The customer wants a different size, not their money back. That is not a return and not a new sale — it is both, and the books should show it.
Exchanges are handled over the counter in seconds: the old item goes back on the shelf, the new one goes out, and if the prices differ someone pays or gets change. Recorded as nothing, it leaves two stock figures wrong and a bill that no longer matches what the customer holds.
An exchange against the original bill puts both movements on record — what came back, what went out, and the difference either way — so stock is right and the customer’s paperwork matches the goods they left with.
The sale the item came from.
The line and the quantity being exchanged.
What the customer is taking instead.
Collect or refund, and both stock figures correct.
The bill itself — how it is raised, what it looks like when it reaches the customer, and what it tells you afterwards. A bill here is the same document whether it is typed on a phone at a counter or on a desktop in an office, and it carries your numbering, your logo and your terms.
This is the first thing most businesses use and the last thing they stop using: a bill starts the stock movement, the ledger entry and the tax record all at once.
The other ways a sale is corrected after it happened.
A return sends goods back and settles the money. An exchange sends goods back and takes different goods out, with only the difference settled.
Yes — the returned item comes back in and the replacement goes out.
The difference is collected; if it costs less, it is refunded or adjusted.
An exchange done off the books leaves two stock figures wrong.
