Refunds and Voids - What's the difference?

What is the difference between a void and a refund?

Voids

Voiding a credit card transaction makes it like it never happened in the first place. When you void the transaction, it will not show up on the customer's credit card statement, funds will not be taken from their account and returned, it is effectively cancelled.

You can only void a transaction if the merchant batch it is associated with is still open. Most gateways keep the batch open until the end of the day and then automatically close the batch, however you may be able to change this behaviour in your gateway. If the batch for the transaction is closed, the void will fail and you will need to perform a refund.

Note that most gateways have a limit on the dollar value of a transaction that will be allowed to be voided, you can generally have this limit increased by contacting your merchant account provider - Benji Pays can not change this limit for you.

Stripe.

Stripe does not offer a void function, only refunds.

Instructions for voiding a transaction:

Step 1: Log in to Benji Pays.

Step 2: Click on "Transactions" in the blue menu to the left of the screen and then click "Transaction Reporting".

Step 3: You can search transactions by Date range, Customers, Type, Status, Payment Type, Gateway, Amount and Currency.

Step 4: Once you choose how you will search your transactions, click the "Search" button.

Step 5: Scroll to find the transaction you wish to void and click the yellow circular arrow to the far right of the transaction.

Step 6: Click the transaction type that you are looking to perform and then click the "Process" button.

Step 7: You will then see this screen stating your void was approved. You can download a merchant or customer copy of this void transaction. Once completed click "Close" button.

Refunds

Benji Pays offers two types of refunds.  

1. Integrated Refunds where transactions are posted to your accounting system.

2. Non-Integrated "Error Correction" Refunds where transactions are not posted in your accounting system.

Which type of refund should you process?

If you are actually returning product or refunding a service, use the integrated refund process as it will ensure your accounting system is accurate.

If you accidentally charged the wrong card, or made some other error you need to correct, use the Non-integrated "Error Correction" Refund.  This will refund the funds to your client's card, and you can then manually adjust your accounting system as needed.

Integrated Refunds

QuickBooks Online Refund Video

Benji Pays needs a credit or credit memo created in your accounting system for the customer in order to process an integrated refund. First create the credit in your accounting system for the items or services being refunded, in the amount to be refunded.

Once you have the credit memo created in your accounting system, you will need to find the original transaction in Benji Pays under the Transactions menu using the Batch Results or Transaction Reporting menu links. Please follow steps 1-5 above.

Note that most gateways have a limit on the dollar value of a transaction that will be allowed to be refunded, you can generally have this limit increased by contacting your merchant account provider - Benji Pays can not change this limit for you.

Instructions for refunding a transaction:

*Please follow steps 1-5 above and then follow the steps below to complete a refund on a transaction.*

Step 6: Click the Transaction Type>Refund.

Step 7: You will then see this screen explaining how the refund will work and the adjustments that will need to be made in QuickBooks. Please read this page carefully.

If you are actually returning product or refunding a service, use the integrated refund process as it will ensure your accounting system is accurate.

If you accidentally charged the wrong card, or made some other error you need to correct, use the Non-integrated "Error Correction" Refund.  This will refund the funds to your client's card, and you can then manually adjust your accounting system as needed.

Step 8: Click the "Process" button.

Step 9: You will then see this screen stating your refund was approved. You can download a merchant or customer copy of this refund transaction. Once completed click "Close".