Refund or void a payment

To give a customer's money back, open the payment and choose Void or Refund. A void cancels a card payment before it has settled. A refund returns money after it has settled, all of it or part of it. Only owners and admins can do either, and you are asked to confirm it's you first.

Void or refund

	Void	Refund
When	Before the payment settles	After the payment settles
How much	All of it	All or part of it
Card fee the customer paid	Goes back with the payment	Is not returned
Customer is emailed	No	Yes, with a receipt that shows the refund

The Void button shows while a payment is Authorized, or Paid and without a Settled date on its page. The Refund button shows on a Paid payment with something left to refund. Both work on card payments and on older bank-account (ACH) payments. If you refund a payment that has not settled yet, the gateway may refuse, and then nothing changes. The message says to refund it once the payment has settled. A partly refunded payment cannot be voided, even though the button is still drawn. Refund the rest instead.

Before you start

Before you start: You need to be an owner or an admin. Staff can see a payment and send its receipt again, but cannot void or refund it.

Every void and refund needs a recent sign-in. If yours is older, a Confirm it's you window opens, where you choose how long the confirmation lasts. Confirm, and the action runs.

It also needs a second step. If your account has one, you are asked for the code. If it has none, BillingMart may let the action through for now and notes that your account would be refused once two-step verification is required. After that, an account without one is walked through turning it on in a window, and then the action runs.

Refund a payment

1. Open Payments, then select the payment's date to open its page. You can also use the buttons in the list.
2. Select Refund.
3. Read Refundable. This is the amount minus anything already refunded.
4. Leave Amount empty to refund everything that is left. Or type a smaller amount for a partial refund.
5. Write a Reason, at least three characters. Then select Refund.

You see "Refund submitted". Pressing the button twice does not refund twice. If the gateway declines, the window says so and nothing changes.

Void a payment

1. Open the payment and select Void.
2. Write a reason, at least three characters, and select Void payment.

What happens next

• The payment. A full refund moves it to Refunded. A partial refund leaves it Paid with a Refunded amount. A void moves it to Void.
• The invoice. Voiding an authorization that was never captured changes nothing on the invoice. Otherwise the amount comes off what was paid. With nothing else paid, the invoice goes back to Sent. If part is still paid, it shows Partially paid. An invoice that was already Overdue stays Overdue.
• The books. The ledger is never edited. A refund adds a Refund issued entry. Voiding a payment that was paid adds a Payment voided entry and takes the card fee back. Voiding a mere authorization adds no entry. Entries show on the payment's page.
• Your customer. A refund sends an email with the updated receipt attached. It goes to the client's verified email only. A payment taken through a payment link has no invoice, so it gets no refund email. A void sends nothing.

When it does not go through

• Open dispute. A payment with an open card dispute cannot be voided or refunded until the dispute is resolved.
• The processor does not answer. The payment is held and shows Refund not confirmed or Void not confirmed. Do not repeat it. See Settlement and daily reconciliation.
• Recorded by hand. Cash, check and bank-transfer payments you recorded yourself have no card to reverse, so they have no Void or Refund button.

To lower a balance that is not yet paid, use a credit note. See Credit notes and adjustments.