How an RMA works in AIMS360: authorized by invoice or by style with a void-after date, received by size to stock or damages, credited against the original invoice on close. Wholesale, Shopify DTC and bounced shipments.
Return Merchandise Authorization
A return merchandise authorization in AIMS360 is created against the customer's original invoice, so the price, discount, tax and sales rep commission on the credit are the ones you actually invoiced. Goods are received by size into stock or damages. The credit memo closes the RMA, and that is the moment inventory and receivables move. This page covers the RMA itself. For how returns work across every channel, see returns management.
A return merchandise authorization is the record that permits a customer to send goods back and defines exactly what will be accepted and credited. In AIMS360 it lives in the RMA/Cr Memo module. It is created against the customer's original invoice, carries an RA number the customer puts on the return, a void-after date, a reason code and a receiving warehouse, and it is closed by issuing a credit memo.
The detail that matters operationally: nothing posts to inventory or to receivables when the RMA is created, and nothing posts when units are entered as received. Both post when the credit is issued. That one rule explains most of what follows.
Six steps. The RMA number is generated at step three and stays on the record through to the credit, so the customer's RA number, your receipt and the credit memo all reference one document.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Authorize | Open RMA/Cr Memo, choose the customer, and select the styles being returned from that customer's completed invoices. Shipped quantity, price and amount display from the invoice. Authorized quantity defaults to shipped and can be reduced by size. |
| 2. Set the terms | Confirm the void-after date (10 days by default), choose the reason code from your list, and set the warehouse that will receive the goods. The warehouse is required to receive, so set it here rather than later. |
| 3. Issue the RA number | Save. An RMA number is generated. Print or email the RMA to the customer so the return carries the RA number and your return policy. |
| 4. Receive by size | When the goods arrive, open the RMA and enter received units by size into the stock column or the damages column, or use receive all as authorized to accept the full authorized quantity to stock in one action. |
| 5. Route damages | For anything in the damages column the system asks where it goes: a separate damage style, the same style in a damaged goods warehouse, or received without adding inventory. See receiving and damages. |
| 6. Issue the credit | Once the authorized quantity is received, issue the credit memo. Stock and damages post to the warehouse and the credit posts against the original invoice in receivables at that moment. |
Two paths exist. One is the rule and one is the exception, and the difference decides whether your credit memo is accurate.
You pick the styles from the customer's completed invoices. Because the RMA now knows which invoice each unit came from, it carries the shipped price, the discount that was applied, the tax that was charged, and the sales rep commission that was paid. The credit is calculated from those figures rather than from whatever is on the customer master today.
If the customer bought the same style at two prices on two invoices, by invoice credits the right one. By style cannot.
You pick the customer and then the style directly, with no invoice behind it. This exists for one situation: a brand that migrated to AIMS360 and has to take a return on goods that were invoiced in the previous system, where there is no AIMS360 invoice to reference.
Outside that case, by style loses the link to what was actually charged. It is available, and it is the wrong tool for a normal return.
On Shopify DTC, the shopper starts the return in a returns portal and the RMA appears in AIMS360 without anyone keying it. The portal owns the shopper conversation. AIMS360 owns what happens to the unit and the money afterward.
| Platform | What the connection does |
|---|---|
| Loop Returns | A return submitted in Loop creates the return authorization in AIMS360 automatically, tied to the original order. Your team receives and restocks, the credit builds on the RMA, and the refund is issued from the RMA back through Loop to the original payment method. Configured in the AIMS360 Runway app with a Loop API key, a default receiving warehouse and an RMA reason code. |
| REDO | Every return or exchange a shopper starts in REDO becomes a tracked RMA in AIMS360. Inventory, credit memos and receivables update from the RMA the same way as a return you raised by hand. |
| ReturnGO | Returns and exchanges from ReturnGO's self-service portal create RMA records in AIMS360, with receipt, refund and the matching credit memo handled from the RMA. |
| Swap Commerce | Swap's returns and exchange platform connects to AIMS360 so the return lands in the ERP with the order and inventory context behind it, and the credit is raised from the same record. |
The RMA these platforms create is the same RMA described on this page. It is authorized against the original order, received by size, and closed by a credit memo, so the rules about damages, warehouses and when inventory posts all still apply.
The fields on the record, and where each one comes from. Most are read from the invoice, which is why authorizing by invoice matters.
| Field | Behavior |
|---|---|
| RMA number | Generated on save. This is the RA number the customer references. It stays on the receipt and the credit memo. |
| Void-after date | Defaults to 10 days from creation. Extend it on the RMA when you create it if your policy allows longer. |
| Reason code | Chosen from your configured list at authorization. Reported by style, color, size, customer and channel on the returns management side. |
| Receiving warehouse | Required to receive goods and required to issue the credit, even when damages are not being tracked as inventory. With multi warehouse active, the system prompts for it if it was left blank. |
| Authorized quantity | Defaults to shipped quantity by size. Editable down to what the customer is actually returning. Cannot exceed shipped. |
| Price and amount | Read from the invoice line. Authorized amount recalculates as you change authorized quantity. |
| Discounts | Carried from the original order or invoice according to how the discount was applied there, so a line discount and a header discount credit differently and correctly. |
| Taxes | For Shopify orders, tax is carried at line level from the original order and invoice. For other orders, tax uses the rates on the customer master, since tax on those invoices is applied at header level. |
| Sales rep commission | Read from the selected invoice and applied to the RMA when the return is posted. Before posting, the screen shows the customer master default. Selecting styles from several invoices at once prevents the commission from displaying, so one invoice per RMA is the recommended practice. |
| Original PO number | On a bounce RMA, filled automatically from the invoice. |
Received units are entered by size into two columns, stock and damages. Neither posts to inventory until the credit is issued. Units entered to stock are the ones you have inspected and are willing to sell again. Units entered to damages are not, and the system asks you where to put them.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Damage style | Receive the damaged units into a separate style record, created on the fly or selected if one already exists for that finished goods style. Damaged inventory is then held and valued by size, apart from sellable stock, and can be routed to repair, outlet or write-off from there. |
| Same style, damaged goods warehouse | Receive the damaged units against the original style, but into a warehouse designated for damaged goods. Same style master, separate location, so sellable and non-sellable are separated by where they sit rather than by what they are called. |
| Do not track | The default. Damaged units appear on the receipts report as damaged but are not added to any inventory. Behind the scenes the system posts a receipt and an immediate offsetting removal for the audit log, so the net inventory effect is zero and the transaction is still traceable. |
Rather than keying every size, one action receives the full authorized quantity to stock. It requires the system setting to authorize by size while creating the RMA. It receives to stock only, so any damaged units still have to be entered in the damages column by hand before the credit is issued.
A return can be received in pieces. A retailer might send three cartons this week and two next week against one RMA. Entering those receipts as they arrive keeps the record honest, but none of it changes the warehouse count or open to sell until the credit is issued. An RMA left half received and uncredited is therefore invisible to availability, which is the right behavior for goods you have not yet accepted and the wrong behavior if someone forgets to close it. Scanning on receipt is available through mobile scanning against the RMA.
A bounce is a shipment the customer refused or sent back whole. It gets its own path because the answer to every question on a normal RMA is already known.
Instead of choosing a customer and picking styles, you choose the specific invoice that bounced. The RMA is created for 100 percent of the shipped quantity on that invoice, pre-authorized and pre-matched on the receive tab, with the sales rep commission and the original PO number filled from the invoice.
You choose a reason code, and brands should have codes specific to refusals rather than reusing customer return reasons. Then the credit is issued immediately, so the invoice shows as fully returned and the receivable clears. On a retailer account the credit can go out as an EDI 812 credit and debit adjustment so it reconciles against any deduction they take.
| Where | What happens |
|---|---|
| Inventory | Stock units post to the receiving warehouse at style, color and size and become available to every channel through omnichannel order management. Damaged units post to the damage style or damaged goods warehouse, or net to zero if untracked. See the inventory and WMS page. |
| Receivables | A credit memo is raised against the original invoice, customer and terms in AIMS360 accounting. For brands running QuickBooks alongside AIMS360, credit memos are in the two-way sync set with invoices, payments and AP bills. |
| Commission | The sales rep commission read from the invoice is applied to the RMA, so the rep's commission is adjusted for the returned units. |
| Audit | Every receipt and the credit are logged by style, color and size. A void after credit reverses the credit memo and cancels the RMA without deleting either. |
Constraints we would rather you heard from us.
| Constraint | Detail |
|---|---|
| One invoice per RMA | Multi-invoice selection is allowed, but the system cannot then display the sales rep commission or the commission adjustment. Keep to one invoice unless commission is not in play. |
| Warehouse is always required | Even when damages are set to do not track, a warehouse must be on the RMA before the credit can be issued. |
| Partial receipts do not move OTS | Nothing posts until credit. If you take returns in over time against one RMA, availability will lag until you close it. |
| Receive all is stock only | The one-click receive accepts everything as sellable. Damages still need manual entry. |
| By style loses the invoice | Price, discount, tax and commission are not carried. Use it only for goods invoiced in a prior system. |
| Canadian tax sheets | Where the database is set for Canadian currency and tax sheets, an RMA is limited to a single province. Multiple invoices are fine if they are all in the same province. |
| Cancel and void are different | Cancel works before the credit is issued. After the credit, only void is available, and void reverses the credit first. |
RMA questions we get from apparel and consumer brands.
A return merchandise authorization is the record that permits a customer to send goods back and defines what will be accepted. In AIMS360 it lives in the RMA/Cr Memo module, is created against the customer's original invoice, carries an RA number, a void-after date, a reason code and a receiving warehouse, and is closed by issuing a credit memo. The credit memo is what posts the returned units to inventory and the credit to receivables.
By invoice, in nearly every case. Authorizing by invoice pulls the shipped quantity, price, amount, discounts, taxes and sales rep commission from the invoice, so the credit is accurate without rekeying. By style exists for one situation: a brand that migrated to AIMS360 and needs to take a return on goods that were invoiced in the previous system, where there is no AIMS360 invoice to reference.
The RMA carries a void-after date. The default is 10 days from creation, and it can be extended on the RMA when it is created. The date is a control on the authorization, not on the customer, so it is up to your team to enforce it when goods arrive late.
Yes. When you select styles from the invoice, the authorized quantity defaults to the shipped quantity by size. You can reduce it to the units the customer is actually returning. It cannot be raised above the shipped quantity, because you cannot credit more than you invoiced.
At receipt you enter damaged units in a separate column by size, and the system asks how to handle them. You can receive them into a damage style, which is a separate style record that holds non-sellable inventory by size, or into the same style within a damaged goods warehouse, or record them as received without adding any inventory. The default is not to track them as inventory. Whichever you choose, damaged units never land in sellable stock.
When the credit memo is issued, not when the units are entered on the receive tab. Stock and damages both post to the warehouse at the moment of credit. This matters for open to sell: an RMA that is received in pieces over several weeks does not change availability until it is credited, so partial receipts left uncredited will understate what you can sell.
A bounce is a shipment the customer refused or sent back whole, unopened. Instead of selecting a customer and styles, you select the invoice that bounced. The RMA is created for 100% of the shipped quantity, pre-authorized and pre-received, with the sales rep commission and original PO number filled from the invoice. The credit is issued immediately so the invoice shows as fully returned.
Yes. Issuing the credit from the RMA raises the credit memo against the original invoice, customer and terms in AIMS360 receivables. Where the brand runs QuickBooks alongside AIMS360, credit memos are part of the two-way sync set along with invoices, payments and AP bills.
Yes, when the RMA is authorized by invoice. The commission is read from the selected invoice and applied to the RMA when the return is posted, so the rep's commission is adjusted for the returned units. Until posting, the screen shows the default commission from the customer master. If you select styles from several invoices at once the system cannot display the commission, which is why a single invoice per RMA is the recommended practice.
Both, at different points. Before the credit is issued, the RMA can be cancelled. After the credit is issued, cancel is no longer available and you void instead, which reverses the credit memo and then cancels the RMA. Nothing is deleted; the audit log keeps both the original and the reversal.
Show us an RMA that went wrong: a wrong price, a commission that did not adjust, damaged units that got sold again. We will walk the same return through AIMS360 by invoice, by size, to the credit.
