Transactions, refunds and reconciliation

This guide helps you look up a customer's payment history, refund a payment and check what reached your bank. It is for owners, finance staff and anyone who answers billing questions from customers.

Before you begin

• You need permission to manage Payments to issue refunds. Others can usually view transactions only.
• Have something to search by: the customer's name, the amount or the date.
• Refunds go back through the provider that took the payment. Online refunds are available for Stripe and Razorpay payments.

Where to find it

• Payment history: Payments → Transactions
• Fees and payouts: Payments → Reconciliation

Find a payment

1. Open Payments → Transactions. The page lists payments and refunds confirmed by your provider. You can't edit this list.
2. Use Source to narrow it down. Payments from other modules appear here too, such as Memberships, Agreements, Webinars, Calendar and Forms.
3. Use Status to show Pending, Paid, Partially refunded, Failed or Refunded payments.
4. Choose View on a row to open the transaction.

The transaction page shows the customer, amount, method, linked invoice and a Revenue reconciliation section with fees and payout details.

What the payment statuses mean

Refund a payment

1. Open the transaction from Payments → Transactions.
2. Choose Refund payment. This button shows only for Stripe or Razorpay payments that still have money left to refund.
3. In Confirm refund, check the customer and invoice named in the warning.
4. Check Amount. It starts at the full refundable amount. Lower it for a partial refund. The helper text shows the maximum.
5. Optional: add an Internal reason (optional). Only your team sees it.
6. Choose Refund followed by the amount.

What you should see

• The message "Refund status updated. Only verified provider evidence confirms the refunded amount."
• A new row in Refund history with the date, status and amount. Statuses move from pending or accepted to succeeded (or failed).
• The invoice and transaction change to Refunded or Partially refunded once the provider confirms it.

While one refund is in progress, you cannot start another on the same payment. Wait for the provider to confirm it first.

Reverse an offline payment

Payments you recorded by hand (bank transfer, cash, cheque) are not refunded through a provider. Instead:

1. Open the offline payment's transaction.
2. Choose Reverse payment.
3. Enter a Reversal reason and confirm.

The message "Offline payment reversed. The invoice balance has been reopened." confirms it worked. Return the money to the customer yourself.

Check fees and payouts

Payments → Reconciliation compares what you collected with what the provider kept and paid out.

• The summary shows Gross collected, Refunded, Provider fees, Known net, Pending evidence, Paid out and Needs attention.
• The Provider evidence table lists each payment with its gross amount, fee and known net. Choose Review to open one.
• On a transaction, choose Refresh provider evidence if the fee or payout details look out of date.

If a value shows as unknown, Spacebrain has not received that detail from the provider yet. It does not guess.

Razorpay payment recovery

If you use Razorpay, admins can see Payment recovery in Payments → Settings. It lists Razorpay payments that need another check. Choose Refresh to update the list. Bank settlement details are available in Razorpay itself.

Worked example: a partial refund

A client paid for a three-session package and used one session. You agree to refund the other two.

1. Open Transactions, set Source to Payments and find the client's payment.
2. Choose View, then Refund payment.
3. Change Amount to the value of two sessions and add the reason "Two unused sessions".
4. Confirm. The transaction shows Partially refunded once Stripe confirms.

If something goes wrong

• There is no Refund payment button. The payment was offline, came from a provider that does not support refunds here, is already fully refunded, or you lack permission.
• The refund stays pending. Providers can take time to confirm. Refresh later. Do not start a second refund.
• The refund failed. Read the status in Refund history. Check the provider dashboard for the reason, such as a closed card.
• A customer says they were charged twice. Search Transactions for both payments before refunding. Refund only the confirmed duplicate.

FAQ

How long does a refund take to reach the customer?

That depends on the provider and the customer's bank. Spacebrain shows the refund once the provider confirms it.

Does refunding a membership payment cancel the membership?

No. Cancel or change the membership separately in Memberships.

Can I refund a Commas payment here?

Refunds here are available for Stripe and Razorpay payments. Handle other refunds in the provider's dashboard.

Next step

Connect billing to signed terms with Agreements billing and collections.