What is a core charge?
A core charge is a refundable deposit charged when you sell a remanufactured or rebuildable part (commonly batteries, starters, alternators, water pumps, brake calipers, etc.). The deposit is meant to make sure the worn-out "core" — the old part being replaced — comes back to your shop (and from there, back to your vendor) so it can be rebuilt.
In ShopView, a core charge always appears as its own separate line item on the invoice. When the customer brings back the used core, you create a second transaction (a core credit) to refund the deposit. This is a "two-transaction" workflow currently — charging the core and refunding it are intentionally kept as separate, distinct steps.
When to use a core charge?
Use a core charge when you need to:
Set up a core value on a catalog part so it gets charged automatically
Sell a part with a core charge on a Work Order or a Part Sale (Counter Sale)
Accept the customer's used core back and refund the core deposit
Handle a core credit from your vendor and apply it to your Accounts Payable
Why does it take two transactions to create a core credit?
The reason ShopView keeps the charge and the credit as two separate transactions:
The customer's invoice is closed at the point of sale. Once the part (and its core) is invoiced and paid, ShopView treats the original invoice as a finalized accounting record. Editing the original invoice retroactively would distort sales reports and complicate the QuickBooks sync.
The core may come back days or weeks later. Cores often aren't returned at the time of sale — they come back after the customer has had time to swap the part. The credit needs to be its own dated transaction so the timeline is accurate.
The vendor side is also separate. When you ship the cores back to your vendor and receive their credit, that's another distinct transaction that posts to A/P. The customer-side credit and the vendor-side credit don't always happen on the same day or with matching dollar amounts.
Setting up a core value on a Special Order Part (SOP)
For parts being requested directly on a Work Order or Part Sale Order (not stocked in inventory):
Open the Work Order or Part Sale Order
Click Request Part (or Save & Add Part when creating a line)
In the New Part Request modal, fill in part number, description, quantity
Enter the value in the Core Charge field
Save the request
The core line will be added to the WO/PS automatically as as separate line item along side the part.
Setting up a core value on an Inventory Part
For parts already stocked in your inventory:
Go to Parts → Inventory
Find the part and open it to access the Edit Inventory Part window
Enter or update the Core Cost (your vendor's core charge to you) and Core Sell Price (what you charge the customer)
Save changes
Once set, every future sale of this inventory part automatically includes the core line on the invoice. The core value is visible on the Inventory page in the Core column for reference.Workflow A — Charging a customer for a core on a Work Order
Open the Work Order.
Add the catalog part to a line (same as any other part).
Continue with the normal Work Order flow (Authorize → Order/Pick → Stage → Invoice → Pay).
ShopView automatically adds a separate core line under the part. The core line shows the core sell price you configured on the catalog. (the Core line is added after part is picked and received)
The printed invoice shows the part on one line and the core on its own line below it, so the customer can see exactly what they're being charged for the deposit.
If you do NOT want to charge the customer for the core (for example, the customer is a wholesaler buying parts without a core swap):
Open the part line on the Work Order.
Edit the core sell price to $0 for this transaction.
Save.
The core line still shows on the invoice but with a $0 value, preserving the audit trail.
Workflow B — Charging a customer for a core on a Part Sale (Counter Sale)
The behavior on Part Sales is intentionally simpler than on Work Orders:
ShopView automatically charges the core — there is no "Core OK / Core NOT OK" prompt at the counter. Per the Part Sales spec, "Assume cores are NOT OK. Core should be automatically charged out."
In the invoice the core appears as a separate row on the Part Sale, the same way it does on a Work Order.
Continue with the normal Part Sale flow (Authorize → Invoice → Pay).
If the customer brings the core in at the same time as the purchase, you still complete the Part Sale with the core charged. The refund is handled as a separate credit in Workflow C (below).
Workflow C — Refunding the customer when they return the core
This is the second of the two transactions. You do this after the part sale or Work Order invoice has been created (and usually paid).
On a Part Sale:
Open the original Part Sale's invoice.
From the 3-dot menu, choose Create Credit.
The Credit Parts screen opens with the original lines.
Set the Qty to Credit to 0 for any line you are NOT crediting. Leave only the core line with the Qty you want to credit (typically the core's quantity).
Adjust the Restocking Fee if you charge one on core returns.
Click Create Credit. ShopView creates a credit document (numbered C-XXX) and the credit lands in the customer's Credits tab.
On a Work Order:
The customer-side credit flow is similar but lives inside the Work Order's Returns/Credits area. Open the WO → 3-dot menu → choose the credit option, then follow the same Qty / Restocking Fee / Create Credit flow.
Inventory side: Returning a core does NOT add the returned core back into your sellable inventory as a new on-hand part. The credit reduces the customer's A/R; the physical core is treated as material to be sent back to the vendor (see Workflow D).
Important takeaways
Cores are ALWAYS shown as a separate line item on invoices and estimates. This is intentional so the deposit is visible to the customer.
Cores cannot be fully deleted from a inventory part. You can zero them out, but the core line persists. Contact Support if you need to truly remove a core from a part. It is possible to cancel a return. Click into your Work Order, find the core, and click the three dots next to it, then Cancel Return.
Two transactions are required to charge and refund a core. A Part Sale or Work Order charges the core; a separate credit transaction refunds it. Some customers have requested an in-flow core return option on Part Sales — this is a roadmap item (SV-6187).
Mixing two different core values for the same catalog part on one invoice is not supported. If you change the core value on a catalog part mid-cycle, batches with different core values must be invoiced separately. (Real example: conversation #3964 — Jack Strong sold "5 batteries: 3 with $30 cores and 2 with $20 cores" but the invoice only showed one $20 core charge. Support's recommendation: split the batteries into two orders to keep core prices consistent within each order.)
There is no "Core OK / Core NOT OK" button on Part Sales. ShopView assumes the core is NOT OK by default and automatically charges it out.
Work Order returns vs Part Sale credits behave differently in QuickBooks. A Part Sale credit syncs to QBO as a customer credit memo. A return inside a Work Order does NOT sync to QBO automatically — see the article "Vendor-Side Returns and Credit Memos" for the distinction.