Stock sometimes leaves the system not through consumption but through return or disposal. Damaged on receipt, recalled by vendor, expired in the dispensary, returned by a patient who never opened the pack, controlled drugs reaching end-of-life. Each path has its own workflow, audit, and accounting impact. This article walks the return and disposal surface end to end.

Where it lives#

Inventory → Returns → + New: a vendor return (RTV) or a patient return. Pick the return type on the form.
Inventory → Returns → [open existing]: continue inspection or finalisation.

Disposal is not a return type or a standalone screen. A disposal record is created when a return line is scrapped (see below), and it carries the regulated-waste fields.

Two kinds of return#

Return to vendor (RTV)#

Stock goes back to the vendor.
Reasons: damaged at receipt, vendor recall, expired-on-arrival, wrong item.
Vendor issues credit-note or replacement.
AP adjusts.

Patient return#

Patient brings back unopened material dispensed at a previous visit.
Reasons: prescription discontinued, allergy reaction, patient cancelled treatment plan.
Stock re-credits at original cost.
Cost snapshot on the linked invoice adjusts.
Refund may follow per refund workflow.

Disposal (not a return type)#

Stock destroyed at the clinic: expired, damaged, contaminated, recalled.
A disposal record is created when a return line's disposition is Scrap, not by picking a separate "internal disposal" return type.
It carries the regulated-waste fields and posts the write-off journal.

RTV flow (vendor return)#

States#

State	Meaning
Draft	Created, items being captured.
Pending inspection	Saved, awaiting line-by-line inspection.
Inspected	Every line has an inspection result (restock / scrap / return-to-vendor / rework).
Approved	Inspection signed off, ready to process.
Completed	Stock re-credited or scrapped per disposition. Vendor credit-note tracked externally.
Rejected	Return refused (out of policy, wrong vendor, etc.).
Cancelled	Return abandoned.

There is no separate "Dispatched" state for RTV. Vendor shipment is recorded as a note on the return, not as a status transition. The vendor credit-note flows through AP separately.

In practice a return is created at Pending inspection and completes Inspected → Completed. The Draft, Approved, and Rejected states exist in the model but the current workflow doesn't move through them. RTV and patient returns share the same status machine; the return_type field decides which path the workflo