The following guide details recommended procedure for processing refunds in PPS based on the following scenarios:
1 - An unpaid invoice needs to be refunded and its full value removed from the account balance. See also: Bad Debt
2- A fully paid invoice needs to be refunded. The payment can be refunded or left as credit on the account as part of this process.
3- Part of an unpaid or part-paid invoice needs to be refunded and the overall balance reduced.
4. A payment currently appearing as credit on the account needs to be refunded in part or in full.
Section One - An Unpaid Invoice to be refunded in full
a. Locate your invoice via the Accounts screen, Invoices / Receipts List, or the Client log and open it by double clicking.
b. Click the Refund button the the bottom of the screen. You'll be asked if you want to credit the invoice. Raising the credit will cancel out the unpaid invoice amount, essentially removing it from the account balance. Click Yes to continue.
c. A credit will be raised in the form of an invoice with a negative value of that present on the refunded invoice. You'll be asked if you would like to print the credit note. You can do this at a later point if required by printing the negative value invoice that is raised as part of this process. The credit entry will also be present on any Statement of Account prepared.
d. Once the process is complete you'll find that you have your original invoice marked as paid and a separate invoice present of the same, but negative value which is also paid and brings the account balance down by that amount.
Section Two - A fully paid invoice to be refunded in full
a. Locate your invoice via the Accounts screen, Invoices / Receipts List, or the Client log and open it by double clicking. Click the Refund button.
b. You'll be asked if you want to refund the full-paid invoice. Click Yes to continue.
c. A negative value invoice will be raised to offset the total of the invoice being refunded.
d. You'll next be presented with an Issue Invoice screen from which you can choose to associate a payment to the negative value invoice being raised.
- If you choose Close here without entering any details then the negative value invoice will be left unpaid and the total of the refunded invoice will appear as credit on the account.
- If you have refunded the client's payment then enter the details of that refunded payment here, including the date and method and choose Close. The invoice will be refunded and no credit will be added to the client's account.
Section Three - Partial Refunds
a. Using the Refund button in the invoice screen can only refund the full balance of an invoice. If the balance of an unpaid or part-paid invoice needs to be reduced with a partial refund then open the invoice and choose the Charges button to Create a New Charge to Add. Create a negative value charge to bring the invoice balance down by the desired amount.
Section Four - Refunding in part or in full a payment currently appearing as credit on account
a. Navigate to the relevant account screen and choose the New icon in the top menu. Select Record a Payment.
b. Enter the refund details including the date, payment method, and amount being refunded in negative value. E.g. if the refund was to the value of £30 then enter -30. Save the payment.
c. The account balance should now be correct but you will have the two payments on record as being unallocated. If you'd like to you can allocate these payments to another invoice on this account in order to have them show as allocated. You can also add a specific term to the payment details such as "REFUND" for any payments you'll like to later specifically report on or exclude from your accounts reports using the Payment Details criteria.