Refund a payment

You can refund a donation, an event ticket or a store order from Occam. The money goes back to the payer's original card or bank account through your Stripe account, and Occam updates its records straight away.

Before you start

• Only owners and admins can refund.
• The payment must have gone through Stripe and cleared. A bank payment that's still pending can't be refunded yet.
• The money comes out of your Stripe balance. If Stripe can't make the refund, Occam shows you Stripe's reason.

Refund a donation

1. In the sidebar, go to Donors and open the donor.
2. In Donations, find the gift and select Refund.
3. Check Amount to refund. It starts at the full amount; lower it to refund only part.
4. Leave Email … a refund notice ticked to have Occam tell the donor, or untick it to tell them yourself.
5. Select Refund.

Refund a ticket or a store order

• Ticket: in the sidebar, go to Events and select Attendees on the event. Select Refund on the ticket order.
• Store order: in the sidebar, go to Store and select Orders. Select Refund on the order.

The same box opens as for a donation: set the amount, choose whether to email the payer, and select Refund.

After a full refund, the payment's status changes to REFUNDED and it no longer counts toward your totals. After a partial refund it stays as it was, shows how much was refunded, and only what you kept counts. The payer may not see the money for 5–10 business days.

What a refund does and doesn't do

• It can refund all or part. Lower Amount to refund to return only some of a payment, for example one seat of a two-seat ticket order. You can refund the rest later. A refund can't be undone.
• It doesn't stop a monthly gift. Each monthly charge is a separate gift, so refunding one returns that month only. Future charges carry on. To stop them, see Monthly giving.
• It emails the payer, unless you untick it. Occam sends a short note saying how much was refunded, what for, and that the money usually arrives within 5 to 10 business days. A refund you make in your Stripe or PayPal dashboard always sends the same note once Occam picks it up.
• It doesn't return stock. After refunding a store order, update the product's stock yourself.
• A partial refund isn't sent to QuickBooks. A full refund of a gift voids its sales receipt in QuickBooks. A partial one leaves the receipt at the original amount, so adjust it there yourself.

Refunds made in Stripe

If you refund a donation or ticket from your Stripe dashboard instead, Occam picks it up by itself, including partial refunds. A gift that was partly refunded shows how much was refunded and how much you kept.

What can't be refunded in Occam

• Cash, check and Card (external) sales at the point of sale never went through Stripe, so give the money back yourself. The Refund button still appears on those store orders, but it only shows This payment has no Stripe charge to refund.
• Gifts you recorded yourself, such as checks, have no Refund button.
• Auction purchases have no Refund button. Refund them from your Stripe dashboard. Occam doesn't pick up these refunds, so the item still shows as paid in Occam.

Good to know

• Staff can see Refund on a donor's gifts, but it won't go through for them.
• To call off an event, use Cancel Event on the Attendees page. Ticket holders get an email saying the event is cancelled. Refunding is your choice: tick Also refund all paid ticket orders to refund everyone at once, and the email says how much each was refunded. Left unticked, nobody is refunded, and you can still refund ticket orders one at a time afterwards.
• Disputes and chargebacks are handled in Stripe. See Payouts, fees and disputes.