Generating Duplicate or Corrected Receipts

This section explains how to create and when to use duplicate and corrected receipts. While the same menu options are used to generate them, they are significantly different in concept. The two menu options that can generate these receipts are Receipt à Current Donor Duplicate/Corrected and Receipt à Duplicate/Corrected Receipt by Number.

For the Current Donor Duplicate/Corrected option, you must first click into the row of a donation that is part of the receipt for which you want create a duplicate or corrected version. Its receipt number will be used. For the Duplicate/Corrected Receipt by Number option, you enter the desired receipt number in the options window that comes up.

In either case, an options window comes up, that has two further options, of which you must select one:

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Include only donations that are currently included in this receipt. You would use this option if you were creating a duplicate receipt, or for instance if you had to delete one of the donations in a receipt because it was paid by a cheque that came back NSF, and you need to create a duplicate receipt with that donation omitted.

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Also include any unreceipted donations for the same donor. You would use this if you had to delete a donation that was part of the receipt, and re-enter a corrected version of it, for instance because the amount had been incorrect. (You can't edit donations that are already part of a receipt, only delete them.) You could also use this option if you wanted to merge later donations into a receipt issued earlier, but I would advise caution in using it this way, because it could cause confusion for the donor.

A duplicate receipt is if the donor has merely lost the receipt, and there is nothing wrong with it. You should not just send them a photocopy of their original receipt, because an unscrupulous donor could submit both to the government. Instead, use the above options to generate a duplicate receipt. It will have the words "Duplicate Receipt" added to it, and the same receipt number as the original.

The other situation is different. Suppose you find out that there is something wrong with a receipt – you issued it and then found out the cheque was NSF, or that you had entered an amount incorrectly. In this case, you need to first note the receipt number of the receipt. Then, delete the incorrect donation that was NSF or for the wrong amount. (This will require two confirmations, because it is not a normal action!) If the donation was for the wrong amount, you would next re-enter it with the correct amount, after deleting the bad one. Then, use either menu option above to regenerate a corrected receipt. If there was only one donation included in the original receipt, you will have to use Receipt à Duplicate/Corrected Receipt by Number and enter the receipt number in the options window that comes up. The corrected receipt will have the words "Corrected Receipt" added to it, and again have the same receipt number as the original. If there were no donations left in the receipt, it will show the amount of $0. Make sure the donor gets this corrected receipt, even if it is for $0, so that they know not to use the original.

When you do delete a donation for which a receipt has already been issued, there is actually inconsistent data in the database until you issue the corrected receipt. If you generate Reports à Receipt à All Receipts, it will still show the original incorrect amount for this receipt. As soon as you issue the corrected receipt, this is fixed. There is also a report for finding such problems, where the total of donations associated with a given receipt does not match the original total for the receipt. That report is Reports à Receipt à Incorrect Receipts. Since there was no option for correcting receipts prior to version 2.28 of DONATION, users of earlier versions should definitely run this report to see if there are any receipts that need to be re-issued as Corrected ones.

One thing I will note is that this is technically not exactly how the Canadian government wants corrected receipts to be handled. They are supposed to get a new receipt number, but say something like "Correcting receipt # nnn" on them, referring back to the original incorrect receipt. At the moment the design of the program and the database does not easily allow me to do this. I may do it in the future. I do not believe this is a serious problem, as I have never heard any complaints about it.

I should also note here that the option Receipt à Reprint Range does not create duplicate or corrected receipts (unless the ones being reprinted are already marked as being duplicates or corrected). It can be used to reprint original receipts, and should be used when the original print did not work, as for instance when there was a paper jam or your printer ran out of ink. However, if a donation included in a receipt has been deleted, and thus it needs to be corrected, this option is smart enough to correct the receipt for you and mark it as a "Corrected Receipt".