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Issue a Partial Refund

Updated
The Goal: Issue a partial refund against a received payment from the All Payments screen.

Before You Begin:

  • Event registrations: If you are correcting an incorrect registration type, issuing the partial refund is the LAST STEP in that process. Unapply the existing payment first, correct the registration (cancel and re-register), reapply the payment to the new registration, then issue the partial refund.
  • Auto Refund Stop Date: If the Auto Refund Stop Date is enabled (turned on with a date configured), REMOVE THE DATE from the Auto Refund Stop Date field first, then perform the steps in order. You may re-enable the option after the partial refund is issued.
  • Allow Partial Payments: Confirm the Allow Partial Payments setting on the General Billing Settings page under Finance, Administrative section, Billing Settings. See Managing Partial Payments.

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Go to Finance, Billing section, click All Payments.
  2. Click the actions icon in the Actions column for the payment to which you wish to apply a partial refund.
    NOTE: If the icon is not displayed, this indicates that a refund has already been created for the item.
    All Payments page with the actions icon in the Actions column boxed on a payment row

  3. On the Create Refund screen, complete the following:

    • Refund Date: The date defaults to today. You may change it if necessary.
    • Enter Notes. This is a required field.
    • In the Refund Items section, the full amount of the fee items will be displayed. To issue a partial refund, enter the amount you wish to refund.
    • Refund Already Issued By Processor: If this is a credit card refund, selecting this option will record the refund in GrowthZone without issuing a refund back to the purchaser through the processor. This is useful when a credit card dispute is lost, and the processor automatically refunds the money to the purchaser — in that case, the refund is not automatically reflected in GrowthZone and must be done manually. Checking this box ensures the transaction is properly recorded so that income is not overstated.

    Create Refund window with the Refund Date, Notes, Refund Items amount field and Refund Already Issued By Processor check-box boxed

  4. Click Done.
    NOTE: If a portion of the payment has been refunded previously, it will appear on the Create Refund screen under Already Refunded.
    Create Refund screen showing the Already Refunded amount for a previously part-refunded payment, boxed
  5. You can run the Refund Report (go to Reports, click Refund Report) to view a list of all refunds processed.
  6. GrowthZone Pay — Partial refund display: If the original charge has not yet been fully processed, the credit won’t appear as a separate line item on the customer’s bank statement. Instead, the original charge should post for a lower amount. For example, if a charge of $830.00 was made and a partial refund of $35.00 is issued while the original charge is still pending, the charge will be updated to $795.00 with no separate refund transaction. If the customer has questions, they should contact their bank directly.

Common Pitfalls

  • Wrong order for event registrations: Issuing the partial refund before unapplying and correcting the registration will create accounting complications. Always follow the prescribed order: unapply → correct → re-apply → then refund.
  • Auto Refund Stop Date blocking the refund: If this date is configured and you are past it, the refund will be blocked. Temporarily remove the stop date before issuing the refund, then re-enable it afterward.
  • Partial refund on a pending GrowthZone Pay charge: If issued while the original charge is still pending, the refund will not appear as a separate credit — the original charge will simply post for a lower amount. Set customer expectations accordingly.

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