Client Line Item Adjustments

A line item adjustment allows you to correct the billed amount on a client line item that has already been invoiced and sent. This is useful when a charge needs to be increased or decreased after an invoice has left draft status.

Before You Begin

Make sure the following conditions are met:

• The invoice containing the line item has been sent (invoices in Not Approved, On Hold, or Approved status do not support adjustments)
• The adjustment date you intend to use falls within an open fiscal period
• The line item is not a pass-through billable expense (charges that pass through from a vendor invoice cannot be adjusted here — they must be corrected on the vendor side)

Steps

1. Open the invoice

Navigate to the client account and open the invoice that contains the line item you need to adjust.

2. Locate the line item

Find the line item in the invoice's line items table.

3. Click the Adjust icon

To the right of the line item, click the edit icon (pencil). Hovering over it will show the tooltip "Adjust Client Line Item." This opens the Adjust Client Line Item modal.

If the icon does not appear, the line item is not eligible for adjustment. See Before You Begin above.

4. Set the Adjustment Date

The Adjustment Date field defaults to today's date. Change it if the adjustment should fall on a different date. The date must fall within an open fiscal period.

5. Enter the Adjust To Amount

The Adjust To Amount field shows the current effective total for the line item — the original amount plus any prior adjustments. Enter the amount you want the line item to end up at, not the difference.

Example: If a line item was billed at $500 and should have been $450, enter $450. Discovery will automatically calculate and record a -$50 adjustment.

As you update the amount, the "This will create an adjustment for" field below it shows a live preview of the resulting adjustment value. Confirm this looks correct before proceeding.

Limits:

• The adjust-to amount must differ from the current total (zero-dollar adjustments are not allowed)
• The cumulative adjustment cannot exceed the absolute value of the original line item amount

6. Enter a Description

The Description field is pre-populated with the original line item description. Update it to explain the reason for the adjustment. This description is visible on the client's invoice.

7. Add Internal Notes (optional)

Use the Internal Notes field to record any internal context about why the adjustment was made. This field is labeled "not seen by client" and will not appear on the client's invoice.

8. Review existing adjustments (if any)

If prior adjustments exist for this line item, they are listed at the bottom of the modal under Other Adjustments For This Line Item. Review them to ensure your new adjustment does not conflict or overlap.

9. Click "Create Line Item Adjustment"

Click the Create Line Item Adjustment button to save. A success message confirms the adjustment was recorded.

Viewing Pending Adjustments

Adjustments are not immediately added to a new invoice — they are held as pending until the next invoice is generated. To see all pending client line item adjustments for the current fiscal period:

1. Navigate to Revenue in the main navigation and view the Billable Revenue dashboard.
2. Select the fiscal period from the sidebar
3. Click Client Line Item Adjustments in the revenue sub-navigation

The table shows each pending adjustment's description, the original line item it relates to, the adjustment date, amount, who created it, and any internal notes.

Billing a Line Item Adjustment

Once adjustments are entered, they must be pulled into draft invoices before they can be sent to the client. This is done from the Revenue Dashboard.

1. Navigate to the Revenue Dashboard

Go to Revenue in the main navigation and select the fiscal period the adjustments fall under.

2. Click "Batch Create Invoices"

In the upper right of the dashboard, click the Batch Create Invoices button. This queues a background job that processes all pending adjustments for the fiscal period.

The button will show a loading state while the job runs. When it completes, a success notification appears: "Client Invoices were successfully generated."

3. Confirm the adjustment appeared on the invoice

Open the client's draft invoice (status: Not Approved). The adjustment will appear as a new line item with the description you entered. Its origin will be listed as Client Line Item Adjustment.

The invoice is now ready for your normal review and approval workflow before being sent to the client.

Converting a Line Item Adjustment to a Credit Memo

If an adjustment results in a negative line item (a credit owed to the client), you may prefer to issue it as a standalone credit memo rather than include it on a regular invoice. This can be done before the draft invoice is approved.

When this option is available:

The option to move a line item to a credit memo only appears when:

• The invoice is in Not Approved status (it has not yet been approved or sent)
• The line item has a negative amount

Steps:

1. Open the draft invoice

Open the client's invoice that contains the negative adjustment line item.

2. Click the Actions icon

To the right of the negative line item, click the Actions icon. Hovering over it will show the tooltip "Add To Client Credit Memo." This opens the credit memo modal.

The modal will display the invoice number, service description and amount.

3. Select where to move the line item

Use the Select Where To Move This Line Item To dropdown to choose:

• New Credit Memo — creates a new credit memo for this client
• An existing open credit memo document number, if one already exists for this client

4. Click "Move Line Item"

Click the Move Line Item button. The line item is removed from the invoice and placed on the selected credit memo.

5. What happens next

The credit memo is now available in its own Not Sent state, ready to be reviewed and sent to the client separately from the invoice. The original draft invoice will no longer include the adjustment line item.

Once the adjustment has been moved to a credit memo, that memo can be sent to the client.

If you have additional questions or need more in depth information, please feel free to send us a message using the help beacon in the lower right-hand corner.