Refund a customer

When a customer holds credit you won’t use — an overpayment, an unused deposit, or the extra on a credit note — you can pay it back. Recording the refund lowers their credit and takes the money out of the account you paid it from, so your bank balance stays right.

Who can do this

Owners, and Staff whose Team has Refund customers. This right is off for General Staff unless an Owner turns it on, because money leaves the business. Without it, Refund is hidden.

1. Start the refund — Press Refund on a payment with credit left, on a credit note with credit remaining, or on the customer’s contact page. The Refund dialog opens with the customer’s name.

2. Choose the credit — Under Refund from, pick the payment or credit note the money comes from. It shows how much credit it holds.

3. Fill in the details — Enter the Amount (up to that credit), the Date, Paid from (the account the money left), the Method and an optional Reference.

4. Tell the customer (optional) — Tick Send refund confirmation to email them that you’ve refunded the amount.

5. Record it — Press Record refund. The toast reads, for example, Refunded $250.00 to Maple Ridge Homes.

Screenshot: The Refund dialog with Refund from, Amount, Date, Paid from and Method

The Refund dialog with Refund from, Amount, Date, Paid from and Method

What happens next

• The customer’s credit drops by the amount refunded. A payment whose credit is all paid back reads Refunded.
• The money shows leaving the Paid from account in its register.
• The refund appears under Refunds on the payment’s page and in its Activity.
• The customer’s statement shows the refund as a line of its own.

Delete a refund

If you recorded a refund by mistake, open the payment and press Delete refund next to it under Refunds. Spine asks first: “Delete this refund?” Confirm, and the refund is reversed in your books and the amount goes back into the customer’s credit. The refund stays in the list, marked Deleted.

Caution

A refund that’s part of a finished bank reconciliation can’t be deleted. Undo that reconciliation first. See Banking.

If the dialog says the customer has no credit to refund, there’s nothing to pay back yet.