Issued the wrong amount, or need to refund a client in Germany, France or the US? Fill in the form below and download a clean, professional credit note PDF in seconds. It is free, unlimited and watermark-free — and it is built on your own device, so your business and client details are never uploaded anywhere.
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Quick answer: A credit note is a document that cancels or reduces an invoice you already issued — for a refund, a returned item, a pricing error, or a discount agreed after invoicing. Under Article 226 of Council Directive 2006/112/EC (the EU VAT Directive), a VAT invoice — and any document that changes it — must carry a unique sequential number and a clear reference to the original invoice, which is why this tool asks for both numbers up front.
Credit notes are the paper trail that keeps your accounts honest. Without one, a refunded invoice still looks like income owed, your VAT return overstates sales, and a client chasing a refund has nothing in writing. With one, the correction is dated, numbered, and matched to the original invoice — exactly what an accountant or tax office wants to see. Freelancers in Berlin, shop owners in Manchester and consultants in Texas all hit the same moments: the client was charged twice, the project scope shrank, goods came back. The fix is the same everywhere: issue a credit note, don't just delete or quietly edit the old invoice.
Use this tool when the original invoice stays on record but its amount changes. If the invoice was never sent, just correct it and send the fixed version. If payment already happened and money goes back, the credit note is also your refund receipt — note the reason clearly so nobody has to guess later. Keep a copy with your records; because this tool never uploads anything, saving the downloaded PDF is your filing step. Our invoice generator makes the original invoice, and our PDF signer can sign the finished credit note.
These three get confused constantly, and using the wrong one creates accounting mess. A corrected invoice replaces an invoice that was never sent or never booked — you simply fix it before it enters the books. A credit note is for an invoice already issued and recorded: it formally reduces what is owed without erasing history. A refund receipt proves money actually went back to the customer. In practice you often need two of them: the credit note to correct the books, and the bank transfer or card refund as proof of payment. This tool makes the credit note; pair it with our receipt maker if you also need a payment acknowledgement.
One rule matters everywhere: never delete an issued invoice and pretend it never existed. Tax offices in the EU and the UK expect sequential invoice numbers with no gaps — a missing number invites questions, while a credit note explains the gap cleanly. Number your credit notes in their own sequence (CN-2026-001, CN-2026-002) so they are easy to find at year end.
Same client name, same currency, same tax rate as the original invoice where possible. A credit note in a different currency than the invoice it corrects confuses everyone, including your accountant.
Credit notes get their own unbroken sequence, separate from invoices. If you skip a number, note why — auditors notice gaps faster than errors.
If the original invoice charged 20% VAT, the credit note credits 20% VAT. Crediting a different rate misstates your VAT return. This tool is not tax advice — when in doubt, ask your accountant.
Attach the credit note to a short email explaining what changed and what happens next (refund coming, balance reduced, new invoice attached). The document alone rarely answers the client's real question: “what do I owe now?”
Credit notes contain exactly the data you least want on someone else's server: client names, amounts, tax IDs and the fact that something went wrong with a sale. Server-based generators receive all of it, store it under their retention policy, and may keep backups after “deletion”. This tool assembles the PDF with JavaScript on your own device — open the Network tab and verify it yourself: no upload happens. That is the same privacy promise behind our invoice generator and our safety guide, which explains the upload-vs-browser difference in plain terms.
The trade-off is honest and small: because nothing is stored for you, the form clears if you refresh — so download the PDF before leaving the page, and file it with your invoices. That is the entire cost of keeping client financial data off the internet.
A credit note cancels or reduces an invoice you already issued — for refunds, returned goods, pricing errors, discounts agreed after invoicing, or cancelled services. It keeps your books accurate without deleting the original invoice.
Not quite. A credit note corrects what is owed on paper; a refund is the money actually going back. You often need both: the credit note for the accounts, and the bank or card transfer as proof of payment.
No. If the invoice never left your desk and was never booked, just fix it and send the corrected version. Credit notes exist for invoices already issued and recorded.
Its own sequential number (for example CN-2026-001), plus a clear reference to the original invoice number. Under the EU VAT Directive, VAT invoices and documents that change them need a unique sequential number — keep the sequence unbroken.
Yes, credit the same rate the original invoice charged, so your VAT return nets out correctly. If the original charged 20% VAT, the credit note credits 20%. This tool is not tax advice — check with your accountant for unusual cases.
Yes — unlimited credit notes, every field, PDF download, forever. No trial, no watermark, no account, no payment details. It runs entirely in your browser, so there is nothing to meter.
Only in this browser tab while you type. The PDF is assembled on your own device — your business details, client names and amounts are never uploaded to any server.