RMS Return Orders: Create, Inspect and Process Returns

The warehouse-side return document: create a return order with lines, approve or decline it, receive and inspect the goods, set a disposition per line, then resolve the money and close it.

A return order (RMA) in RMS is the warehouse-side document for one return: who it belongs to, what is coming back, why, and what happens to the goods and the money at the end. It is its own document with its own life — requested, approved, shipped back, received, inspected, dispositioned, resolved, completed. Note there are two return entry points in Docklify: OMS also has an RMA screen (OMS → RMA) where a return is created against a sales order from the order side. The RMS return order is managed end to end in the RMS app; its form carries the sales order number only as a reference field. This article covers the RMS side.

Step 1: Find a return order in the list#

1. Open RMS → Return orders (/rms/list). The table shows one row per return order: RMA no. (with the sales order no. under it), Client, priority, reason, return method, refund method, status and created time.
2. Type in the search box to match by RMA number or description, or narrow down with the Status dropdown and the Client dropdown, then click Search. Reset clears all filters.
3. Click the RMA number to open the return order. Everything after that happens on the detail page.

The count above the filters tells you how many return orders match. The list itself is a Docklify feature worth knowing: RMS → Return orders keeps every return — open or closed — in one searchable table, so "where is that return?" is always one search away.

Step 2: Create a return order#

1. On the list page, click "+ New RMA" (top right) to open the create form (/rms/new).
2. Fill the basic info. Client is required. Then: RMA type (Return or Exchange), sales order no. and reference no. if you have them, priority (Low / Medium / High / Urgent), reason, expected return date, contact name and phone.
3. Set how the goods come back and how the customer is settled: return method (Mail / ship back, Drop-off, Pickup) and refund method (Original payment, Store credit, Exchange), plus a plain-language return reason and a description if needed.
4. Add the lines. Click "+ Add line" and fill SKU or product name plus the expected quantity, one line per product. Click a line in the table to edit it, or the ✕ to remove it.
5. Click "Create RMA". The return order is created with status Requested and you land on its detail page.

• Two things are enforced at creation: a Client must be chosen, and there must be at least one line — and every line needs a SKU or a product name. The form tells you in plain words what is missing.
• The Reason dropdown is not free text: it comes from your return reason codes (RMS → Settings → Reason codes), so every return is counted under the same set of reasons — that is what feeds the "by return reason" chart on the RMS dashboard.

Step 3: Approve or decline the request#

1. Open the return order. While it is Requested, the header shows "Approve" and "Decline". Approve moves it to Approved — the customer can now send the goods back.
2. Decline needs a reason: click "Decline", write why in plain words, and confirm. A declined return stops here, with the reason on record.
3. Small clean returns do not always need this manual step: a return policy can auto-approve them. Policies live in RMS → Settings → Return policies (see the return policies article).

Some returns move faster: flow templates#

• Every return order follows a flow template (RMS → Settings → Flow templates). The detail page shows the template name near the top. Most returns use the Standard template and walk every step on this page.
• Self drop-off template: the customer brings the goods to the warehouse themselves, so after you approve, the order waits in "In transit" for the goods to show up — there is no label to issue and nothing to mark shipped. Just receive it when it arrives.
• Two templates each drop a step around inspection, but not the same step: "No-quarantine direct inspection" skips only the quarantine — no need to set the goods aside first, but you still click "Start inspection" before recording results. "Simplified low-risk" skips quarantine and merges the inspection start — recording the first QC line starts the inspection for you, and these orders have no separate "Start inspection" button. The timeline marks every skipped step as auto-skipped, so the record stays honest.
• The detail page also carries a "Policy check" section: the latest verdict of the return policies for this order — inside the window or over it, amount within the cap, any manual-review marks. It re-checks when you approve, so what you see is always the current rules, not the rules from the day the return arrived.

Step 4: Label, in transit, and receiving#

1. On an Approved return order, click "Issue return label" — the status becomes Label issued. When the customer ships the parcel, click "Mark in transit".
2. When the goods arrive, click "Receive". A dialog lists every line with its expected quantity; type the quantity actually received per line (it starts pre-filled with the expected quantity) and confirm. The status becomes Received and each line now shows expected vs. received.
3. On the dock, the same receiving can be done from a phone: RMS → Mobile receiving takes the RMA number and the quantities with big buttons (see the mobile receiving article).

• Issuing the label now asks how the return comes back — pick one: "Label provided" (enter the tracking number and/or the label link), "Customer ships it themselves (no label)", or "Customer drops it off at the warehouse". Without one of these, the label step cannot be saved: a return with no tracking and no declaration cannot be traced later.
• "Mark in transit" needs the same proof: a tracking number on the order, or the "drops it off" choice. If it is blocked, use "Add label info" on the detail page to fill in the tracking number — that is the intended way to fix it. Orders in the Authorized status are the exception on the receiving side: when the goods physically arrive, they can be received directly, and the timeline shows the label and in-transit steps as skipped at receiving.

Step 5: Quarantine, inspection and QC grades#

1. After receiving, click "Quarantine" if the goods must wait aside for checking, then "Start inspection" when the check begins.
2. Click "Record QC" and grade every line: A — Like new, B — Minor flaws, C — Defective, D — Hazardous. Add QC notes per line so the next person knows what you saw.

Step 6: Decide where each line goes (disposition)#

• Click "Set disposition" and choose one disposition per line, with notes if needed. The choices are your disposition codes from Master Data → Reason Codes (category: disposition) — the standard set is Restock, Refurbish, Dispose, Return to vendor and Donate.
• For Restock, two extra fields appear: pick the restock warehouse first, then the restock location in that warehouse. That is how sellable returns find their way back onto the shelf from this same screen — a Docklify touch that keeps the return and the put-back on one document.

Step 7: Resolve the money and complete#

1. Once every line has a disposition, the return order moves to Resolution pending. Click "Resolve (refund/exchange/credit)", pick the resolution type — Refund, Exchange or Store credit — and fill the amount, the method and a note.
2. The status now shows how it was settled: Refunded, Exchanged or Credited. Click "Complete RMA" to close the return order for good.
3. Two everyday tools on the same page: "Edit" reopens the basic info in place (closed or cancelled orders can no longer be edited), and "Cancel RMA" is available up to the in-transit stage. The timeline on the right is the real history of the order in two groups — Customer progress and Warehouse work — each entry with who did it and when; steps that were skipped (for example when goods were received on an order that never shipped) are shown greyed as skipped, and older orders with no recorded history say so honestly instead of guessing stages.

Docklify features used in this article#

• Return order list with search, status and Client filters — RMS → Return orders (/rms/list)
• Create return order form with lines — RMS → Return orders → + New RMA (/rms/new)
• Detail-page processing: approve / decline, label, receive, QC grades, disposition, resolution — RMS → Return orders → open an RMA (/rms/:id)
• Restock with warehouse and location pickers, inside the disposition step — RMS → Return orders → open an RMA → Set disposition
• Mobile receiving on the dock — RMS → Mobile receiving (/rms/receive)
• Return reason codes, return policies and flow templates — RMS → Settings (/rms/settings)