Refunds

Sometimes you need to return a payment to a customer — whether a family overpaid, a class was cancelled, or a student withdrew. Conductly makes it straightforward to process refunds directly from an invoice.

Processing a Refund

To issue a refund:

1. Navigate to Billing and find the paid invoice you want to refund
2. Click on the invoice to open it
3. Click the Refund button
4. Choose whether to issue a full refund or a partial refund
5. If partial, enter the amount to refund
6. Confirm the refund

info

Refunds can only be processed on invoices that have received at least one payment. You can't refund an unpaid invoice — if the invoice hasn't been paid yet, void it instead.

Full Refunds

A full refund returns the entire payment amount to the customer. After a full refund:

• The invoice status changes to Refunded
• The full payment amount is returned to the customer's original payment method
• The refund is recorded in the invoice's payment history

When to use a full refund:

• A class or program was cancelled entirely
• The student withdrew before any lessons took place
• The invoice was charged in error

Partial Refunds

A partial refund returns only a portion of the payment. This is useful when the customer is owed some money back but not the full amount.

After a partial refund:

• If the remaining paid amount still covers the invoice total, the invoice stays Paid
• If the remaining paid amount is less than the invoice total, the invoice may move to Partially Paid
• The partial refund is recorded in the payment history

When to use a partial refund:

• A student attended some lessons before withdrawing
• You're crediting a customer for a missed lesson
• A fee needs to be reversed but tuition should remain

Example: A family paid $200 for a month of lessons but the student missed one lesson worth $50. You issue a partial refund of $50, and $150 remains paid.

tip

For small adjustments, consider applying a credit on the next invoice instead of processing a refund. This is often simpler for both you and the family. Add a negative line item on the next invoice with a description like "Credit for missed lesson."

What Happens After a Refund

Invoice Status

Scenario	Resulting Status
Full refund on a fully paid invoice	Refunded
Partial refund where remaining payments still cover the total	Paid
Partial refund where remaining payments are less than the total	Partially Paid

Payment History

Every refund is recorded in the invoice's payment history with:

• The date the refund was processed
• The refund amount
• The payment method the refund was issued to
• Who processed the refund

This creates a complete audit trail so you always know what happened with each invoice.

Customer Notification

When a refund is processed, the funds are returned to the customer's original payment method. The timeline for the funds to appear depends on the customer's bank or card issuer, but typically takes 5 to 10 business days.

note

Refunds for online card payments are returned to the same card that was charged. For manually recorded payments (cash, check), the refund is recorded in Conductly but you'll need to return the funds to the customer through your preferred method.

Refund Limitations

Keep these considerations in mind when processing refunds:

• Cannot exceed payment — The total refunded amount cannot exceed the total amount paid on the invoice
• Void vs. refund — If an invoice hasn't been paid, use Void instead of trying to refund it
• Refunds are final — Once a refund is processed, it cannot be reversed. If a refund was issued in error, you'll need to create a new invoice for the amount

warning

Double-check the refund amount before confirming. Refunds cannot be undone once processed. If you accidentally refund more than intended, you'll need to create a new invoice to collect the difference.