Log a refund on an invoice

After issuing a refund through your payment processor, record the refund on the client's invoice in Dubsado and send a receipt.

Charis Barg avatar
Written by Charis Barg
Updated over a week ago

Updated Sep 19, 2023

You can manually log a refund on a Dubsado invoice after issuing it through your connected payment processor. Logging a refund in Dubsado won’t transfer funds back to your client, but it's still an important step to make a record and keep your chart of accounts up to date.


Step 1: Issue the refund from your payment processor

Since payments with Stripe, Square, or PayPal are handled by your payment processor, it’s not possible to initiate a refund from a Dubsado invoice. To issue a refund, go directly to your Stripe, Square, or PayPal account:

For additional support on issuing refunds or to check on the status of a refund, please reach out directly to Stripe, Square, or PayPal with any questions.


Step 2: Log the refund in Dubsado

After you’ve issued the refund through your payment processor, you’ll want to manually update the invoice in Dubsado so it includes the refund:

  1. Go to Projects to open the client’s project.

  2. Click the Invoices tab to view your invoice.

    • If you don’t see your invoice, click Invoice List to see all invoices.

  3. Click Apply > Refund. A popup will appear to fill out refund details.

Refund details

apply a refund popup

Payment to refund

Click the Select a payment dropdown to choose a specific transaction.

Choose Custom refund if you refunded your client differently from how you received their payment. For example, you collected payment from Stripe, but you refunded in cash.

Payment method, refund date, and refund amount

If you select a transaction from the dropdown, the Payment method will autofill to the original payment method used. Refund date and Refund amount will autofill to today’s date and the full amount of the transaction. You can change the date or edit the amount if you give a partial refund.

If you select Custom refund, you’ll need to manually enter the Payment method, Refund date, and Refund amount.

Note and description

Both the note and description are optional fields. Enter a note to the client that will appear on the refund receipt. The Description is only for you and won’t be seen by your client.

Allow client to repay

Turn Allow client to repay on if you plan to collect the refunded amount again from the client in the future. That way, the invoice remainder will adjust to include this amount.

Keep the toggle off if you don’t expect the client to make that payment again — the invoice remainder will not change.

For more information, please read our help article on allowing clients to repay.


Step 3: Send a refund receipt

Your clients won’t automatically get an alert after you log a refund in Dubsado, but you can manually email a refund receipt to let them know.

Emailing a refund receipt from Dubsado is optional because invoices with refunds are automatically updated to include a link to the refund receipt. Your client can go into their invoice and click View receipt to see the refund receipt.

arrow pointing to view receipt link

The refund receipt includes the note to your client if you entered one. This box will only appear if you typed a note.

arrow pointing to notes section in a refund receipt

If you want to manually email your client the refund receipt:

  1. Go to Projects to open the client’s project.

  2. Click the Invoices tab.

  3. Click the Refunds tab.

  4. From the specific refund, click the ellipses ... > Send via email to open up an email draft. Alternatively, click Open in new window > Download PDF to send a PDF version.

screenshot with arrow pointing to send via email

Edit the refund email template

Clicking Send via email on a logged refund sends the refund receipt using an email template. Customize the template in Templates > Canned Emails > Edit Templates > Send Refund.


Refund reporting

Refunds are applied to the invoice as a whole, distributed evenly across all income categories on the invoice.

Refunds are recorded under Reporting > Transactions. You can view all refunds by clicking the Filters button. Under Transaction type, select Refund.

Total income minus any refunds can be viewed as Gross Revenue in Reporting > Chart of Accounts under the Income category.

screenshot of gross revenue from chart of accounts page

FAQ

I logged a refund but the invoice balance didn’t change.

By default, logging a refund will not reopen the refunded balance to be paid on the invoice. This prevents closed invoices from reopening, assuming that when you issue a refund, you’re not expecting the client to pay you back.

If you’d like the refunded amount to be added back to the invoice remainder, turn on the option to Allow client to repay when you log the refund.

Can I edit a refund?

Yes! Existing refunds can be edited. You can change the refund amount, date, add a note or description, or whether to allow the client to repay.

To edit a refund:

  1. Go to Projects to open the client’s project.

  2. Click the Invoices tab.

  3. Scroll down and under Refunds, click on the ellipses ... > Edit. A popup will appear to edit the refund.

    screenshot with arrow pointing to how to edit a refund

Do refunds automatically sync over to QuickBooks or Xero?

Logging a refund in Dubsado won’t automatically log that refund in any connected accounting software.

Will workflows based on a payment continue after I give a refund?

Yes. Any workflows based on an invoice being paid will continue even if you later provide a refund.

Will logging a refund stop autopay?

No. Logging a refund won’t impact clients on autopay. Even if you log a refund, autopay will continue to run normally.

Did this answer your question?