Refunding a payment

Open the invoice or household payment history, then choose the correction that matches the payment.

• Use a payment refund for eligible program, event, shop, rental, or other refundable payments.

• Use an account credit to correct dues.

• Use the check run for bond or initiation refunds.

Review the invoice type, payment amount, and previous credits before confirming. The amount shown beside a payment's refund box is what can still go back: the payment less refunds already made or on their way, and less any account credit already given back from that invoice (that credit still counts after the household uses it, gets it back from a cancelled bill, or has it paid out by check). If a cancellation already returned the whole amount as credit, no refund is offered. A refund changes the payment record and can reopen an invoice. Tell the household what they will receive and where it will appear. See Invoices, payments, and credits.

A paid invoice shows a balance of $0.00 in the invoice list, and in the API and connected tools, even after part of its payment is refunded. The refund appears on the payment; it is not shown as an amount the household owes.

A connected AI tool can start a payment refund too, but it always waits for your approval on the website before anything is refunded.

Sometimes the connection to Stripe drops before we hear back. When that happens you will see a message saying the refund could not be confirmed.

Do not send it again. The refund may already be on its way, and sending a second one would send the household the money twice. The amount stays counted against the payment, so a second attempt today is refused on purpose.

Overnight, Swim Ops syncs with Stripe and records the refund if it went through. Look at the payment the next morning: if the refund is there, you are done; if it is not, start a new refund then.

A message that says the refund failed is different — Stripe turned it down and nothing was sent, so you can safely try again straight away.

If a refund you started on a shop order's payment hasn't finished yet, the order can't be cancelled until it does. Once the refund goes through, cancelling puts back only what is left as account credit; if the refund failed, it puts back the full amount. The household is never paid back twice.

It works the other way round too. Once an order has been cancelled and its money put back as account credit, a refund on its payment is refused, and the message says the money already went back as credit. If only part of it went back as credit (a camp cancellation's credit, for example), you can refund at most the rest. For a camper who moved to a different week, the first invoice and any top-up invoice count together, so it doesn't matter which of them the money or the credit is on. A refund that was waiting for approval when the order was cancelled can no longer be approved; ask again if one is still needed.

Camp cancellations, moves to a cheaper week and lottery credits count a refund that is still on its way as money already sent back, so the family isn't paid twice. If such a refund later fails, you get a task: the family may now be owed the difference. Open the camp registration, compare what they were given back with what the schedule allows, and give the difference as an account credit (or send the refund again). Then close the task.

If a second payment lands on an invoice that was already paid in full (for example, autopay collected from the bank account while the member was also paying by card), you get a task called A second payment arrived on an invoice that was already paid. It names the invoice and the amount, and says how to give the money back: a refund from the invoice, or account credit for dues. Check with the household first, then close the task.

Approving a notice to leave can add a refund check to Check run for dues the household already paid. If the bill was paid in part, approving cancels it; if it was paid in full, it stays paid. If the bank later takes that payment back (a dispute, or a bank payment returned after it cleared), the club no longer has that money. A cancelled bill stays cancelled and the household owes nothing more; a bill paid in full shows as open again. You get a task that depends on where the refund check is. It names the invoice, the amount taken back and the check:

• The check is still waiting in Check run. The task is Stop a refund check: the bank took the money back. Void the check in Check run. Any account credit that was in it goes back on the household's account. If the check was for more than the amount taken back, contact Swim Ops support so the household still gets the difference (Check run can void a check but not change its amount).

• The check was mailed. The task is A refund check was mailed, but the bank took the money back. Ask your bank to stop payment on it. If your bank stops it, contact Swim Ops support so the check is cancelled in Check run (Check run can't void a check once it is marked sent), any account credit in it goes back on the household's account, and the household still gets any difference. If the check was cashed before the bank could stop it, contact the household about returning the money they were paid twice.

• The check was cashed. The task is A refund check was cashed, but the bank took the money back. The household has both the refund and the money the bank took back. Contact the household about returning the money they were paid twice.

• The check was voided. On a cancelled bill, the task is The bank took back money on a cancelled bill and says nothing needs to be stopped. On a bill paid in full, there is no task.

Then close the task. A refund check that holds only account credit (the club kept all the dues) is not that bill's money: on a bill paid in full it opens no task.

If a cancelled bill has no dues refund check from a notice to leave (for example, the club kept all the dues), the task is The bank took back money on a cancelled bill. If a refund check for that bill is still waiting in Check run (its memo names the invoice), void it before it is mailed; if the check was for more than the amount taken back, contact Swim Ops support so the household still gets the difference. If it was already mailed, ask your bank to stop payment on it and contact Swim Ops support. If it was already cashed, contact the household about returning the money. Then close the task.

The household's email about a reversal on a cancelled bill says the bill had already been cancelled, so nothing is owed on it. It does not ask them to pay again.

If the club then wins the dispute

The bank gives the money back to the club. A bill paid in full is paid again; a cancelled bill stays cancelled. You get a task called The bank gave back money on a bill with a refund check, which again depends on where the check is:

• Still waiting in Check run: it goes out as approved. Nothing more is needed.

• Voided: the household has not received the refund that was approved. Decide whether it should still get it. If so, contact Swim Ops support to send it. If the club keeps it, nothing more is needed.

• Marked as mailed: if your bank stopped payment on it, the household has not received the refund that was approved: contact Swim Ops support to send it. If the check was not stopped, nothing more is needed.

• Cashed: the household already has its refund. If the household paid the club back after the bank took the money, the club now has that money twice: contact Swim Ops support to return it to the household. Otherwise nothing more is needed.

Then close the task. On a cancelled bill with no dues refund check, the task is The bank gave back money on a cancelled bill. Decide whether to give the money back to the household or keep it. If a refund check for that bill was already mailed, the household already has this money, so keep it: giving it back again would pay them twice.

When a household canceled a caregiver pass, a rental or a program registration, and the payment on it then fails, is returned by the bank, is disputed and lost, bounces, or covers only part of the bill, the bill is canceled automatically instead of opening again. What was paid stays paid, and the household isn't sent a reminder or a "please pay" email. The treasurer gets one note:

• Nothing was paid: there is nothing to do.

• Part was paid: refund that part from the invoice, or issue an account credit.

• The bank took back a payment that had already gone through (a return, a lost dispute, or a check that bounced after clearing): the household has that money back, so don't refund or credit it. If you already did, the household was paid back twice, so contact them. Close the earlier task that asked you to refund it.

If account credit was used on that invoice, the bill can't be canceled automatically: the note asks you to void it, and to refund or credit anything that was paid.

If a household sends only part of a bank transfer, the invoice waits for the rest for a while (30 days, or your club's own wait for bank transfers if that is longer). Then it opens again, so reminders and late fees apply as usual, and you get a task saying how much arrived. Automatic payments won't take it while the transfer is still open. The transfer itself stays open: if the household sends the rest, the invoice is marked paid on its own. If they won't, cancel the payment in your Stripe dashboard. The part already received goes back to the household's balance in Stripe, and you can return it to them from there.

If the household had canceled what the invoice was for (a caregiver pass, a rental or a program registration), the invoice is canceled instead of opening again, and you get one task saying how much arrived and to cancel the payment in Stripe so that part can go back to them.