $ 11.64, unpaid.](https://armpos.online/storage/help/babcb89410-purchase-returns-2-list.webp)
*The supplier owes you each return's Due until you record the refund.*

When the supplier refunds you, open the return's menu, click **Create Payment**, fill it as for a purchase (see [Pay your suppliers](/app/help/pay-your-suppliers)) and click **Submit**.

> **Tip:** Sale returns and purchase returns both start with RT\_ in a new shop. To tell them apart, set a different prefix for one of them in **Settings › System Settings**, on the **Prefixes** tab.

## What's next

[Record a purchase from a supplier](/app/help/record-a-purchase).