There may be times when you need to give a client a credit/refund for an item on a paid invoice. Whether it's because the item had to be cancelled and reselected or because the client has returned the item, we have the best practice for crediting a return/cancellation here for you!

Step 1: Create a Credit Invoice

Step 2: Record the Refund Paid to the Client

First you will want to create a new invoice to show a record of the credit/refund in the studio. Go to the invoice tab of the project and select the "create invoice" button at the top right (or bottom right if you are on a tablet/phone).

**You will not be able to export this invoice to QBO**

From here you will create an invoice number for the refund and select "create."
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Next, scroll down on the invoice and select to "add item from." You will want to select to pull the item from your product/service catalog.

Once you have added the item, you will override the price of the item to match what the client paid, but as a negative value, but adding "-" to the front of the price. Be sure to include the same (positive) tax rate and any shipping (as a negative value), if you are refunding for these as well.

Note: If you want to show the refunded item in your products and services list you can absolutely do that! You will add the product/service to your list like normal. Then, ensure the price matches the original product, but make the value negative by adding a "-" to the front of the price. Last, you will add from "project list" on the invoice instead of from the catalog.

Now, scroll down to the payments section of the invoice and mark the invoice as paid. To do this you will select the 3-dots on the right of the payment line and select the option to "mark as paid."

For the payment method you will want to select the option "client credit." There is an option that is labeled "credit," this is not the option you want. "Client credit" will be lower in the list.

This will then show the option to select a client that you want to apply the credit/refund to. You will only want to apply credits/refunds to one client in the project to keep all the credits together. Use the drop down to select the client profile and then enter in the payment notes "refund" or any other notes you may want to see/show to the clients about this.

Once you select "OK" to finalize the payment, this will automatically add the credit amount to the Client Profile.

To show that you have paid out the refund to the client, you will now want to Remove a credit, in the amount of the refund. Making sure to include why the amount is being removed and how the refund will be paid.

Note: To issue the actual refund to the client, this will be done outside of the studio (via Stripe [help article here]/check/etc.)

To show the refund has been paid out, you will first want to go to the client profile. There are a few ways to do this. The fastest way, will be if you go to the overview tab of your project, and click on the client's name on the right.

Next, select the "+/-" icon next to the client credits.

If you do not remember the value of the refund it may be easier if you select the box with the arrow at the top right of the client pop-up to take you to the client's full profile. You are able to add/remove credits in the full client's profile as well.

This step is only if you go to their full profile:

Change the transaction type to "remove," and enter the amount of the refund in a positive number. Making sure to include why the amount is being removed and how the refund will be paid to the client. Then select "save."

All records of credits will be listed in the client's full profile. If the numbers do not reflect the change, refresh your browser.

If you need any additional support, click the question mark in the upper right-hand corner to chat with a member of our team.

Happy designing!