b. How to Refund an Invoice Either Fully or Partially
Someone paid an invoice but you need to reimburse it for any given reason? TUIO lets you do so with the click of a button.
Refund the Invoice in Full
Go to your Invoices tab, locate the invoice you want to refund (use the search bar at the top to filter results), then click on the invoice name (hyperlinked green text) to enter the invoice screen. In order to be refunded, the Invoice must be:
- 'Paid' status
- At least 24 hours elapsed since the transaction completed as Paid
On the next screen, you will see a Refund button at the bottom. Click it and refund the invoice by entering the full amount and clicking Refund.
Refund the Invoice by a Partial Amount
Go to your Invoices tab, locate the invoice you want to refund (use the search bar at the top to filter results), then click on the invoice name (hyperlinked green text) to enter the invoice screen. The Invoice must be 'Paid' status in order to be refunded.
On the next screen, you will see a Refund button at the bottom. First click it and then enter the partial amount (note that the amount refunded cannot exceed the invoice amount), then click Refund to initiate.
Note 1: Bank account payments can fail in the late stages after their status updates as 'Paid'. For that reason, the system will not allow a bank account refund until 5 business days have passed from the transaction date. This helps to ensure that you won't be out of pocket on the refund amount if the payment is 'Returned' in the late stages after the refund has been processed.
Note 2: If you receive an error when you process a bank account refund please contact [email protected] to request to update your account configuration with the processor.
Note 3: If the invoice was paid by direct debit or card, the funds will be returned to the sender's payment method directly in 1-5 business days. If the invoice was paid by cash or cheque, you will need to refund the parent externally and record the refund on TUIO.
Issuing offline refunds for credit card payments is a violation of card scheme regulations, so this should be avoided whenever possible. Please contact [email protected] for assistance if the Refund button is disabled for a credit card payment. Further, in the case of payment disputes the customer may be able to claim a duplicate refund if the refund was issued offline, so online refunds are the best practice.
Note 4: Payment processors and banks charge transaction fees when a payment is processed. Refunding said payment does not affect the transaction fees already charged, so banks and credit card companies do not refund those fees. This is an industry-wide standard, not a TUIO policy.
To avoid being out-of-pocket on these fees, you are always able to use the partial refund feature to refund the amount less the fees you have incurred. The amounts of fees incurred can be found easily in the Excel export, or by reviewing the invoice breakdown on the invoice details page.