TutorCruncher lets you refund an Invoice in full or refund part of it while keeping the rest. Every refund starts from the 'Adjust/Refund Invoice' button on any raised or paid Invoice, and any amount the Client has paid can either stay on their balance as credit or go back to their card. This article covers each way to refund and what happens to the Invoice, the lessons, and the money in each case.
Adjust/Refund Invoice
Navigate to the Invoice and click 'Adjust/Refund Invoice' in the Actions menu. A panel opens with two options:
Void/refund entire Invoice - cancels the whole Invoice and issues a Credit Note. Anything the Client has paid is refunded, and no new Invoice is raised.
Adjust/refund item(s) - lets you refund or reduce individual lines and keep the rest. TutorCruncher raises a new Invoice for whatever you keep. Use this when you want to refund some lessons or charges but not others.
Refunding in full by voiding the Invoice
Use this when the whole Invoice should be cancelled and everything paid refunded, for example if the Invoice was raised in error.
To void a paid Invoice:
Navigate to the Invoice.
Click Actions > Adjust/Refund Invoice and select Void/refund entire Invoice.
The Adjust/Refund Invoice button on a paid Invoice.
Provide a description and select the reason for the refund.
Entering a description.
Click Issue to confirm. The Invoice will be voided and a Credit Note issued.
Once you click Issue, the whole Invoice is cancelled and a Credit Note is issued, and no new Invoice is raised. Anything the Client had paid is refunded and, by default, added to their TutorCruncher balance as credit.
If the Invoice was paid by card, you can also tick 'Refund the difference to the client's card' on the panel to send the money back to the card instead.
Refunding to a Client's card.
Note: Because no new Invoice is raised, the lessons and charges that were on the Invoice are left in place, so you can invoice them again later if you need to. If instead the lessons should not be charged at all, refund them in full from the line list (see below), which clears their value.
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 Actions > Adjust/Refund Invoice and select Adjust/refund item(s). 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.
Outlining the Adjust/Refund Invoice button on an Invoice.
For each line, enter the amount you want to keep. To refund a line in full, set it to 0. Amounts cannot be negative.
Partially refunding £50.00 from a £100.00 Invoice.
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.
For each line you have three choices:
Keep the full amount - the line is unchanged and carries over to the new Invoice.
Reduce the amount - the line is refunded down to the amount you keep, and the new Invoice shows the reduced line.
Refund the line in full - set the amount to keep to 0. The line is refunded and does not appear on the new Invoice.
Each line also has a Remove from invoice button. This is not a refund. It takes the line off the Invoice but leaves its value untouched, so the lesson can be invoiced again later. Use it when a line should not be on this Invoice but is still owed.
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 everything from the line list
If you set every line to 0 in Adjust/refund item(s), the Invoice is voided in full with a Credit Note and no new Invoice is raised, and you stay on the voided Invoice. The overall result is the same as Void/refund entire Invoice, with one difference: setting every line to 0 refunds each lesson and clears its value, so there is nothing left to bill for those lessons, whereas Void/refund entire Invoice leaves the lessons in place so you can invoice them again. Use whichever matches what you want to happen to the lessons.
Where refunded money goes
When an Invoice is refunded - whether voided in full or partially adjusted, any amount being refunded is handled as follows:
By default, the refunded amount is added to the Client's TutorCruncher balance as credit, ready to be applied to a future Invoice. You can see this on the Client's Accounting tab.
If the Invoice was paid by card, a checkbox to refund the amount back to the Client's card (labelled Refund the difference to the client's card) will appear on the Adjust/Refund Invoice panel, whether you are refunding the whole Invoice or adjusting individual lines. Ticking it returns the refunded amount to the Client's original card via Stripe instead of adding it to their balance. Only the card-paid portion can be sent back to the card.
Note: Refunding to card only applies to the amount paid by card. If part of the Invoice was paid by other means, that portion will remain as balance credit.
Split payment, Employment Agency, and Automatic payout Invoices
Split payment, Employment Agency, and Automatic payout Invoices work differently from standard Invoices when it comes to refunds, because tutor money moves alongside the client payment. A refund on these Invoice types must never change the tutor's pay, so TutorCruncher protects the tutor's share and only lets you refund the part the company keeps.
Partial refunds are now available on these Invoice types through the same 'Adjust/Refund Invoice' flow used for standard Invoices, with one difference:
Split payment and Employment Agency Invoices - a partial refund can only reduce the company's commission. It cannot take a line below the tutor's share, and TutorCruncher will show an error if you try.
Automatic payout Invoices - there is no such limit, because the tutor is paid by a separate payout.
On a partial refund the tutor keeps their original Payment Order and the re-issued Invoice is settled from the credit left by the void, so the tutor is not paid again and the Client is not charged again.
To void one of these Invoices in full, you can also use the dedicated button on the Invoice:
Split payment and Automatic payout Invoices - show a 'Refund' button. Clicking it voids the whole Invoice and any linked Payment Orders, and gives you the option to refund the payment to the Client or leave it as credit on their balance.
Employment Agency Invoices - show an 'Issue Credit Note/Refund' button, which works the same way.
When voiding via either of these buttons, you will be given the following options:
Refund to Client - returns the payment to the Client via the original payment method (card or bank transfer). They should see the funds in their account within 3 to 5 business days for card payments, or 5 to 10 days for bank transfers.
Leave as credit - the amount is added to the Client's TutorCruncher balance to be applied to a future Invoice.
Note: For Employment Agency Invoices, refunds are typically handled by the linked tutor rather than the Administrator. A warning will be displayed to this effect when you open the panel.
Note: For split payment and Automatic payout Invoices, refunds are only available once the linked transfers to the tutors have completed. If they have not, TutorCruncher will ask you to wait and try again.