Credit note against reissuing the invoice
An error is found on an invoice and somebody asks for a credit note. Often that is the wrong document. Using it leaves your accounts and the customs file showing different values for the shipment.
If the document was wrong when you wrote it (a typo, a wrong HS code, the wrong price), reissue the invoice. If the document was right and something changed afterwards (a short shipment, a return, an agreed discount), issue a credit note.
| Credit Note | Commercial Invoice | |
|---|---|---|
| Fixes | A commercial change after the fact. | A document that was wrong when issued. |
| Original invoice | Stays valid. The credit adjusts it. | Superseded. |
| Customs value | Does not change a filed declaration. | May require amending the entry. |
| Typical trigger | Return, shortage, agreed discount. | Typo, wrong rate, wrong description. |
| Numbering | Its own series, referencing the invoice. | Same number with a revision, or a new one referencing the old. |
A credit note does not amend a customs declaration
This is the part that catches people. A credit note is a commercial adjustment between seller and buyer. It does not change the value the goods were entered at, and it does not correct a declaration. If the declared value was wrong, you need a post-entry amendment with the customs authority. In the United States this is a post-summary correction. Other countries have an equivalent. Correcting it yourself is treated far more leniently than having customs find it.
Check what else has to move
Correcting the invoice on its own often creates a new mismatch. If the quantity changed, the packing list changes. If the description or HS code changed, a chamber-stamped certificate of origin has to be reissued, not edited. If anything has already been presented under a letter of credit, talk to the bank before sending anything.
Cancels or reduces a previously issued invoice, for returns, short shipments or agreed price adjustments.
The primary customs valuation document: what was sold, to whom, on what terms, and for how much.
+Can I just email a corrected total?
No. The invoice is the valuation document, and the version in the customs file is the one that counts. Issue a new document, and state on it which document it replaces.
+What if the goods were short-shipped?
That is a credit note. The invoice was correct for what was sold. Less arrived. If you knew about the shortage before the entry was filed, it is cleaner to correct the invoice first.
Try it with a real shipment.
The generator on this page is the real product. Fill it in, download the PDF, and see if it is what you need.
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