Refunding a payment

Refunds

To refund a payment:

1. Navigate to the patient’s Account tab and select the invoice in question.
2. Press the Refund button to open the refund window.

At this point the steps differ slightly depending on whether you are partially refunding the payment, or fully refunding it.

Partial refund

A partial refund would be used in a scenario where the patient was overcharged, or where the patient overpaid their account, and you need to refund only part of their payment (rather than the full amount).

1. In the Invoice Refund window, type in the amount to be refunded in the Amount field.
2. Select the Payment Date, i.e., the date the refund was processed - this can be backdated*.
3. Select the refund reason and the payment method.
4. Optionally, add a reference note if required.
   
5. Press Refund to proceed and generate the refund slip.

Full refund

A full refund would be used in a scenario where, for instance, the patient was accidentally billed and charged for an incorrect item number. In this scenario the patient needs to be refunded for the full cost of the item.

1. In the Invoice Refund window, enter the details - payment date, reason, and method.
2. Click the Full Refund button.
   
3. This will autopopulate the full payment amount into the Amount field.
   
4. Press Refund to confirm the refund and generate the refund slip.

Once you have processed a refund of any kind, it will be recorded under the Payment Summary for this invoice, alongside any payments.

Note the "EFTPOS - Refund" shown in the Payment Summary table of the screenshot below.

Fixing incorrect payment source

If you have accidentally receipted an invoice with an incorrect payment source, e.g. if it was receipted as EFTPOS when it was paid in Cash, you can fix this by refunding and then re-receipting the invoice with the correct payment source type.

When doing so, you should change the refund and re-receipt dates to match the original payment date. This will ensure your banking records are accurate.

1. Open the patient's Account tab and select the invoice on the left.
2. Expand the Payment Summary table in the invoice preview and check the original payment date.
3. Press Refund to open the Invoice Refund window.
4. Select the payment source (e.g. if it was incorrectly receipted as EFTPOS, select EFTPOS).
5. Change the Payment Date to match the date when the invoice was originally receipted.
6. Proceed with the refund as normal.
7. Select the invoice again and press the Pay button to re-receipt.
8. Select the correct payment source.
9. Change the Payment Date to match the original payment date.
10. Proceed with the receipt as normal.

Refunding deposits

It is also possible to refund a patient's deposit.

Please see the Refund a deposit section of our Deposits & Pre-Payments article for more information.

Organisational Remittance refund

If you need to refund an organisational or third-party invoice which was receipted through Organisational Remittance, you can do so through the Banking Report.

1. Open Financials > Banking Report.
2. Use the Date Range picker and Filter options at the top of the screen to narrow down the payment.
3. Locate the payment in the list of transactions.
4. In the far right hand column you will see the Reverse icon. 
5. Click the Reverse icon to open the Invoice Refund window.
   
6. Fill in the Reason and Description.
7. Press Reverse Payment.

Note: it is not possible to partially refund an Organisational Remittance receipt. You would need to reverse the receipt in full, adjust the invoice, and then re-receipt the account via Organisational Remittance.

You can also use this method to reverse Automatic Receipts for online claims. Please see the Reversing an Organisational Receipt article for important information about this process.

FAQ

Click here to see frequently asked questions.

See also:

Invoicing

Financial reports