Refunding payments from booking invoices

Quickly process full or partial refunds directly from a Booking Invoice. Use this feature to return funds accurately through the same payment method used for the original transaction - while keeping your financial records and booking statuses up to date.

Learn how to refund full or partial payments, including credit card, POS, and gift certificate payments, send email refund notifications, and show notes on the Customer invoice.

New to the Booking Invoice? Read the first article in this series for an introduction to the Booking Invoice.

Accessing the features mentioned in this article

Where can I find this feature using the top menu?

• Click an active Booking ID anywhere in the system. For example, open the Booking Invoice from the Booking Index report (Reports > Booking Index > Booking ID > Booking Invoice > Transactions > Refund). 

• You can also enter the Booking ID in the Search field found in the main menu to bring up the Booking Invoice.
   

What more do I need to use this feature?

• Admin or restricted permissions to Bookings and Payments.
   

Which Checkfront version supports this feature - classic items, classic products, or both?

• This feature is available in both our classic version, which uses classic items (Inventory > Items), and our classic version, which uses classic products (Inventory > Products).  → Learn more about products

How do I process a refund? For simple, step-by-step instructions on processing a refund, see the following article: How do I refund a booking payment?

1. Open the Booking Invoice.
2. Scroll to the Transactions section.
3. Click Refund beside the payment you want to refund.
4. In the Refund modal, review and adjust:
   • Amount — defaults to the full payment amount; you can reduce it for a partial refund.
   • Notes — record internal or customer-facing comments.
   • Show note to customer — share an explanation on the Customer invoice (optional).
5. Click Submit Refund to process the transaction.

Find detailed instructions below.

Click the red Refund button beside the transaction to start the refund process. 

The Refund modal opens with the full amount of the invoice pre-populated in the refund amount field.

Refunding payments How do I refund a partial payment? To refund a partial payment, you must adjust the Refund Amount by typing the partial amount into the field provided. You also need to change the status manually to cancel the booking.     Can I process a refund to another card other than the one used for payment? No, a refund to a different card is not possible. Instead, you must contact your payment provider to process a refund to another card. Once completed, you can apply a POS refund to the booking to reconcile the external refund.   Is it possible to edit/modify a refund? No, not at this time.

The following steps in the refund process depend on the original payment type of the transaction. You can learn more below.

When refunding a credit card payment, the system presents the option to refund to that card.

You can also choose from a list of POS types (e.g., POS—Cash, POS—Visa, POS—Debit) and other non-credit card types (Check/Cheque, Bank Transfer, Gift Certificate). Below, we look at the option to refund gift certificates in the Checkfront system.

The type dropdown menu lists the POS types that you can refund. These types have been added in the Ecommerce Settings area (Manage > Ecommerce Setup > Settings).

These other types allow you to make a credit note for accounting and other reference purposes, but you must handle the payment outside the Checkfront system.

Refund periods Payment providers limit the period you can process a refund transaction, for example, up to one year after the original transaction date. Please contact your payment provider to determine the refund window. If you miss the window, they can instruct you to process a refund through your merchant account. Alternatively, you can refund the Customer using a more traditional method, such as cash or check/cheque. If you process the refund outside of Checkfront, you can enter a POS-type refund through Checkfront to have a record of the refund. Most Operators have a refund policy that states the refund window, e.g., 90 days. This policy sets expectations for the Customer.

How do I process refunds for past payments if I change my Payment Provider? You cannot refund payments you processed through a different Payment Provider. You need to process the refund directly from the Payment Provider's dashboard and then enter the refund as a POS type in Checkfront to have a record of the refund.

When refunding a POS payment, you have the option to refund to the same POS payment type or to a list of other POS payment types (e.g., POS—Cash, POS—Visa, POS—Debit...) or other payment types (Cheque/Check, Bank Transfer). We look at the option to refund to gift certificates in the Checkfront system below.

The type dropdown menu lists the POS types that you can refund. These types have been added in the Ecommerce Settings area (Manage > Ecommerce Setup > Settings).

These types allow you to make a credit note for accounting and other reference purposes, where you have handled the payment outside the Checkfront system.

Applying a POS payment When a POS payment is applied, the Payment Provider column in a booking invoice's Transactions tab lists the provider as None.

For those on plans that support our Gift Certificates feature (Pro, Plus, Enterprise, and Flex) and that have the Gift Certificate feature enabled (Manage > Integrations > Sales), you have the option to provide a refund in the form of a gift certificate.

To do this, select the Gift Certificate option from the Payment Type setting at the top of the refund window.  

Does the Customer already have a gift certificate with your business? Then, you can automatically input the gift certificate code in the Search field provided for the gift certificate. The gift certificate then loads into the form provided. You can leave the GCN Code field blank to generate a new gift certificate.

The Balance displays the current amount on the gift certificate before the refund. The New Balance is the Refund Amount added to the Balance.

Include the name of the gift certificate recipient (To) and who it is From, if not already populated.

The Recipient Email address is required. You can send an email notification to this address if you choose to do so using the Send e-mail notifications option.

If entered, the system displays the custom Gift Certificate Message within the PDF gift certificate attached to the notification email.

Edit the Valid From and Expires Date as needed. You have the option to have the gift certificate Never expire.

I have refunded to a Gift Certificate, but the Customer would prefer a refund to their credit card. What do I do? Once you have applied a refund against a booking payment, you cannot refund that value again or change the refund type from within Checkfront. You must first Void the gift certificate and then refund directly through your payment provider. To void a gift certificate: Go to Inventory in the top menu, then Gift Certificates. From the Issued list, click on the ID to edit the gift certificate. Click on the Void button at the top-right of the Edit Gift Certificate page.

Learn more about gift certificates For a detailed look at gift certificates, check out the following article: Introduction to gift certificates Also, for simple, step-by-step instructions on processing a refund to a gift card, see the following article: How do I refund to a Gift Certificate?

When you refund the payment, you can send an e-mail notification. The system bases the notification sent on the booking status after the refund.

• Processing a full refund? The invoice status changes to Cancelled, and a Cancellation notification is sent to the Customer, including a copy of the invoice with the full refund applied.
• Processing a partial refund? The invoice status changes to Deposit. A Deposit Received notification is sent to the Customer, including a copy of the invoice showing the partial refund applied.

How do I fully refund the Customer but not cancel the booking? Staff can choose not to send the email notification when refunding the payment so that the Customer does not get the Cancelled notification. After the refund is processed, the Staff member can then change the booking status to the desired status, such as back to Paid or custom status. When making the final status change, the Staff member can again choose to notify the Customer by email or not.   How do I partially refund a Customer and cancel the booking? Staff can choose not to send an email notification when partially refunding the payment so that the Customer does not get the Deposit notification. After processing the refund, the Staff member can then change the booking status to Cancelled. When making the final status change, the Staff member can again choose to notify the Customer by email or not.

Learn more about email notifications For a detailed look at email notifications, check out the following series of articles: Introduction to email notifications

Click the option to Show note on Customer invoice if you have entered a note under the Refund Notes section and would like it to display to the Customer.

When ready, click the blue Refund button at the bottom to complete the refund transaction!

Next Steps

The following article in this series looks at cancelling or voiding bookings via the Booking Invoice.

< Adding payments to booking invoices     |     Cancelling or voiding bookings via booking invoices >