Overview
A refund is the return of money previously paid by a customer. This article provides instructions for making a refund to the original payment method used by a customer.
Note: If you use NETS as a payment processor, see Enable NETS Refunds before issuing a refund.
Issuing a Refund
Getting Here: Click Accounts > search for an account > Payments & Credits > Refunds
- Click New.
- Click the payment that you want to refund.
Note: The displayed payments fall within the allowable time frames for a refund. By default, this time frame is between 2-60 days after a payment was made. The time frames may vary based what was specified in your Aria implementation. These time frames must comply with your payment gateway's rules for a refund in order for the refund to be processed.
- Make a selection from the Reason drop-down menu that best describes why you are issuing a refund.
- Select Yes or No from Include Invoice Line Item Reversal?
- Yes: A list of all invoice line items for the account displays, and you can enter amounts to be refunded for each line item in Current Reversal Amount field. The total amount for the refund is calculated, including tax, by the invoice line item.
Note: If you want to keep the invoice on record, do not void any invoice line items. Instead, to settle the customer's balance, you may choose to issue a cash credit or a service credit to the customer for an amount equal to the outstanding balance.
- No: The Amount field displays. Enter the refund amount. This amount must be less than or equal to the payment amount.
- Optionally, enter Comments.
- Click Next. The Payment Method selection displays.
The payment method options that display depend on the form of the original payment, and the payment processor used.
| If the original payment was a: | Then the option(s) is: |
|---|---|
| Tokenized credit card, or an un-tokenized credit card with a payment processor other than Vantiv (Litle) | Original This applies the refund to the original form of payment. |
| Check | Check Number Enter the Check number in the field provided. The refund amount is applied to the account balance.
|
| Un-tokenized credit card with the Vantiv (Litle) payment processor |
|
- Click Create Refund.
- Carefully review the confirmation and click OK.
The refund is displayed in your list of refunds. Aria processes the refund as part of the daily batch jobs. Refunds to electronic payment methods may not be reflected in the customer's credit card or bank account balance for several days, depending on the individual rules of the payment gateway and issuing bank.
Voiding a Refund
You can void a refund transaction using the void_transaction API, but a refund disbursement cannot be cancelled. When you void a refund transaction, there is no instruction to the payment processor to reverse the refund. Therefore, it is not recommended that you do this for refunds processed through a payment processor.
A void reverses a transaction in Aria. There is no reversal in external systems unless the client initiates it externally.