Credit note software for GST returns
Issue GST credit and debit notes against invoices, with the tax reversal handled automatically and everything flowing into GSTR-1 — on an offline app.
Live product UI — sample data.
Notes against invoices
Create credit and debit notes linked to the original invoice, with reason and adjustment.
Auto tax reversal
GST is reversed correctly and the note flows into GSTR-1 (CDNR) and your books.
Clean returns
Stock and receivables adjust automatically on a return.
What this actually means in practice
One rule decides everything about credit notes under GST: only the supplier's note adjusts tax. A buyer who sends back goods will often raise what their books call a debit note, and that document is a perfectly good commercial record — but it moves nobody's tax. Until the supplier issues a credit note referencing the original invoice, the output tax on that invoice stands exactly as it was declared.
The note must point at something. It carries the original invoice number and date, the reason for the reduction, and the same tax treatment the invoice carried, and it reports separately in GSTR-1 rather than by editing the invoice. The reduction in the supplier's liability is also conditional on the other side: the recipient has to reverse the matching input credit, otherwise the adjustment is not available.
And the door closes. A credit note may adjust tax only until the statutory window following the end of the financial year in which the supply was made has expired; after that you can still issue a commercial credit note for the customer's ledger, but no tax comes back. That makes stale returns and unsettled quality claims an expensive habit, and year-end review of open disputes worth doing deliberately.
| What happened | Who issues the note | Whose tax actually moves |
|---|---|---|
| Goods returned by the customer | The supplier, by credit note | Supplier's output tax falls; buyer reverses the credit |
| Price reduced after the invoice | The supplier, by credit note | Output tax falls on the agreed reduction only |
| Buyer raises their own debit note | The buyer, as a commercial record | Nobody's — only the supplier's note adjusts GST |
| Deficiency in service, part refund | The supplier, by credit note | Output tax falls if the buyer reverses matching credit |
| Under-charge discovered later | The supplier, by debit note | Output tax rises; the buyer may claim the extra credit |
| Statutory window already closed | The supplier, as a commercial note | No tax moves — the reduction is borne financially |
What’s included
- GST credit & debit notes
- Linked to original invoice
- Automatic tax reversal
- GSTR-1 CDNR reporting
- Stock & receivable adjustment
- Print / PDF / share
- Offline-first
What it does not do
- · LekhaPro cannot confirm that your customer has reversed their input credit; the supplier's reduction depends on conduct in somebody else's books.
- · It records the note you raise — it will not judge for you whether the statutory adjustment window on a given supply has already closed.
- · Transmitting GSTR-1 with the note to GSTN needs your own GST Suvidha Provider credentials; without them the return exports as JSON. No payroll module.
Frequently asked
Does it reverse GST on a credit note?
Yes — the tax reversal is automatic and the note reports correctly in GSTR-1 (CDNR).
Does stock adjust on a return?
Yes — a sales return updates stock and the customer balance automatically.
Is it offline?
Yes — notes and returns run offline.
My customer sent a debit note for returned goods. Is that enough?
No — not for tax. Their debit note is a commercial record and settles the balance between you, but under GST only your credit note, referencing the original invoice, reduces your output tax. Raise it, report it in GSTR-1, and remember the reduction depends on the customer reversing the matching input credit at their end.
What if the return comes back after the adjustment window has closed?
You can still issue a credit note as a commercial document — it will settle the customer's ledger and adjust stock — but no tax adjustment is available once the statutory window following that financial year has passed. The GST on the original supply stays paid, so the reduction comes out of your margin. Reviewing open returns before year end is the practical defence.
What exactly is included in Credit note · returns?
GST credit & debit notes, linked to original invoice, automatic tax reversal, GSTR-1 CDNR reporting, stock & receivable adjustment and print / PDF / share, and 1 more. Every item on that list is a working screen you can open in the trial rather than a capability described in the abstract.
How is credit note · returns handled differently here?
It rests on notes against invoices, auto tax reversal and clean returns. The distinction that matters is that these are structural rather than cosmetic — the behaviour is built into how records are posted, not layered on as a report you have to remember to run.
Does Credit note · returns post to the real books?
Yes, and that is the whole reason it lives in this product rather than beside it. What notes against invoices records lands in the same posted double-entry ledger the Trial Balance, P&L and GST returns are built from — so there is no second set of credit note · returns numbers to reconcile against the first.
Does Credit note · returns cost extra?
No. Credit note · returns is part of the accounting core rather than a paid add-on, so auto tax reversal is there on the entry tier exactly as it is on the highest one. What the tiers change is reach and depth — devices, multi-branch and multi-warehouse reporting, and whether the conversational AI copilots are switched on.
Can I try Credit note · returns before committing?
Yes — 14 days, no card. Test credit note · returns against your own masters and your own transactions rather than sample data: the questions worth answering here are about your business's edge cases, and a demo dataset is built not to have any.