Handle partial goods returns, monetary refunds and shipping adjustments with their own quantities, values and dates. Keep later credits traceable to amounts already booked.
Before eligible same-day posting, a full return can exclude the returned value; a partial return retains the remaining sale and its allocated discount.
A later return creates a separate return or credit event while preserving the original sale. Further partial returns respect remaining quantities and booked value.
Monetary-only refunds do not invent inventory quantities. Configured no-restock goodwill treatment distinguishes compensation from goods actually returned.
Shipping is a separate component: returning a product does not automatically refund the whole delivery charge.
For mixed-payment orders, successful Shopify refund transactions govern the payment allocation rather than blindly replaying the original split.
Keep the returned item and the replacement shipment visible in the accounting. Shopify-native exchanges use return and fulfillment events on the same order; replacement items are booked at their own charged value.
A later Shopify disposition of NOT_RESTOCKED or MISSING can update a pending return or create a stock write-off task for an itemized return already posted.
Review worked examples, then configure your own store. Figures are simplified illustrations, not live customer records.
