Overview
When you need to give money back to a customer, you can refund a payment directly from the invoice it was collected on. Refunds work on payments you processed online through MotionOps and on payments you recorded by hand, such as cash or a check.
You can refund the full amount or only part of it. Every refund is recorded in the invoice's Transaction Log, so your payment history stays complete and auditable.
When to Use This Feature
A customer was overcharged - for example, a card was run for $1,200 instead of $120.
You charged the wrong customer's card on file.
A job was cancelled after you collected a deposit and you're returning it.
Part of the scope wasn't completed, and you're giving back that portion of what was paid.
A duplicate payment came in - the customer paid online and also handed your tech a check.
If the customer is staying with you and you'd rather credit their account than return cash, use a credit memo instead. See Credit Memos.
How It Works
Refunds happen at the payment level, not the invoice level. You find the specific payment you want to reverse in the invoice's Transaction Log, then refund that payment.
What happens next depends on how the payment came in:
Online payments - the money is returned through the payment processor to the card or bank account it came from.
Manually recorded payments - MotionOps records the refund for your books. You still hand back the cash or write the check yourself.
A refund appears in the Transaction Log as its own entry with the type Refund, sitting alongside the original Sale. The original payment is never deleted.
How to Refund a Payment
Open the invoice the payment was collected on.
Scroll to the Transaction Log and find the payment you want to refund.
Open the More Actions menu on that row and select Refund.
Enter how much you're giving back in Refund Amount. To refund everything, enter the full refundable amount. To refund part of it, enter a smaller figure.
If you're refunding a manually recorded payment, choose the Payment Method you're using to return the money.
Confirm the refund by clicking Issue Refund.
The refund is added to the Transaction Log straight away, and the invoice's balance updates to reflect it.
Refunding a Payment That Included a Convenience Fee
If you pass a convenience fee to your customers and that fee was charged on this payment, the fee itself is not refundable. It stays with the processor.
The refund window breaks the payment down so you can see exactly what's available to return:
Total - the full amount the customer was charged, fee included.
Convenience Fee - the fee portion, which can't be refunded.
Original Payment - the amount that came to you, and the most you can refund.
You'll also see a note in the window confirming this: "Convenience fee is non refundable. Maximal refundable amount is the total amount without fee included."
Tips & Best Practices
Refund the payment, not the invoice. If a customer paid in instalments, each payment is its own row in the Transaction Log. Pick the one you actually need to reverse.
Check the log before you refund. Duplicate refunds are easy to create when two people are working the same account. A quick look at the Transaction Log tells you whether a refund already went out.
Refund partially when only part of the job fell through. If you collected $2,000 for a full HVAC install and only completed the ductwork, refund the difference rather than voiding the whole payment.
Consider a credit memo for repeat customers. If the customer has more work coming, a credit memo keeps the money in your business and applies to their next invoice.
Things to Know
Failed payments can't be refunded. On a transaction with a Failed status, the Refund and Edit actions are unavailable - there's no money to return.
You can only refund up to the refundable amount shown on that transaction. Anything higher is rejected.
Convenience fees are never refundable.
If a refund itself fails, it isn't counted toward the total refunded on that transaction, so your figures stay accurate.
On a closed work order, the actions on manually recorded transactions are disabled. Reopen the work order if you need to make a change.
The original payment stays in the record permanently. Refunding never removes payment history.
Troubleshooting
I don't see a Refund option on this payment.
Check the transaction's status. Failed payments can't be refunded. If it's a manually recorded payment, also check whether the work order is closed - actions on manual transactions are disabled once a work order closes.
The amount I need to refund is more than the system will allow.
A convenience fee was almost certainly charged on this payment. The fee isn't refundable, so the most you can return is the Original Payment figure shown in the refund window.
My refund shows as failed.
Hover the information icon next to the status in the Transaction Log to see the reason returned by the processor. If no detail is available, you'll see "No information available." - in that case, reach out to support with the transaction reference number.
I want to give the customer credit without sending money back.
Use a credit memo instead. It puts the amount on the customer's account to apply against open or future invoices. See Credit Memos.
Have questions? Reach out via the support chat or email support@motionops.com.