# Refunds and voiding a sale

> Void a sale or refund a card payment or deposit, and what happens when Stripe is still processing a refund, refuses one, or you refund in Stripe.

Source: https://docs.fullcolumn.com/checkout/refunds-and-voids

There are a few ways to give money back, depending on what it was for:

| To give back                                           | Do this                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| ------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| A completed sale                                       | [Void the sale](https://docs.fullcolumn.com/checkout/refunds-and-voids#voiding-a-sale). Card payments on it are refunded.                                                                                                                           |
| A deposit or other account credit                      | [Refund it from the client's account](https://docs.fullcolumn.com/checkout/account-credit#refunding-account-credit), or the deposit from its appointment.                                                                                           |
| A card payment for an appointment that isn't on a sale | [Refund it from the appointment](https://docs.fullcolumn.com/checkout/refunds-and-voids#refunding-a-card-payment-from-the-appointment).                                                                                                             |
| A card payment with no appointment, not on a sale      | Refund it from the warning at the top of checkout. A client's goes onto their checkout: take it off the sale there, then refund it ([card payments not on a sale](https://docs.fullcolumn.com/checkout/card-payments#card-payments-not-on-a-sale)). |

Card refunds go back to the card through Stripe and usually show on the client's statement within 5–10 days. Cash, EFTPOS and other payments are given back by you, the same way they came.

## Voiding a sale

Void a sale that was a mistake: charged twice, wrong items, wrong client.

1. Open the sale from the [sales list](https://docs.fullcolumn.com/sales/sales-list), or **Receipt** on its appointment.
2. Press the ⋯ menu and choose **Void sale…**.
3. Read what will happen, and give a **Reason**, like "Charged twice".
4. If it was paid by card through Stripe, **Refund $95.00 to the client's card through Stripe** is ticked. Leave it ticked to refund the card.
5. Press **Void sale**.

Voiding can't be undone. The sale shows **Voided** with the reason, and its receipt is marked VOIDED. The salon's [activity log](https://docs.fullcolumn.com/settings/activity-log) notes who voided it and why. To charge again, check the appointment out again.

Voiding needs **Void sales and remove petty cash entries**: owners and managers have it by default, staff don't. On a Front desk device it asks for your password first.

## What voiding a sale changes

- It comes off your takings, reports and that day's cash-up.
- Products go back into stock.
- Gift voucher balances used to pay are put back on the vouchers.
- Gift vouchers sold in the sale stop working. If one has been spent already, void the sale it was spent on first.
- Account credit it used goes back on the client's account, shown as **Put back (sale voided)**. If you've since refunded one of their card deposits in the Stripe Dashboard while they had no credit left for it to come off, the credit coming back covers that refund first and comes straight off again, as **Refunded**: that money is already back on their card. Only credit they'd spent before the refund counts this way.
- Its appointments go back to not paid, ready to check out again.
- Card payments through Stripe are refunded, unless you unticked the box.
- Cash, EFTPOS and other payments aren't given back by FullColumn: hand them back yourself.

If Stripe refuses a card refund, the sale is still voided and you're told: "Stripe wouldn't refund… Refund it another way." The receipt shows the card payment as "not refunded".

## Voiding a sale without refunding the card

Untick **Refund … to the client's card through Stripe** when you want to fix a sale but keep the card payment, like when the wrong items were rung up. The payment isn't refunded: it goes onto the next checkout for that appointment or client, or waits at the top of checkout as a card payment not on a sale. Check it out again and the payment is there.

If Stripe is disconnected, a sale paid by card can only be voided this way: FullColumn says so. Then refund the card in your Stripe Dashboard.

## Refunding a card payment from the appointment

An appointment's **Payments** panel lists card deposits and card payments that aren't on a sale, each with **Refund**:

1. Press **Refund** beside the payment.
2. Check the **Amount to refund**. It starts at all that's left; lower it for part.
3. Press **Refund**. It goes back to the card it was paid with.

Refunding a deposit takes it off the client's account credit too, as much of it as is still there. If it's already been used, FullColumn says so.

A card payment that's part of a completed sale can't be refunded here: void the sale.

## When a refund is still processing

Stripe sometimes takes a while to finish a refund, for example when your Stripe balance is too low to cover it. FullColumn tells you, like "Stripe hasn't finished the $95.00 refund yet. It'll be finished automatically."

- The money is already set aside: it can't be used or refunded twice.
- On the client's account, the refund shows **Waiting for Stripe**.
- The appointment's history says Stripe is still processing it.
- FullColumn keeps checking with Stripe until it's done.

## When a card refund fails

- **Refused straight away**: you're told why. From an appointment or a client's account, nothing changes and the money stays where it was. When voiding, the sale is still voided, so give the money back another way.
- **Fails later**: a refund can fail even weeks later, when the card's bank sends it back. Account credit goes back on the client's account. Anything else shows in the appointment's history as still owed, to give back another way.

## Refunds FullColumn makes by itself

Some money is always given back in full, never kept as credit:

- the deposit for a [booking request](https://docs.fullcolumn.com/online-booking/booking-requests) you decline, or that's withdrawn or not answered in time
- a payment that arrived after the client's held time was released
- a fee charged to a card that couldn't be recorded.

If Stripe can't make one of these refunds, it's noted as still owed in the appointment's history (when the appointment is still there). Give it back another way, or refund it in your Stripe Dashboard.

## Refunds made in the Stripe Dashboard

You can also refund in your own Stripe Dashboard. FullColumn hears about it and counts it, and never refunds again on top:

- A refunded deposit comes off the client's account credit. If they'd already used it, it comes off when that credit comes back to their account, like when you void the sale it was used on.
- A refunded gift voucher is worth less, or can't be used any more if it's refunded in full.
- In reports, the refund is card money out on the day it was made, while the sale still counts as sold.

If Stripe later cancels or fails that refund, all of this is undone.

## Who can refund and void

| Permission                                                          | Lets them                                                        |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Void sales and remove petty cash entries**                        | Void a sale, refunding its card payments.                        |
| **Refund card payments and account credit, and remove saved cards** | Refund deposits, account credit and card payments not on a sale. |

Owners have every permission; managers have these by default, staff don't. On a Front desk device, both ask for the person's password first: see [shared devices](https://docs.fullcolumn.com/team/shared-devices).

## Common questions

### Can I refund part of a sale?

Not on its own. Void the sale (refunding the card), then check the appointment out again with the right items and take payment again.

### How long does a card refund take?

Usually 5–10 days to show on the client's statement, once Stripe has finished it.

### Can I undo a void?

No. Check the appointment out again instead.

### A client paid cash. How do I refund it?

Void the sale and give the cash back from the till. For a cash deposit, refund it from their account: it's recorded as petty cash paid out, so the cash-up balances.