Activity Messenger Help Center

Refunds, credits and cancellations

Three different operations adjust a client's invoice. Cancel ends a purchase and credits it. Credit lowers the price of a purchase that stays active. Create a refund returns money that was paid. They are separate steps: cancelling or crediting never sends money back by itself, and a refund never cancels a registration by itself.

This guide covers the invoice buttons under E-Commerce → Invoices. The same buttons appear on invoices opened from the client account and on Point of Sale invoices. For the full invoice page, see Invoices and client billing.

Before you start

Open E-Commerce → Invoices and click the invoice. Review the items, the balance, the payment receipts under the items, and any earlier credits or refunds.

Each operation needs its own permission. Account Owners always have all three. For an Admin or an Attendant, an Account Owner turns them on in the permission editor of Users and permissions:

• Can cancel invoices for the Cancel button.
• Can credit invoices for the Credit button, Apply credit, bulk credits and the Credit entry in the + Item menu.
• Can refund for Create a refund beside a payment receipt and for the invoice-level Create a refund button.

Each permission is off until an Account Owner turns it on. A user without the permission sees the button but gets a message such as You do not have the required permission to refund. See Invite users and manage their access.

Choose the right operation

For a paid purchase, the usual order is Cancel (or Credit), then Create a refund on the payment receipt. A standalone refund without a cancellation or credit leaves the purchase charged, so the invoice becomes payable again.

Cancel a purchase

Cancel is available while the invoice still has at least one item that is not cancelled.

1. Click Cancel at the bottom of the invoice. The window is titled Cancel and credit and shows the invoice number. The instruction reads Select items to cancel and credit.
2. Tick the items to cancel. The checkbox at the top selects them all. Without Can cancel invoices, you can still tick items that cost $0; the window says You do not have the required permission to cancel. You can however cancel items at $0.
3. For a product with a quantity above 1, an Original quantity is shown and you can enter how many units to cancel. The rest of the quantity stays on the invoice. Other items are cancelled whole.
4. For a booking that spans several dates, Select events to cancel lists each date with its own checkbox and a Select all option. Tick only the dates to cancel.
5. Enter the Credit for each ticked item as a negative amount before exclusive taxes. Two shortcuts sit under the field: the full item amount, and, when it is different, the item's remaining balance before taxes. The window rejects a credit larger than the item amount: Please correct the credit amounts. They cannot exceed the item total amount.
6. Optionally write an Admin note. It is visible only to administrators.
7. If an item renews on a recurring schedule, Cancel recurring also stops the recurrence. Leave it unticked to keep future renewals.
8. Tick Send receipt to client by email to email the cancellation. The box is unavailable when the invoice has no client.
9. Click Apply. The summary above the button reads Cancel the selected item. or Cancel the :count selected items.

Activity Messenger creates a cancellation invoice that lists the cancelled items with their credits. The original invoice keeps the items, marked as cancelled. When the balance drops to zero or below, scheduled and pending payments on the invoice are removed.

The note in the window says it: This will cancel and credit those purchases. You can refund them afterwards by using the "Create a refund" button on the associated payment(s). To keep a cancellation fee, credit less than the full amount: credit $80 on a $100 item to keep $20, then refund $80.

What a cancellation changes

• Classes and events: the participant is removed from the class attendance list. Past attendance already recorded stays. A tied ticket is deleted. See Attendance tracking.
• Bookings: the reservation is cancelled on the calendar. A shared booking is never deleted. See Manage daily bookings and availability.
• Memberships: the member is removed from the membership. With Cancel recurring, the recurring renewal is also cancelled. See Membership.
• Products: the cancelled quantity is returned to inventory.
• Coupons used on the item: the coupon is released so the client can use it again.
• Gift cards bought on the invoice: the gift card is cancelled.
• Reports: the cancelled items and their credits appear on the cancellation invoice. Returning money is a separate refund receipt, so a cancellation alone does not show as money out in the payments reports.

Credit an item that stays active

Credit is available while the invoice has an item that is not cancelled and has a total above zero.

1. Click Credit at the bottom of the invoice. The window is titled Credit and reads Select items and type in amounts to credit. A credit will reduce the balance of the item. Without Can credit invoices, the items cannot be ticked and the window says You do not have the required permission to credit invoice items.
2. Tick the items and enter each Credit as a negative amount before exclusive taxes, with the same two shortcuts as the cancellation window.
3. Optionally add an Admin note and tick Send receipt to client by email.
4. Click Apply.

Each credit is added to the same invoice as a custom credit line with the item's name, ledger code and taxes. The purchase, registration or booking stays active. On an unpaid invoice, the balance goes down. On a paid invoice, the balance goes below zero and the invoice-level button changes from Make a payment to Create a refund.

You can also add a free-form credit: open the + Item menu, choose Credit, enter the Item name, a negative Amount, the Taxes and the Ledger code, then click Create.

Apply a credit to another item on the same invoice

A credit line with a remaining negative balance shows Credit and the amount under the item, with an Apply button when another item on the invoice still has a balance to pay.

1. Click Apply. The window is titled Apply credit.
2. Tick the items to pay and enter the amount for each. The footer shows Available credit, Apply credit and Remaining credit.
3. Optionally add an Admin note, tick Send receipt to client by email, then click Apply.

The applied amount is recorded as a payment of type credit on the invoice. Activity Messenger does not move a credit from one invoice to another invoice. To carry a credit forward to a later purchase, issue a gift card or a coupon instead.

Keep the credit for later: gift card or coupon

When the invoice balance is below zero, two buttons appear:

• Issue a gift card opens a window that reads Issue a gift card from the $:amount available credit on this invoice. Enter a Name, the Amount up to the available credit and the Ledger code, then click Issue. The gift card is usable as a payment method on a future purchase. See Gift cards.
• Issue a coupon appears when a credited item can be turned into a coupon. Choose the Item, the Quantity, the Amount and Expires at, then click Issue.

Both windows have an Admin note and Send receipt to client by email.

Credit several invoices at once

You can credit many invoices in one step from the invoice list. This works per invoice, not per client account: each selected invoice receives its own credit.

1. On E-Commerce → Invoices, filter the list and tick the invoices.
2. Open Actions and choose Apply credit. The window is titled Bulk credit invoices. The option needs Can credit invoices.
3. Choose the Credit type: Full credit credits every eligible item in full, Fixed amount credits up to that amount per invoice, and Percentage credits that share of the eligible items.
4. Optionally add an Admin note and tick Send receipt to client by email.
5. Check the Summary table, which lists each invoice, its client, the number of eligible items and the credit. The line under it reads :count invoices will be credited for :amount. Invoices with nothing left to credit are skipped and counted in :count selected invoices have no eligible items.
6. Click Apply credit and confirm Apply :amount in credits to :count invoices?

Only finalized invoices with items that still have an amount to credit are eligible. Cancelled items and earlier credits are left out of the eligible amount. The bulk credit does not refund any money.

Refund a payment

Refunds start from the payment receipt, so a refund always matches a payment that was made.

1. Under the invoice items, find the Payment receipt to refund and click the green Create a refund beside it. The button appears while the receipt still has a refundable amount.
2. The window is titled Refund and lists the items paid on that receipt. Tick the items and enter the amount to refund for each. The window rejects more than was paid: Please correct the refund amounts. They cannot exceed the amount paid.
3. Optionally write an Admin note (administrators only) and an Admin note to client, which the client sees on the receipt.
4. Tick Send receipt to client by email to send the refund receipt.
5. In Refund to, choose where the money goes. See the next section.
6. Click Refund. The receipt list now shows a Refund receipt with a negative amount.

For a full refund of a paid purchase, cancel or credit the items first, then refund the payment. The invoice-level Create a refund button, shown when the balance is below zero, opens the Refund to list too, but with the card options disabled. Its note reads To refund to credit card on Stripe, please click on the green button "Create a refund" next to an existing payment.

Refund by payment method

The Refund to list depends on the original payment and on the payment methods your organization has enabled.

A card refund can only go back to the card that paid: the list never offers Stripe for a payment that was not made through Stripe, nor Moneris for a payment that was not made through Moneris. A payment that was part of a Stripe group charge can only be refunded to its original method.

Bill fractional hours on a custom item

A custom invoice item has a Price and a whole-number Quantity of at least 1. You cannot enter 1.5 as a quantity. To bill 1.5 hours at $40, enter a quantity of 1 and a price of $60, and name the item so the client sees the detail, for example "Private lesson, 1.5 hours". Alternatively, bill in smaller whole units, such as 3 half-hours at $20.

What the client sees and receives

• With Send receipt to client by email ticked, a cancellation sends an email titled Cancellation with the cancellation invoice attached. Its default text reads Please find attached your cancellation invoice and refund (if applicable). A credit uses your Purchase credit template and a refund uses your Purchase refund template; both can be customized under your templates. See Customize SMS/email templates and merge fields.
• The invoice PDF lists the cancelled items and credit lines. The client's Refund receipt shows the refund method and your Admin note to client. A gift card refund adds the card and its instructions to the receipt sent by email.
• In their client account, the client sees the updated invoice balance and receipts, and any gift card issued to them.
• To give a client one document covering several invoices after adjustments, create an account statement or an invoice summary. The summary shows credits with the invoices and lists refunds separately.

Settings reference

Common questions

Does cancelling a registration refund the client? No. Cancel cancels the items and records a credit; no money moves. Refund the payment afterwards with Create a refund beside the payment receipt. See Cancel a purchase and Refund a payment.

How do I refund only part of an invoice? Credit the item for the part you are giving back, then click Create a refund on the payment receipt and enter that amount. The rest of the purchase stays active and paid. See Credit an item that stays active.

How do I keep a cancellation fee? In the Cancel and credit window, enter a credit smaller than the item amount, for example $80 on a $100 item, then refund $80. The $20 stays charged on the invoice. See Cancel a purchase.

Does an Interac e-Transfer or cash refund send the money? No. Choosing Interac e-Transfer (by email), Cash, Check or Other in Refund to only records the refund receipt. Send the money yourself. Only Credit card (Stripe), Stripe bank transfers, Credit card (Moneris) and Interac present (Stripe) are processed by the payment processor. See Refund by payment method.

Can I refund to a different card than the one used? No. A Stripe refund always returns to the original charge, and the Refund to list only offers Stripe when the payment was made through Stripe. Use an offline method or a gift card for anything else.

Can I apply a client's credit to another invoice? Not directly. Apply only pays items on the same invoice. To carry a credit forward, click Issue a gift card on the invoice with the negative balance, or Issue a coupon from the credited item. See Keep the credit for later.

Can I credit many clients at once? Yes, per invoice. On E-Commerce → Invoices, tick the invoices, then choose Actions › Apply credit. Each selected invoice receives its own credit. See Credit several invoices at once.

Why can't I enter a quantity of 1.5? Custom item quantities are whole numbers. Put the total in the Price with a quantity of 1, or bill in smaller whole units. See Bill fractional hours on a custom item.

What does the client receive? Only what you tick: Send receipt to client by email sends the cancellation invoice, credit receipt or refund receipt. A gift card refund is attached to the refund receipt email. See What the client sees and receives.

Does the participant disappear from attendance when I cancel? Yes. Cancelling a class item removes the participant from the attendance list and keeps the attendance already recorded for past dates. See What a cancellation changes.

Related guides

• Invoices and client billing
• Payment methods
• Gift cards
• Point of Sale (POS)
• Invoice summaries
• Account statements
• Switch a participant to another class from an invoice
• Invite users and manage their access
• Pre-authorized debit batches (AFT) in Canada