Helpful Hints: Before you begin

• To find a list of your open invoices, go to Left-hand Navigation: Point of Sale » View Open Invoices. This list can be filtered by date and location. In the results, you can sort by each column as well as use the search function to search by things like Owner name, invoice number, or amounts. 
  
  
• What option you will choose depends on how your business handles its financial reporting. For example, whether or not you want "charges" for the line-item in question in your reporting will determine if you will want to void an invoice or apply an Admin Comp payment. For more information about how revenue reporting works in Gingr see our article on the Revenue by Date(s) Report. 
  
  
• There are two different forms of refunds. Line-item refunds refund the line-item or service itself and remove the charges from the system. Payment-only refunds only refund the payment while leaving the charges alone. For more information see the first section on understanding options. 
  
  
• Voids are best when the service was not rendered and the charges must be cleared entirely, as the revenue was not truly collected (i.e. the charges themselves are invalid). Voiding requires the User Permission “Can Process Voids.” To enable this permission for your user group navigate to Left-hand Navigation: Reports & More » Users and enable "Can Process Voids" for your group. For more information, see our article on How to Void Items or Invoices.
  
  
• The Admin Credit Comped payment method indicates that the charges are accurate but that you are not collecting a true form of payment. The Admin Comp method can be filtered out from your financial reporting so that when reviewing reports you only see true money collected. If an invoice was paid via Admin Comp and you filter out that method when running reports, the charges will also not display. 

How to: Understand Refund and Void Options

There are three different ways that an invoice can be managed other than applying a payment: line-item refunds/returns, payment-only refunds, and voids. Each is used for different circumstances.

• Line-item Refunds: Line-item refunds, which are done from the middle, line-item portion of the invoice, indicate that the customer will no longer owe you for the service/item. This removes the charges from your revenue reporting. 
  
  
• Payment-Only Refunds: Payment-only refunds, which are done from the bottom payments portion of the invoice, indicate that the customer still owes the business for the services/items. It is used when the original payment was not actually collected, the customer needs to pay at a later date, they need to pay with a different method, or there is an overpayment. This refunds the money paid but not the line-item itself. 
  
  
• Voids: Voids, which are performed on certain services/items from the middle, line item portion of the invoice, indicate that the charge was in error. This indicates that the customer doesn’t owe the business and closes the invoice to further action on those voided line-items. This is useful for when the wrong pet was checked out, the reservation did not occur, or circumstances when a customer has not paid but you need to close the invoice to payment. Voiding functions to entirely remove the charge from your revenue reporting, remove reservations from the animal profile/calendar/reports, and close the invoice to any payment. You will be prompted to refund the payment if any. For more information about voids, see our article on Voiding Invoices. 

Customer Hasn't Paid & Owes for the Item(s): Apply a Payment

If a customer's charges are valid but they haven't paid, you simply need to apply a payment. For more detailed instructions on options of paying (including adding an owner's full balance to the cart) see our articles on Invoicing in Gingr and Using the Shopping Cart.

Below are the basic instructions on applying a payment in the cart:

1. Navigate to the invoice and click the green Apply Payment button on the top right of the invoice to be forwarded to the cart. You can also add a balance to the cart via the owner profile.

2. Review the charges and then click “Check Out with Payment”

3. In the payment pop-up, choose the appropriate method

4. Complete the checkout. Now the invoice is closed to indicate nothing is due

Customer Hasn't & Shouldn't Pay: Void or Apply Admin Comped Payment

If you have an open invoice that indicates the customer owes you for some service(s) or line-item(s) and you do not need to collect money from the customer, then there are two primary options. 

If the charges were not valid (such as if the reservation didn't happen or the invoice was created in error) or for any reason you should not have those charges on your financial reporting, then processing a void is the most accurate way to handle the invoice. 

If the charges were valid (i.e. the services were rendered, the item was sold, etc.) then it would be more accurate to apply a payment. The Admin Credit Comped payment method is designed for situations like this. It indicates that the charges are accurate but that you are not collecting a true form of payment. 

Charges Were Not Valid - Process a Void

1. Navigate to the invoice and click the Select check box next to the service in question

2. Click the red Void button that appears on the top right of the invoice

3. Review the pop-up to ensure you understand what voiding does

4. Enter a reason for the void then click "Void Item(s)"

5. If payment was made, enter the refund method and refund amount in the second pop-up. Then click “Refund (1) Payment(s)” to complete the refund.

Charges Were Valid - Apply Admin Credit Comped Payment

1. Navigate to the invoice and click the green Apply Payment button on the top right of the invoice to be forwarded to the cart

2. Review the charges and then click “Check Out with Payment”

3. In the payment pop-up, choose Admin - Credit Comped, or, if you would like, it is possible to create more payment methods for these specific circumstances. If so, navigate to Left-hand Navigation: Admin » Payment Methods and use the Add button to create a new method. 

4. Complete the checkout. Now the invoice is closed to indicate nothing is due

Customer Underpaid & Won't Owe Remainder: Admin Comp Payment

In order to indicate your customer does not owe a remaining balance, you will need to apply a payment to close the invoice. You can use the Admin Credit Comped payment method or you can create a new payment method specific to the circumstances if you wish. 

1. Navigate to the invoice and click the green Apply Payment button on the top right of the invoice to be forwarded to the cart

2. Review the charges and then click “Check Out with Payment”

3. In the payment popup, choose Admin - Credit Comped,or, if you would like, it is possible to create more payment methods for these specific circumstances. If so, navigate to Left-hand Navigation: Admin » Payment Methods and use the Add button to create a new method. 

4. Complete the checkout. Now the invoice is closed to indicate nothing is due

Customer Overpaid & Must Be Refunded: Payment-Only Refund

If a customer overpaid on an invoice and should have that money refunded, you will need to process a payment-only refund. Typically the system will not allow for overpayments - if an estimate was overpaid the overpayment should convert to store credit. However, you may find yourself with an overpaid invoice, as indicated by a negative number on the Remaining Due line. 

Payment-only refunds, which are done from the bottom payments portion of the invoice, indicate that the customer still owes the business for the services/items. It is used when the original payment was not actually collected, the customer needs to pay at a later date, they need to pay with a different method, or there is an overpayment. This refunds the money paid but not the line-item itself.

1. Navigate to the Invoice. Click the “Select” check box next to the payment at the bottom of the invoice. Click the orange Refund button that will appear above the payment box

2. In the refund pop-up, select the Refund Method and then the Refund Amount, then process the refund

3. The overpayment has now been refunded and the invoice should be closed

Customer Overpaid & Payment Should Be Kept: Create Charges

1. Navigate to the Invoice. Click the “Select” check box next to the payment at the bottom of the invoice. Click the orange Refund button that will appear above the payment box

2. In the refund pop-up, select the Refund Method and then the Refund Amount, then process the refund

3. The invoice is now reopened to a different payment which can be done at any time from the Apply Payment button that will now display on the top right portion of the invoice or by adding the owner’s balance to the Shopping Cart

For a Reservation or Service: 

1. Edit the Reservation in question by clicking the button to the left of the entry and selecting Edit Reservation. Or, if no reservation has been created, navigate to the New Reservation page

2. Make the Start Date to the Current Date and Save Changes

3. Navigate to the Dashboard and you should now see the pet in your Expected tab

4. Check In the pet

5. Once the pet is checked in, you can Edit the Reservation and change the Start Date backward to the date and time the reservation should actually have been

6. Make sure any Additional Services, Appointments, and other charges are accurate

7. Add the pet to the shopping cart

8. Click the down arrow next to the Reservation line item to expand the details of the Reservation

9. Click the pencil icon and edit the end date to the proper date and time

10. Check out with the store credit on the account

11. Now you have a reservation starting and ending on the correct dates and the charges will be in the system

For Retail or Packages:

1. Navigate to the shopping cart. Select the owner this applies to from the upper left corner of the screen

2. Towards the right of the screen is the Retail Section. Click Browse Retail and then select the applicable item(s) or package(s)

3. Check out with the store credit on the account