4900 Sales Returns & Allowances

Contra-revenue for refunds on returned items, their tax and shipping. Keeps gross sales visible while reducing net revenue.

In Solo Superstars

Approving a return posts the refund here rather than reducing the original sale. Manual and QuickBooks-imported refunds use 4030 instead.

Example

Refund $75 to a card: debit 4900 75, credit 1310 Stripe Clearing 75.

Codes shown are the defaults a new workspace starts with. Yours may be renamed or renumbered — check Accounting › Chart of accounts. See the full default chart.

Also called

  • returns
  • refunds

Related

  • Refund — Money returned to a customer. Recorded as a negative payment against the original so the invoice’s net stays right.
  • Store credit — A refund issued as credit the customer can spend with you later. A liability, not cash.
  • Contra account — An account that reduces another one on the same statement. Sales returns reduce revenue; accumulated depreciation reduces assets; owner draws reduce equity.
  • 2150 Customer Store Credit — Store credit you have issued to customers from returns or goodwill and they have not spent yet. A liability, not cash.
  • Chart of accounts — The list of buckets your money can be sorted into: assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, expenses. New workspaces start with a default set you can rename or extend.
  • Default chart — The chart of accounts every new workspace starts with, numbered the way QuickBooks users expect. Yours may have been renamed or extended since.

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