When you define a publication, you can choose whether to automatically refund a credit balance or to keep it and apply it to the next renewal. If you choose the automatic refund option, QuickFill generates a refund (when you run the refund update) for any credit balance larger than the minimum refund amount you defined on the publication definition billing screen (click here for details on defining the minimum dollar amount to be refunded).
However, even if you choose not to give automatic refunds, you may sometimes want to issue a refund anyway. Use 'Refund' for this purpose. In order to print the refund report, you still need to run the refund update after you use the 'Refund' transaction. We recommend that you run the refund update on a regular basis whether you use automatic or manual refunds.
Note: refund update
The refund update doesn't actually print checks for your refunds. It prints a report showing you which refunds you should issue and where you should send them.
You can also use 'Refund' to reverse a previous refund as long as you haven't yet run the refund update. Once you've run the update, you can't reverse a refund. But you can enter a payment transaction in the same amount to make the account balance come out the way you want.
Like payments, refunds apply to individual orders, not to an entire subscription. So if a customer has a subscription with a credit balance on more than one order, you'll need to enter separate refund transactions for each order.
To issue a refund manually, you must first use 'Lookup' to locate the order for which you would like to process a refund. (Click here for details on the lookup procedure.) Once you are on the "Subscription and prospect record" lookup screen, click on "Orders" to display the customer's orders, and then select 'Refund' under 'Transactions' on the main menu.
A box, with the following field will appear.
Refund amount
Enter the amount you want to refund in this field. If you are reversing a refund you made earlier, enter a negative amount.
After you've entered the amount, click on "OK," and QuickFill will update the subscription history. The next time you run the refund update, you'll see this refund included in the report.
Since the 'Refund' transaction is not a batched transaction, it is recorded in the miscellaneous batch. Click here for details on the miscellaneous batch.
Error messages
n There is no credit balance.
Are you sure you want to do this?
You are trying to issue a refund for an order that does not have a credit balance. Although you can do this, it's not common. You don't need to use 'Refund' for a subscription you're about to cancel. The 'Cancel' transaction lets you specify whether you want to issue a full refund or a refund of the unearned balance. (Click here for details on the cancel transaction.)
n Refund is not equal to the credit balance.
Are you sure you want to do this?
The amount of the refund you specified doesn't equal the amount of the credit balance. QuickFill warns you because it assumes you want to issue a refund only in an amount equal to the credit balance.
n There is at least one future paid order.
You might want to look at it too.
This warning appears when you issue a refund for an order with a paid future order. Because, as a rule, you issue manual refunds only in response to customer complaints, QuickFill assumes that any future paid orders might be candidates for refunds as well. In any case, this message just lets you know that a future order(s) exists.
n There is a credit card charge that hasn't been processed yet.
Are you sure you want to issue a refund now?
This warning appears when you issue a refund for an order with an unprocessed credit card charge. If you choose "Yes" to continue with the refund, the credit card charge will be processed the next time you run the 'Credit card charges' update. If you choose "No," a refund will not be issued for the order.
n You can't reverse a refund that has already been paid
QuickFill processed the refund you're trying to reverse when you ran the refund update—and you've probably already sent a check. Use 'Payments' instead to adjust the balance due for the order. (Click here for details on the payment transaction.)
n You can't refund more than they paid (less prior refunds)
You can't issue a refund for more than the total amount the customer paid for the order. If you're trying to issue a refund for a subscription that has more than one order with a credit balance, use a separate refund transaction for each order.