There are two ways to refund an Invoice in TutorCruncher. You can issue a Credit Note to refund the whole Invoice, or issue a partial refund to keep some lessons or charges and remove the rest. Both are explained below.
Refunding a whole Invoice with a Credit Note
To refund a paid Invoice:
Navigate to the Invoice.
Click 'Issue Credit Note/Refund'.
In the Credit Note panel, provide a description and select the reason for the refund.
An example of where to locate the "Issue Credit Note/Refund" button on a paid Invoice.
Choose whether to refund the payment or leave the amount as credit on the Client's account.
Refund Payment option highlighted.
Note: A refund issued through a Credit Note is returned using the same method the original payment was made. If the original payment was made through Stripe, the refund is processed automatically; for other methods it is processed manually. To refund only part of an Invoice rather than the whole amount, use a partial refund instead (see below).
Issuing a partial refund
A partial refund allows you to refund some of an Invoice while keeping the rest. Instead of voiding the whole Invoice and re-billing the remaining lessons by hand, you choose how much to keep on each line and TutorCruncher does the rest in one step.
When you issue a partial refund, TutorCruncher voids the original Invoice with a Credit Note and automatically raises a new Invoice containing only the lines you kept, at the amounts you set. The voided Invoice and the new one are linked on screen, so the full history stays visible.
To issue a partial refund:
Head to the raised or paid Invoice you want to refund.
Click 'Adjust/Refund Invoice'. A panel opens listing every line on the Invoice. Each lesson shows the subject, the student, the lesson date and length, and the current amount. Ad hoc charges show their category and amount.
For each line, enter the amount you want to keep. To remove a line completely, set it to 0. Amounts cannot be negative.
As you type, the summary updates to show the current Invoice total, the new total, and the amount being refunded.
Click submit. TutorCruncher voids the original Invoice with a Credit Note and raises a new Invoice with the lines you kept. A spinner shows progress, then takes you to the new Invoice when it is ready.
Outlining the Adjust/Refund Invoice button on an Invoice.
Partially refunding £50.00 from a £100.00 Invoice.
Note: The original Invoice is always voided in full and replaced by a new one, so the new Invoice has its own number. The voided original shows the Credit Note and links to its replacement under 'Superseded by', and the new Invoice links back to the original under 'Supersedes'.
Refunding the full amount
If you set every line to 0, the Invoice is voided in full with a Credit Note and no new Invoice is raised. You stay on the voided Invoice.
Paid Invoices and where the money goes
If the Invoice has already been paid, the amount you refund is added to the Client's TutorCruncher Balance as credit, ready to apply to a future Invoice. You can see this on the Client's Accounting tab.
Note: A partial refund does not send money back to the Client's card. Any overpayment is held as credit on the Client's Balance. If you need to return the money to the original payment method, you will need to handle that separately for now. Returning the surplus to the card automatically is planned for a later release.
Refunding a re-issued Invoice
You can refund a re-issued Invoice again if you need to. Each refund links to the one before it, so the chain of Invoices stays connected and easy to follow.
More than one student or Client
If a lesson is shared between students of different Clients, or your branch bills each student on a separate Invoice, each Invoice is refunded on its own. Refunding one Invoice leaves the others untouched.
What a partial refund does not change
A partial refund only adjusts what the Client is charged. Tutor pay is not affected. Any linked Payment Order is left as it is, whether it is still in draft, already raised, or already paid.
Invoice types that are not supported yet
Partial refunds are not yet available on a few Invoice types that also move tutor money:
Employment Agency Invoices
Split payment Invoices
Automatic payout Invoices
On these Invoices you will not see the 'Issue Refund' button. You can still void the whole Invoice with a Credit Note in the usual way. Support for partial refunds on these types is planned for a later release.