Refunds Overview and FAQs

Customer Education

Updated February 18, 2026 00:15

Refunds in ServiceCore follow a structured workflow that keeps your accounting reports clean, your customers happy, and your business moving smoothly.

As a best practice, we suggest giving customers credits instead of refunds as much as possible. Doing this keeps the cash flow for your business uninterrupted and increases customer retention.

However, sometimes you'll need to refund part of a customer's payment for things like skipped or missed services. You may need to fully refund a customer for cancelled jobs or overpayments.

Whatever the reason, refunding a customer's money in ServiceCore will impact your AR and Aging reports, it'll reopen invoices, and affect how your records appear in QuickBooks. Keep reading to learn how to successfully manage refunds from beginning to end.

Before You Start

Here are some things you should know before you continue:

To see if you have access to this feature in ServiceCore, please check out this article on user permission levels.
You must have a Bank-type of account or Other Current Assets-type of account in your Chart of Accounts.
Creating a refund record in ServiceCore doesn't actually move the funds from your bank to your customer's bank, so you'll need to process the refund through your financial institution.
Refunds cannot exceed the original payment amount.
If the original payment was made online using a credit/debit card or ACH transfer, refunds must use the same method and go back to the customer's original account.
- If the original payment was made via physical cash or check, you can choose which refund method you wish to use.
Credit/debit card payments must fully process before you can issue a refund.
- This is because recording a refund in ServiceCore will automatically trigger the refund process in CardPointe.
If you're using QuickBooks Online (QBO), any refunds created in ServiceCore will automatically sync to your QBO account.
If you're using QuickBooks Online (QBO), any refunds that you void in ServiceCore will NOT automatically sync to your QBO account.
If you're using QuickBooks Desktop (QBD), any refunds that you edit, void, or delete in ServiceCore will NOT automatically sync to your QBD account.
You will see two areas for refunds in ServiceCore: Refunds (New) and Refunds (Legacy).
- Refunds created BEFORE September 2, 2025 appear in the Refunds (Legacy) tab.
- Refunds created AFTER September 2, 2025 appear in the main Refunds (New) tab.

Create a Refund

Refunds are tied to payments and payments are tied to invoices.

An invoice will display its payment, but not a refund. A payment will display both its invoice and refund. A refund will display its payment, but not an invoice.

There are 6 ways to create a refund:

From inside a payment at the top that automatically fills in the main details.
From inside a payment at the bottom that automatically fills in the main details.
From inside an invoice in the Payments section.
From the main Accounting section tied to a payment that automatically fills in the main details.
From a customer's profile under the Accounting section tied to a payment that automatically fills in the main details.
From anywhere in your account using the + button to start from a blank refund page.

TIP: We strongly suggest only using one of the first four options because all of the relevant payment information will automatically appear on the refund page, making your workflow faster.

Create a Refund For an Overpayment

As a best practice, we suggest giving the customer a credit instead of refunding the amount they paid over their open balance. However, ServiceCore does give you a way to record a refund of the overpayment.

Please Note: Recording a refund in ServiceCore doesn't automatically move the funds from your bank to your customer's UNLESS the customer paid online via credit/debit card or ACH.

If a customer accidentally pays your business more money than their invoice's open balance, you can refund them by following the instructions in the above video or the below steps:

Click on "Create Refund" from the dropdown menu next to or in the payment depending on where you're starting from. (See above screenshots.)
Review the auto-filled fields at the top to see if anything needs to be adjusted.
Select the refund Method you want to use and the Account this refund should be associated with in the Refund Method section.

Please Note: If the original payment was made digitally via credit/debit card or ACH, the refund method needs to be the same.
Check the box next to the Unapplied invoice item in the Refund Details section.

TIP: You can adjust the Amount to Refund field if you don't want/need to refund the entire overpayment.
Add any necessary notes to the refund and select how you'd like to notify the customer about their refund.

TIP: As a best practice, we suggest that you always add a reason for the refund in the Internal Memo field.

Please Note: If 'Email' is selected as the Preferred Communication, a notification will be sent to the email address in the Email field at the top of the refund page. If 'Print' is selected, you'll receive an email with a PDF that you can print and send to the customer.
By default, the option to 'Complete this Refund' will be selected so just click "View Refund" to save the refund record and review its details.

You'll now see the payment amount reduced on the associated invoice and you'll see a new refund record for that customer.

TIP: If the customer originally paid online via credit/debit card or ACH, the actual refund process to move the funds will automatically trigger in your CardPointe account

Create a Refund and Take a Replacement Payment

There may be times you need to refund a payment and then record a replacement payment.

This could happen when a customer's original payment method fails (like a bounced check or card fraud flag) or if a customer wants to pay using a different method (like a credit card instead of check).

If you need to create a refund and take a replacement payment. just follow the instructions in the above video or the below steps:

Click on "Create Refund" from the dropdown menu next to or in the payment depending on where you're starting from. (See above screenshots.)

Please Note: Recording a refund in ServiceCore doesn't automatically move the funds from your bank to your customer's UNLESS the customer paid online via credit/debit card or ACH.
Review the auto-filled fields at the top to see if anything needs to be adjusted.
Select the refund Method you want to use and the Account this refund should be associated with in the Refund Method section.

Please Note: If the original payment was made online via credit/debit card or ACH, the refund method needs to be the same. Recording a refund for an online payment will also automatically trigger the refund process in your CardPointe account.
Check the box next to the invoice item in the Refund Details section.

TIP: You can adjust the Amount to Refund field if you don't want/need to refund the payment.
Add any necessary notes to the refund and select how you'd like to notify the customer about their refund.
Select 'Take Replacement Payment' at the bottom.
Click "Go to Payment" to save the refund and prepare to take the customer's new payment.
Fill out the Record Payment page that appears according to your normal payment processing workflow.

Please Note: The invoice you just refunded will reopen in an Unpaid/Overdue status and increase the amounts in both the Monthly AR Balance and Aging reports until/unless you record a new payment for that refunded invoice.

Create a Refund and Replace It With a Credit Memo

If your charge your customers in advance, you may run into a scenario where certain paid-for services aren't actually delivered on for some reason, such as an expectation of twice a week cleanings, but a few cleanings are skipped during the rental period.

If something like this happens, you can refund the overpayment and create a credit memo to keep the invoice in the Closed/Paid status.

Please Note: If you're using Authorize.net as your payment processer through ServiceCore, you cannot issue refunds through the credit memo flow. However, you can create a refund and a credit memo separately to achieve the same outcome.

Invoices create an accounts receivable balance which appear in both the Monthly AR Balance and Aging reports, and represent the amount of money your business is owed.

Credit memos reduce the amount owed on an invoice which reflects in both the Monthly AR Balance and Aging reports as a lesser amount of money your business is owed.

Example: The invoice was initially $300, a credit memo is created for $100, so now your business is only owed $200.

Refunds are a record of cash moving out of your bank account and back into your customer's account, but don't change either the Monthly AR Balance report or the Aging report. Refund records also reopen previously paid invoices so you don't lose track of money still owed.

If you refund an invoice without creating and applying a credit memo, your accounting-related reports will show you incorrect information and the invoice will be marked unpaid/overdue.

If you refund an invoice after creating and applying a credit memo, your accounting-related reports will show correct information and the previously paid invoice will remain paid/closed.

TIP: You can create a credit memo before or after a refund, but we suggest creating the credit memo first because the workflow also involves creating a refund and makes everything cleaner for you.

To manually create a credit memo from a paid invoice, watch the video above or follow the below instructions:

Click on "Create Credit Memo" from the dropdown menu next to or in the invoice depending on where you're starting from. (See above screenshots.)
Review the auto-filled fields at the top to see if anything needs to be adjusted.
Review the line item(s) in the Services section that auto-populated from the paid invoice and, if there's more than one, delete any line item(s) that you don't want included in the credit.
Check the box next to each previously applied payment that you want to credit for the customer.
If needed, adjust the Amount to Unapply field to reflect the amount you want to credit.
Add any necessary notes or attachments to the credit memo and select how you'd like to notify the customer about their credit.

Please Note: If 'Email' is selected as the Preferred Communication, a notification will be sent to the email address in the Email field at the top of the credit memo page. If 'Print' is selected, you'll receive an email with a PDF that you can print and send to the customer.
By default, the option to 'Complete this Credit Memo' will be selected. If you're creating a credit memo after refunding, keep this option selected and click "Apply Credit Memo" to finish creating the credit.
If you're creating a credit memo before refunding, select the 'Create Refund' option and fill out the refund fields that appear when you select 'Create Refund'.
Click "Apply Credit Memo" to save both the credit memo and the refund, and immediately apply the memo to the invoice so it doesn't reopen.

Please Note: Creating a refund in ServiceCore doesn't actually move the funds from your bank to your customer's bank. You'll need to process the refund through your financial institution.

Because the credit memo is immediately applied to the invoice, you'll notice that the payment record for the invoice changes from the customer's original payment method to now saying credit memo as the payment method.

TIP: Since the invoice was already paid, you'll want to unapply the original payment so that only the credit memo shows as a payment method.

Edit a Refund

If you're using QuickBooks Online (QBO), any changes to a refund record in ServiceCore will automatically sync to your QBO account.

If you're using QuickBooks Desktop (QBD), any changes to a refund record in ServiceCore will NOT automatically sync to your QBD account.

If you refunded an online payment (credit/debit card or ACH), you won't be able to change the associated customer, refunded payment method, refund amount, or the refund date.

There are 4 ways to edit a refund:

From the main Accounting section.
From a customer's profile under the Accounting section.
From inside the refund itself.
From inside the associated payment.

To edit a refund, just follow the below instructions:

Using one of the above methods, click "Edit Refund".
Make your changes.
Click "View Refund" to save your changes.

Void a Refund

If you're using QuickBooks Online (QBO) or QuickBooks Desktop (QBD), any refund records that you void in ServiceCore will NOT automatically sync to your QBO or QBD account.

TIP: Refunds for credit/debit cards and ACH can only be voided if they have not been fully processed by Fiserv. Voiding a refund in ServiceCore will automatically trigger the void process in your CardPointe account.

There are 4 ways to void a refund:

From the main Accounting section.
From a customer's profile under the Accounting section.
From inside the refund itself.
From inside the associated payment.

To void a refund, just follow the below instructions:

Using one of the above methods, click "Void Refund".
It's not required, but we strongly suggest entering a reason for why you're voiding the refund.
Click "Void Refund".

Remember to void the refund in your QBD or QBO account next!

Delete a Refund

If you're using QuickBooks Desktop (QBD), any refunds that you delete in ServiceCore will NOT automatically sync to your QBD account.

As a best practice, we don't suggest ever deleting a refund record and instead voiding refunds that aren't needed. Once you delete a refund it cannot be restored which may cause confusion for you in the future if you've previously sent the customer a refund receipt.

TIP: Refunds for credit/debit cards and ACH can only be deleted if they have not been fully processed by Fiserv. Deleting a refund in ServiceCore will automatically trigger the deletion process in your CardPointe account.

There are 4 ways to delete a refund:

From the main Accounting section.
From a customer's profile under the Accounting section.
From inside the refund itself.
From inside the associated payment.

To delete a refund, just follow the below instructions:

Using one of the above methods, click "Delete Refund".
Click "Delete Forever".

Remember to delete the refund in your QBD account next!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

These FAQs address common questions and quick clarifications to help you use this feature with confidence.

Why Are There Separate Refunds (New) and Refunds (Legacy) Tabs?

As of September 2, 2025, we updated how refunds work to improve accuracy, make reporting clearer, and remove the need for workarounds.

Originally, refunds were not tied to payments or invoices which caused workflow and reporting issues. They're now tied directly to payments and via payments they are tied to invoices.

Refunds also no longer require you to select specific line items; all you have to do is select a payment to refund.

In order to streamline your accounting reports, refunding an applied payment will now reopen the invoice that it was applied to while refunding an unapplied payment now simply reduces that credit balance.

We wanted to make sure that these changes did not disrupt historical information for legacy refunds, so we separated all refunds created prior to September 2, 2025 into their own Refunds (Legacy) tab. Any refunds created after September 2, 2025 will show in their own Refunds (New) tab.

Does Recording A Refund In ServiceCore Move The Funds To My Customer's Bank Account?

That depends on your customer's original payment method.

If your customer originally used cash or a check as their payment method, you will need to manually refund them outside of ServiceCore using a method you prefer. Recording a refund in ServiceCore updates your accounting reports and gives you a paper trail to follow in the future, but doesn't actually move the funds from your bank account to your customer's bank account.

If your customer originally used a credit/debit card or an ACH transfer as their payment method, recording a refund in ServiceCore will automatically trigger the refund process for you in your CardPointe account so you don't have to do anything additional.

Please Note: Refunds issued to a credit/debit card or ACH account can only go back to the original card/account.

When Will My Customer Get Their Money Back?

That depends on your refund method.

If your customer originally used cash or a check as their payment method, they will get their money back when you give it to them outside of ServiceCore.

If your customer originally used a credit/debit card or an ACH transfer as their payment method, the refund timeline depends on their financial institution. Generally, they will receive their refund within 5-10 business days.

Please Note: Refunds issued to a credit/debit card or ACH account can only go back to the original card/account.

Why Did My Refund Reopen An Invoice?

Recording a refund will automatically reopen the invoice that is associated with the refunded payment so you don't lose track of money still owed.

If a new payment is needed from the customer who was refunded, you will need to apply a new payment or apply an existing credit to the reopened invoice.

If a new payment is not needed, you can create a credit memo and apply it to the invoice to close it.

Please Note: Invoices that reopen in ServiceCore will also reopen in QBO.

What Happens If I Edit A Legacy Refund?

Nothing. The legacy refund will stay marked as a legacy refund and no historical data will change.

What Happens If I Edit, Refund, or Credit A Payment From An Older Accounting Period?

Editing a legacy invoice or payment will change the historical data in your accounting reports. We suggest contacting our Support team before editing.

Can Surcharges Be Refunded?

Yes. Because invoices no longer require you to select specific line items, all you have to do is make sure the amount matches what you want to refund.

Can I Issue A Refund Without A Payment?

No. All refunds must be tied to a payment to maintain accurate accounting reports.

If you have a unique case and need to issue a refund not connected to a payment, please contact our Support team for assistance.

How Will Refunds Show In My QuickBooks Online (QBO) Account?

Refunds recorded in ServiceCore will sync as a Journal Entry for the customer. It includes the refund memo, amount refunded, and linked payment.