Cores
Core deposits at the counter, dirty cores on the shelf, and getting your money back from the supplier.
Rebuildable parts — starters, turbos, injectors — carry a core charge: the customer pays a refundable deposit until they hand back the old unit, and your supplier charges you one until you ship the old units back. Meridian tracks both sides of that core bank so no deposit money leaks. This page walks the whole loop: flag the part, take the deposit, shelf the dirty core, and settle up with the supplier.
Included in Parts & Service and Enterprise
Cores are part of the parts pack. On a Shop or Mobile edition, core screens will tell you your plan doesn't include this — and the Dirty Cores list simply comes up empty rather than explaining itself. See your edition and what's included.
The Dirty Cores and Return Shipments pages only show in the sidebar when your login has core permissions. Editing a part's core settings needs the core-admin permission. If you don't see them, ask your manager.
Mark the part core-bearing. Open the part, click Edit, and go to the Core tab. Check Core-bearing part (carries a refundable core deposit). Set the Customer Core Deposit (what you collect from the customer) and the Standard Core Cost (what the supplier credits you back). Add a Core Class if you group cores. Click Save Changes.
Sell it at the counter. Selling a core-bearing part adds the core deposit to the order automatically. The deposit is money the shop now owes back, and it shows in the customer's core bank until the old unit comes in.
Take the old unit back. When the customer returns the dirty core, the deposit is credited back to them and the used part goes onto your shelf as a dirty core, valued at the credit you expect from the supplier.
Watch the shelf. See what's waiting under Parts & Inventory, then Dirty Cores — returned cores listed by location and status, with a count and value rollup so you know how much is sitting there.
Ship them back for credit. When you have enough to send, go to Parts & Inventory, then Return Shipments, build a batch for the vendor, ship it, and settle the supplier's credit per item.
Reconcile the core bank. The office ties everything out under Accounting, then Core Reconciliation — customer deposits owed, supplier credits due, dirty-core value on the shelf, and any deposits past their return window.
What happens behind the scenes
- Flagging a part core-bearing sets up its core record and keeps the customer deposit price in step across the part editor. Clearing the flag retires it without deleting the history.
- Selling a core books a liability. The core deposit the customer pays is money the shop owes back, tracked in the customer core bank until the dirty core returns — so an unreturned core is never quietly forgotten.
- A returned dirty core lands in inventory valued at the supplier credit you expect for it, then waits on the Dirty Cores shelf to be shipped back. Returning the core clears the customer's deposit.
- Shipping cores back settles the supplier side. A supplier's core charge from a PO is tracked per vendor, and receiving a core-bearing PO line records that charge automatically. When you ship dirty cores back, Meridian draws them from the shelf and settles the credit the vendor owes you.
- The return window matters. Each supplier's core charge has a window to get the old unit back for credit; past it, that deposit can be forfeited. Core Reconciliation surfaces deposits that are aging out so nothing expires unnoticed.
Troubleshooting
Core catalog settings are read-only without the core-admin permission. Whoever sets core deposits and costs needs that permission granted; ask your manager or an owner to make the change or grant you access.
Those pages appear only when your login has core permissions — reading the shelf is one permission, shipping cores back is another. If you handle cores and don't see them, ask an owner to add the core permissions to your role.
The credit posts when the return is recorded against the sale, and the used unit moves onto the Dirty Cores shelf. If the deposit is still showing as owed, confirm the return was recorded on the right order, then check the customer's core bank on Core Reconciliation.
Each supplier sets how many days you have to return a core for credit. Past that window the supplier's deposit can be forfeit — Core Reconciliation flags aging deposits so you can ship them in time. Batch and ship cores promptly under Return Shipments to stay inside the window.