Credit Memo

^{Major Upgrade}

AppDirect introduces Credit Memo as a new standalone billing object that replaces negative invoices for marketplaces on the V2 billing architecture and is enabled by default for partners using billing pipeline V2. Credit memos introduce a standardized, standalone billing document for handling customer credits. Self-serve marketplaces on V2 receive this functionality out of the box, with behaviors such as auto-application controlled through marketplace-level settings.

What's new

Previously, the platform used negative invoices to represent refunds, downgrades, and other negative balances. In V2, these are replaced by credit memos.

A credit memo is an independent billing document that reduces the amount a customer owes. It can be issued for scenarios such as:

• Subscription downgrades or changes that create a negative balance
• Refunds
• Negative metered usage
• One-off order corrections
• Ad hoc or goodwill credits

Unlike negative invoices, credit memos are compliant with standard accounting practices, have their own numbering and templates, and can be tracked separately from invoices.

Key highlights

• Compliant credit handling: Credit memos replace negative invoices with standalone billing documents that follow industry accounting standards.
• Flexible creation options: Credit memos can be created automatically, manually from an invoice, or ad hoc through the UI and GraphQL.
• More control over application: Credits can be applied automatically or manually based on marketplace settings and creation-time options.
• Flexible invoice application: A single credit memo can be applied across multiple invoices, and multiple credit memos can be applied to a single invoice.
• Improved visibility: Users can view credit memos in dedicated list and detail pages, with balance application history available on both invoices and credit memos.
• Full lifecycle support: Credit memos can be applied, paid out, voided, or closed to write off remaining balance.
• PDF support: Credit memos can be downloaded as PDFs through Document Builder using a dedicated credit memo template.
• Built on V2 for scale: Credit memos run on the next-generation billing stack with decoupled processing and performance improvements for high-volume billing environments.

How it works

Credit memos are issued to the party that paid the original invoice, such as a reseller or end customer.

A credit memo can be used in two ways:

• Applied toward future or outstanding invoices
• Paid out to the original payment method

Credit memos can have the following statuses:

• Unapplied — created but not used
• Partially applied — partially used
• Fully applied — fully used
• Paid out — fully returned to the customer

UI updates

This release includes the following UI changes:

• New Credit Memo list and detail pages
  

• Ad-hoc Credit Memo creation in the UI
  

• Downloadable PDF credit memos through Document Builder

  • Credit memo PDF templates can be customized in Settings > Document Builder Settings > Manage Template. A new Credit Memo document type is available for template configuration.

📝 Note: This release maintains compatibility with existing integrations and reporting patterns, including V1 Invoice Webhooks, V1 APIs, and out-of-the-box reports.

Recent performance improvements also decouple credit memo creation from invoice application and optimize invoice selection for customers with large volumes of outstanding invoices.

Feature enablement

This feature is enabled by default for all marketplaces on Billing pipeline V2. For marketplaces that are on Billing V1, contact your AppDirect technical representative to request it.

Setting enablement

No setting enablement is required.

Documentation

Documentation will be updated with the release.