# Disputes and returned payments

> How to record a card dispute and its outcome, how a bounced check or a returned bank debit takes a payment off an invoice, and who can do it.

Source: https://support.billingmart.com/payments/disputes-and-returns
Updated: 2026-10-17 · Applies to: Web, iPhone, Android · Section: Payments & payment links

Sometimes money you were paid is taken back. A customer's bank can dispute a card charge. A check can bounce. A bank debit can be returned days after it looked good. In each case an owner or an admin records it on the payment, and the invoice shows what is owed again. BillingMart does not learn about a card dispute by itself. The notice comes to you from your processor, and you record it.

## Who can do this

Only owners and admins. Recording a dispute, marking its outcome and marking a payment returned all need a recent sign-in and a second step. This is stricter than a refund: an account without a second step is not let through, and is walked through turning one on in a window before the action runs. No screen asks you to type an amount. The amount is always the payment's own, less anything already refunded.

## A card dispute

A dispute can be recorded on a paid card payment that belongs to an invoice. A payment taken through a payment link cannot be disputed here, and neither can one that is refunded in full. A payment can carry only one dispute.

1. Open the payment from **Payments**.
2. Select **Record dispute**.
3. Say what the notice from the bank says, then select **Record dispute**.

Nothing moves. There is no ledger entry and the invoice keeps its status. The invoice gets a **Disputed** badge beside its status. The payment page shows a **Disputed** section with the amount at stake, the reason and who recorded it.

While a dispute is open, the payment cannot be voided or refunded. Resolve the dispute first. Otherwise you could pay the customer back twice.

BillingMart records the outcome. You answer the bank through your processor, not here.

### When you win

Select **Dispute won**, write a short note (at least three characters), and select **Mark won**. You keep the payment. Nothing moves and the badge goes away.

### When you lose

Select **Dispute lost**, add a note, and select **Post chargeback**. This is what changes money:

- the payment becomes **Returned**
- a **Chargeback (dispute lost)** entry is added to the ledger
- the invoice owes the amount again and leaves **Paid**
- the card fee the customer paid is taken back with it

A lost dispute is recorded as soon as you post it. BillingMart can switch this step off for every workspace. If it has, you are told that recording a lost dispute is not switched on yet, nothing changes and the dispute stays open.

> **Note:** The phone apps can record a dispute, mark it won and mark a payment returned. Posting a chargeback is web only.

## A bounced check or a reversed transfer

For a check, cash or bank-transfer payment that you recorded yourself (a payment recorded as "other" cannot be marked returned):

1. Open the payment and select **Mark returned**.
2. Say why, then select **Mark returned**.

The payment becomes **Returned**, the ledger shows **Returned (check)** or the matching word, and the invoice owes the amount again. It moves to **Sent**, **Overdue** or **Partially paid**, depending on what else was paid. Your customer is not emailed about a return.

## Returned bank debits

If your workspace ever took bank-account (ACH) payments, they can be returned. BillingMart asks the gateway once a day, because there are no webhooks. A return can show up days after the payment looked good. When one does, the payment becomes **Returned** with its return code, the ledger gets a **Bank return** entry, and the invoice leaves **Paid**. You do not have to do anything.

If you had already refunded part of the payment, the invoice owes the full amount again. The part you refunded is flagged as paid out twice. The reconciliation report lists it. Recover that money from the payer outside BillingMart. The report is available through the API and connected assistants, not in the console.

## What a return never does

It does not delete anything. The original payment stays in the ledger and the return is a new entry beside it. To see the history, open the payment and read its **Timeline and notes**.