Giving a payer their money back

Somebody has paid for something they are not getting, or has been charged too much. Crediting, refunding and writing off - which is usually two jobs, not one.

Step 1 of 10

Work out whether you need a credit, a refund, or both

This is the step people skip, and it causes most of the trouble. A credit reduces what was charged. A refund gives money back. They are separate, and most situations need both: if you invoiced somebody, they paid, and you then refund them, the money is square but the invoice still stands unpaid, because nothing has cancelled the charge.

Charged by mistake and nothing paid - credit only. Keeping the charge but returning some money - refund only. Charged by mistake and already paid - both.

Use the arrow keys to move between steps.

1. Work out whether you need a credit, a refund, or both

   This is the step people skip, and it causes most of the trouble. A credit reduces what was charged. A refund gives money back. They are separate, and most situations need both: if you invoiced somebody, they paid, and you then refund them, the money is square but the invoice still stands unpaid, because nothing has cancelled the charge.

   Charged by mistake and nothing paid - credit only. Keeping the charge but returning some money - refund only. Charged by mistake and already paid - both.

2. Post the credit against the invoice line

   To reduce a charge, open the payer's Debtor tab, then Invoices, and select the invoice. The panel beside it carries Post Credit along with Post Receipt, Post Debit, Recalculate, Mark Disputed and Write Off, and it shows you the invoiced value, what has been received and what is still outstanding.

   If the invoice has been paid in full it is hidden until you untick Outstanding only. A credit on an account with nothing owing simply sits there until the next invoice - unless another one is outstanding, which it goes to instead.

3. The amount is the credit, not the new total

   The credit is posted against a single invoice line, and Amount (before VAT) is the value you are taking off - not what you want the invoice to come down to. Getting that round the wrong way is the commonest mistake here. On an invoice of 251 that should end up at 110, the amount is 141.

   Leave Discount alone unless the original invoice had one. It is there to track discount given away, not to reduce a bill, and a discount entered here can follow the pupil into next year when they progress.

4. Writing it off is a different thing again

   If you are not reducing a charge but abandoning it - a debt you have decided not to pursue - use Write Off rather than a credit. It needs a write-off limit set first, under Settings, System Configuration, Finance, and it is worth putting that limit back to zero afterwards so nothing is written off by accident.

   For a school rather than a parent, a Billing Adjustment on their Debtor tab is the usual tool - it carries forward onto the next invoice.

5. Find the payment, not the invoice

   A refund goes against a payment, because you are sending back money you actually received. Open the payer's ledger, find the invoice, and look at what has been paid against it. If nothing has, you do not want a refund at all - you want a credit.

   This is also where you find out how they paid, which decides what you can do in step 5.

6. Ask for it

   Choose the receipt you are refunding and request the refund. You can refund part of a payment, but never more than that payment. Adjust the narrative if it helps whoever authorises it - "lessons cancelled, parent moved away" saves a conversation later.

   Nothing has been paid out at this point. Asking for a refund moves no money.

7. It waits for somebody to authorise it

   The refund sits pending until it is authorised, under Tasks, in Refund Approvals, oldest first. That is deliberate - money leaving the organisation is a second pair of eyes. The Needs attention panel on Home counts them too, so they do not get forgotten.

   Three choices on each: Refund to Card sends it back through your provider; Accept records that you have paid it some other way; Reject turns it down.

8. When Refund to Card is not offered

   The commonest question we get about refunds, and it is not a fault: Refund to Card only appears when your provider can actually take it, and the usual reason it is missing is that the payer did not pay by card. Somebody who paid by BACS, cheque or cash has no card for the money to go back to - so pay them the way you received it, and use Accept to record that you have.

   Accept does not move any money. It tells Xperios the refund has been dealt with outside the system.

9. When the provider will not take it

   If Refund to Card is there but nothing happens, the reason is usually at the provider, not in Xperios. Not enough money in your provider account - a refund is paid out of your balance with them. A card that has expired or an account that has closed. Or the provider's own check that the card payments on that invoice, less previous refunds, cover what you are refunding.

   That last one usually follows a transfer: the money was taken against the booking the payer originally made, not the one they ended up on. It is a safeguard, not an error on the account.

10. Undoing one

    While it is still pending, Reject it and nothing has left your account. Once it has been paid out it cannot be recalled from Xperios - if the charge should stand after all, post a positive adjustment for the amount, which re-creates the debt for the payer to pay.

    And if a credit left the payer having paid more than they now owe, Xperios may have raised the refund for you - Auto Generate Refunds in System Configuration. It still waits under Refund Approvals like any other.

Why this one is worth knowing

Two things account for nearly every refund question we get. The first is step one — somebody refunds without crediting, and the invoice stays outstanding for money they have already given back. The second is step five, the missing Refund to Card button, which is almost always a payer who never paid by card in the first place.

Neither is a fault, and both are quicker to spot than to explain afterwards.

The same ground, as reference

• Refunds — the full detail, including part-paid refunds and what the payer is told
• Debtors — the ledger, and posting a credit
• Payment schedules — why a refund lengthens a schedule