Document discounts and coupons
Besides negotiating each line’s price, you can discount the whole sale: a document discount by percentage or amount, or a coupon with a code you create once and apply on quotes and invoices. The discount is applied before taxes and Cord spreads it across the lines in proportion to their amount.
In short:
- Where it is applied: in the summary of the quote and invoice editors, with + Add discount or coupon: Percent, Amount or Coupon.
- Coupons: created under Settings › Discounts › Coupons with code, type, value, validity, currency (for an amount) and total and per-client usage limits.
- A coupon takes precedence over a manual discount: a document carries one or the other.
- A use is counted when the invoice is issued or the quote is approved, and returned if the invoice is voided, the draft is deleted or the quote is rejected.
- On every plan. Creating coupons requires the Settings permission; applying them, the Quotes permission.
- Tax documents: the CFDI declares the discount on each item, and the other documents spread it per line; the PDF shows the gross amount and a “Discount” row with the coupon code.
Apply a discount in the editor
- In a quote or invoice editor, go to the summary and click + Add discount or coupon.
- Choose Percent (0 to 100) or Amount (in the document’s currency) and enter the value.
- Or choose Coupon, enter the code and click Apply. Cord checks it right away and tells you if it does not apply.
- Subtotal, taxes and total are recalculated live. To take it off, click Remove.
An amount larger than the subtotal is capped at the subtotal. With tax-inclusive prices, the amount reduces what the client pays and the base is broken out afterwards. Withholdings are calculated on the discounted bases.
Create a coupon
- Open Settings › Discounts › Coupons and click New coupon.
- Code: 3 to 32 letters, numbers, hyphen or underscore (for example
WELCOME10). It is unique in your business. - Name (optional), to recognize it in the list.
- Discount: Percentage or Fixed amount, and its Value. A fixed amount requires its Currency: it only applies to documents in that currency.
- Valid from and Valid until (optional), in your business time zone.
- Total uses and Uses per client (optional; with no value, there is no limit).
- Click Create coupon.
The code, type, value and currency do not change once created: for another value, create another coupon. A deactivated coupon can no longer be applied to new documents; those that already carry it keep it. A coupon that was already used cannot be deleted: deactivate it.
When a use is counted
- Invoice: when it is issued, before the number is reserved. If the uses ran out, the invoice is not issued and you see it in its activity.
- Quote: when it is approved. If the uses ran out, the approval does not go through.
- The invoice of a quote reuses the quote’s use: it does not count twice.
- It is returned if you void the invoice, delete the draft or the quote is rejected.
Validity and whether the coupon is active are checked when it is applied: a coupon already applied to a document is kept even if you edit that document after it expires.
Messages when applying a coupon
| Message | What happens |
|---|---|
| “That coupon does not exist” | The code is not in your business. |
| “That coupon is deactivated” | Activate it under Coupons or use another one. |
| “That coupon is not valid yet” or “has expired” | Outside its validity dates. |
| “That coupon is in a different currency than this document” | A fixed-amount coupon only applies in its currency. |
| “That coupon has no uses left” | It reached its total limit. |
| “This client has already used that coupon as many times as allowed” | It reached its per-client limit. |
| “That coupon is limited per client: choose a client first” | Choose the client before applying it. |
Discounts and approvals
If your business has approval workflows (Settings › Quotes › Approvals), a manual discount counts toward the discount threshold that requires approval; a coupon does not, because whoever created it already authorized it.
Coupons on your website
Your buyers can enter a code in the embeddable quote builder on your site (Cord Elements), and it is checked the same way as in the editor.
How it shows on each document
- PDF and links: each item shows its gross amount and the totals show the Discount row with the coupon code, if any.
- CFDI (Mexico): each item carries its share of the discount in the discount field. An item the discount brings to zero cannot be stamped. The global invoice declares each sale’s discount, and a sale with a 100% discount is left out.
- Verifactu (Spain): declares the discounted base.
- Factur-X, XRechnung and Peppol: each line carries its gross amount and the discount as a document allowance per tax rate.
- LatAm rails (once active): ARCA reports it as a bonus, the NFS-e as an unconditional discount, the NF-e per item, the SII per line and the DIAN as a discount on each line.
- Credit note: spreads the discount the same way as the invoice.
Duplicate, repeat and replace
- Duplicate invoice copies the gross price and the discount separately.
- A recurring invoice (More actions › Repeat monthly) only carries a manual discount, not a coupon.
- Replacing a CFDI inherits the original’s discount as is, with its coupon and without checking it again; the use is not counted twice.
- A partial approval and the invoice of a quote apply the discount again on what was approved.