Applying and Returning a Customer Credit Balance

Availability: all plans

Once a customer holds credit with you, you decide what happens to it. You can put it against an invoice the customer owes, or, for money they paid in, record that you returned it. Nothing happens automatically: a deposit taken for one job never quietly settles another invoice. This guide covers both actions and how to read the balance first.

Before you start

Both actions need permission to issue refunds and credits.
Applying credit works on an invoice with an amount due that is not void. The customer must hold a balance.
Returning credit only reaches money the customer paid in. Credit you issued can be spent but not paid back as cash.

Steps: see a customer's balance

Open the customer and select the Billing tab, then Credit Balance.
The figure at the top is the full balance. If some of it is credit you issued, a line says how much can be refunded.
The history lists each movement with its Date, What, Why and Amount.

Steps: apply credit to an invoice

Open the invoice that has an amount due. When the customer holds credit, Apply Customer Credit appears.
Each source of credit is listed with its description, date, whether it is Refundable or Not refundable, and how much is available. Enter the amount to take from each source. You choose the sources; the product does not pick an order for you.
Enter Amount to apply. It can be no more than the smaller of the customer's balance and what the invoice still owes, and the source amounts must add up to it.
Select Apply credit to this invoice and confirm.

The credit reduces what the customer owes like a payment, and it does not change what the work was worth or its tax. If it covers the whole amount due, the invoice is settled and the payment method is shown as credit. If the invoice is financed by an installment plan, the credit also reduces the open installments.

Steps: record a refund of paid-in credit

Return the money to the customer yourself, for example by check or bank transfer. ServiceVisit does not send it.
Open the customer, then Billing, then Credit Balance. The Record a paid refund section appears only when part of the balance is refundable.
Fill in Date paid, Payment method, Payment reference, Reason and Amount.
Under Choose refundable sources, enter how much comes from each source so the amounts add up to the refund.
Select Record paid refund. The balance falls and the history shows Refunded to customer.

Tips

Check the Refundable label before agreeing to give money back. A deposit or an overpayment is refundable; goodwill and account credit are not.
Keep the check or bank confirmation with your records. The reference you enter is the evidence.
The date paid cannot be earlier than the date of the credit it comes from.
Your customer sees every one of these movements on their credit page, so use a clear Reason.

If something goes wrong

If Apply Customer Credit is missing, the customer has no balance, the invoice has nothing due, or it is void.
If the product says the sources do not add up, make the amounts per source equal the total you entered.
If a refund is refused for exceeding what was paid in, the request reached into credit you issued. Lower the amount to the refundable figure.
Reusing a form that was already submitted is not counted twice; open the page again to start a fresh entry.

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