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Overview
If you need to refund a user, there are two types of refunds that you can perform.
- Online Refund: Process the refund directly through the original invoice and return the money to their credit card.
- Offline Refund: Refund payments made by check, cash, or directly through your payment processor if the online option isn't available in MemberClicks.
When issuing a refund, it's important to choose the right method based on the situation. This article will explore the differences between refunding through an invoice and refunding through a form submission, helping you determine the best approach. If a refund is needed due to a change in a user's form selections, processing it directly through the invoice may not be ideal, as it can create a discrepancy between the submission balance and the invoice balance. Instead, using a form submission ensures that both the form data and financial records remain accurate. Additionally, we'll cover where these options are located within the MemberClicks platform and how they interact with other invoice-related tasks, such as adjustments and cancellations, providing a comprehensive understanding of your refund options.
Refunding directly through an invoice
There are two ways to find the invoice where the payment was initially made: visit the profile the invoice belongs to, or search for the invoice in the Invoice List.
To view the invoice, go to the member profile it's assigned to and select the "Invoices" option.
To access the invoice from the Invoice List, navigate to the Financial tab and click on the Invoices option. Then, click the Invoice # to open the invoice. For more details on the Invoice List, refer to our help article.
2. On the open invoice, click REFUND.
3. The Refund Invoice box appears. Enter the refund amount in the Credit box, then click the REFUND INVOICE button.
4. Next, you're directed to an open credit memo for the refund you generated. Select SETTLE at the bottom of the credit memo.
5. Choose either SETTLE ONLINE or SETTLE OFFLINE, based on the original form of payment and how the money is being returned.
If the payer used a credit or debit card, select SETTLE ONLINE. This will prompt your payment processor to return the money to the original card, which may take about 48 business hours. If the payer used an offline payment method like cash or a check, select SETTLE OFFLINE.
6. The credit memo now shows as paid.
Refunding through a form submission
If you need to issue a full or partial refund because of changes to a user’s form selections, refunding directly through the invoice isn’t the best approach. Refunding this way without updating their submission causes a mismatch between the submission balance and the invoice balance. To keep everything in sync, edit the submission first to generate a credit memo.
Unlike refunding directly through an invoice, creating a credit memo by editing a submission does not allow you to refund the user’s credit card. Instead, you can only mark the invoice as refunded offline to balance your MemberClicks transaction report. After that, you’ll need to issue an offline refund or contact your payment processor to manually process the refund. This limitation exists because the credit memo is generated from the edited submission, not the original invoice. As a result, there’s no connection to the user’s credit card, so the system cannot process the refund automatically.
1. To start this process, navigate to Forms > Forms List.
2. In the submissions column, click on the number that represents the submissions for the form.
3. Click on the Submission ID #, then click on the Edit button in the upper right-hand corner of the page. This lets you to edit the selected submission.
4. Click the arrow to left of the user's name and update the submission as needed.
For example: If a user is cancelling a selection on their submission with a fee, deselect it.
5. Click the Save button when you're finished.
6. The submission detects that a price change has occurred and displays the Submission Price Changes pop-up. Click the Create a new credit memo button.
7. In the Submission Price Changes window, complete the following steps.
- Click the Add a line item button and enter the refund amount.
- Enter a Description of what the refund is for.
- Choose the Revenue Account that links to the transaction.
- Choose your Payment Processor.
- Choose the Invoice Template to which you want this credit memo attached. The selected template determines which notifications are sent out regarding your newly created invoice, so make sure to select the correct one.
- Click Save.
8. Click on the Credit Memo associated with the submission.
9. Click Manage Invoice.
10. Click SETTLE.
11. Choose SETTLE OFFLINE.
12. The Credit Memo now shows as paid.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why am I getting an error when attempting an online refund?
- If the member paid within the last 24 hours, the charge may not have processed in their bank account yet. Wait until the next day and try the refund again.
- The refund might have already been processed through your payment processor. MC Professional prevents processing the same refund twice.
When will [user] get their money back on their credit or debit card?
The refund is typically processed by the end of the business day. If both your payment processor and MC Professional show the settlement was approved, the member may need to check with their bank for confirmation.
I accidentally selected “Offline” when it should have been “Online.” What should I do?
Log into your payment processor and complete the refund there. Go to the Financial and Invoices tab, select "Payment Processor," and check which one you’re using. Then, refund the account directly through the payment processor.