Refunding a Card Payment
How to refund all or part of a card payment from its transaction popup, what shows in Transactions while the refund goes through, and how disputes are recorded.
Card payments taken through Work Planner are refunded from the payment itself, so the money goes back the way the customer paid and your accounts stay in step. Open Accounts > Transactions, click the payment, and use Refund Payment in its details popup.
A payment taken by hand, such as cash or a bank transfer, has no provider to send the money back through. Give it back yourself, then record it with Refund in the payment's Refund section, as Refunding a Payment Taken by Hand explains.
Who Can Refund
Refunding needs the Refund permission under Payments. Owners and admins have it. The default member role doesn't, so team members can take card payments without being able to send money back. You can give it to another role in the Edit Role popup. Card payments also need to be on your plan.
When You Can Refund
- Completed payments: Refund Payment shows under Payment Provider once the provider has the money, when the Transaction Status is Succeeded. A payment that is still pending, or one that failed, has no button.
- Stripe, Square and PayPal: All three are refunded from Work Planner, however the payment was taken: on your phone, through a card payment link, or from a saved card.
- Zettle: Zettle payments can't be refunded from the popup. It says Refund Zettle payments on the phone, in the Zettle app. where the button would be.
- Refunded in full: Once nothing is left to refund, the popup says This card payment has been refunded in full.
Making the Refund
Click Refund Payment to open the Refund Payment popup. It tells you how much of the payment can still be refunded and which provider the refund goes through, for example Up to £40.00 of this card payment can be refunded via Stripe.
- Amount (optional): Starts with everything that's left to refund. Leave it for a full refund, or lower it for a partial one. If you clear it, the whole of what's left is refunded.
- Will they owe it again?: Yes, they still owe for the work, which it starts on, puts what was refunded back on what they owe once it goes through. No, it's a goodwill refund is for money you give back as a gesture and won't ask for again: a write-off described as Goodwill refund clears what it would have put back on what they owe, going through, or failing, with the refund, and it comes off your income (on cash basis the refund does, and on the accruals basis the write-off). That write-off isn't counted as a bad debt, so the gesture isn't taken off your profit twice. See Refunding a Payment Taken by Hand.
- Refund: Sends the refund to the provider straight away. The popup closes, the payment's details update to show what's left, and a message says whether the refund is done (Refunded.) or still waiting on the provider, for example Refund submitted. It will show as completed once Stripe confirms it.
- Cancel: Closes the popup without refunding anything.
You can make several partial refunds, up to the amount that was paid. A tip taken with the payment isn't included in what can be refunded. A payment that was split across more than one invoice has a row in Transactions for each invoice, but it's refunded as one payment, so the popup offers the whole of what's left whichever row you opened.
What Shows in Transactions
- A Refund row: The refund is added as its own row with the type Refund, described as Refund (Stripe), Refund (Square) or Refund (PayPal). The original payment is never changed.
- Pending, then Completed: The refund row is Pending until the provider confirms the refund, usually straight away or within moments, then changes to Completed. A pending refund already counts towards what's been refunded, so the same money can't be refunded twice while it goes through.
- Failed: If the provider turns the refund down, the row changes to Failed and nothing is refunded. That amount can be refunded again.
- Refund details: Opening the refund row shows a Refund Provider section with the provider, the refund's status, the provider's Refund ID, and the original payment it came from.
- Balance: Once the refund completes, the refunded amount is owed again, as though that part of the payment hadn't been made. Unless it's a goodwill refund: see Will they owe it again? above.
- Provider fee: Stripe, Square and PayPal keep the fee they charged on a payment when it's refunded, so the payment's Payment Fee expense stays in Transactions. It's money you paid and don't get back. Making the refund itself costs nothing extra.
Why a Refund Can Fail
- Amount too high: You can refund up to £20.00 of this payment. Lower the amount to what's left.
- Nothing left: This payment has already been refunded.
- Provider disconnected: Reconnect Stripe to refund this payment. Reconnect the provider the payment was taken with, then try again.
- Provider error: Stripe couldn't make the refund. Nothing has been refunded. Try again in a moment.
- Not completed: Only completed card payments can be refunded. Wait until the payment has gone through.
Refunds Made in Stripe, Square or PayPal
If you refund a payment in Stripe's, Square's or PayPal's own dashboard instead, the provider tells Work Planner and the refund appears against the payment in Transactions by itself, marked Completed once the provider has made it. There's no need to record it again in Work Planner.
Disputes and Chargebacks
When a customer disputes a card payment with their bank and the money is taken back from you, Work Planner adds a refund row against the payment, described as Card payment disputed: taken back by the customer's bank, so the customer owes that amount again. If Stripe charges a dispute fee, it's recorded as a Payment Fee expense too.
If the dispute goes your way and the money comes back, a new payment row is added, described as Card dispute won: money returned. The original payment stays as it was either way. Responding to a dispute is done in the provider's own dashboard.
Related articles
- Transaction Detail View: The popup a refund is made from.
- Transactions List: Finding the payment, and seeing pending refunds in the totals.
- Taking a Card Payment on Your Phone: How card payments are taken in person.
- Saved Cards: Charging a customer's saved card.
- Write-Off Flow: Clearing a balance you won't be collecting.
- Refunding a Payment Taken by Hand: Recording money you've given back for a cash, bank transfer or cheque payment.
- Editing a Role: Giving a role the Refund permission.