You can process refunds for payments made through Practice Better Payments as well as record refunds for payments collected manually. This article walks you through submitting a refund, what changes on the invoice afterward, and how refunds relate to your cancellation policy, packages, and payment plans.
In This Article:
Before You Begin
To refund a payment if you are a team member in a Team plan, you'll need the Process, Refund invoices permission enabled on your practitioner or staff role. These two actions are grouped together under one permission check. Learn more about Managing Roles & Permissions for Team Members →
📍Note: If your client paid using Interac Debit on the Practice Better Payments Terminal Reader, you can refund that payment directly from the terminal instead of following the steps below. This option is only available in Canada. Learn more about the Practice Better Payments Terminal Reader →
Steps to Refund a Payment
To initiate a refund:
- Go to My Practice > Billing & Payments, or go to the Billing & Payments section of a Client Record.
- Click the More Options menu (3 dots) beside a Paid invoice and select Refund. This option is only available for invoices with a payment history.
- Or click on the invoice to open the Invoice Details page and click the Refund button under the Payment History.
- Click Select next to the payment item you want to refund.
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Enter the amount you wish to refund. Practice Better only lets you refund up to the remaining unrefunded balance on that payment. If this refund is due to a cancellation, consider processing a partial refund if the client incurred a cancellation fee under your cancellation policy.
📍 Please note: Practice Better doesn't calculate cancellation fees for you, so confirm the amount before submitting. This is different from a no-show fee, which is an extra fee charged when a client misses a scheduled session entirely.
- Choose a Refund Method. This field only appears if the payment was recorded manually. If the original payment was processed through Practice Better Payments the refund automatically returns to the client's original payment method, and you won't see this field.
- Add an optional note to provide context for the refund.
- Click Submit to confirm and process the refund.
⚠️ Important: Once you submit a refund, you can't edit or cancel it. Double-check the amount and method before clicking Submit.
After You Submit a Refund
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Invoice status: The invoice keeps its "Paid" status and still appears under the Paid filter on the Billing & Payments page. You'll see an orange icon for a partially refunded payment or a red icon for a fully refunded one.
- Refund history: You can review the history of payments and refunds for an invoice on that invoice's details page.
Important Considerations
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Processing Time: Depending on your payment processor, refunds may take up to 10 days to appear on your client's statement.
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External Payments: If you're refunding a payment made externally, you must refund the client using the original payment method. Recording a refund in Practice Better does not automatically refund the original source.
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Processing Fees: Payment processor fees are not returned when you issue a refund; you'll only get back the net amount.
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Packages and Session Credits: Refunding a package payment doesn't automatically adjust the client's remaining session credits. Edit or cancel the package separately if needed.
- Payment Plans: Refunding one installment of a payment plan doesn't affect the remaining scheduled payments; the plan continues as scheduled.