Refunds and corrections
Chiban never edits or deletes a payment. When money has to go back or move, you add a new entry that reverses part of the old one, and the application's balance follows. Administrators and finance staff can do all of this, on the application rather than on Payments.
Where the controls are
Open the application and go to Fees and payments. Under Payments recorded, each payment has Refund, correct, or reverse. Open it to see the options that fit that payment. Only payment entries have these controls. A fine paid on an enforcement case appears on the Payments page, but its case has no refund controls.
Refund a payment
- Open Refund, correct, or reverse on the payment.
- Read the lines listed under "A refund here reduces only these lines on this application." Each line shows the most you can refund.
- Enter the Refund amount in dollars and a Reason (at least 10 characters).
- Choose Refund and confirm.
Chiban takes the amount off those fee lines, so the fee shows as due again. It issues a refund receipt and records the refund as a negative entry. The entry uses the same method as the original: a cash refund appears in the Cash column on the cash receipts report, a check refund in Check.
A card payment is refunded through the card processor. The page then says either that the refund is recorded on a receipt, or "Refund sent. The processor has not completed it yet, so it is not in the ledger." In the second case, the refund is added to the ledger when the processor confirms it. If the processor rejects the refund, Chiban shows the processor's message and records nothing.
You cannot refund more than the payment still holds.
Record a returned check
For a check payment, Record returned check takes the full payment back when the bank returns the check. Enter Returned on and a reason. The fee shows as due again. The permit's state does not change, so the permit is not revoked for you. The daily cash receipts report marks the check as returned.
Record a chargeback
For a card payment, Record chargeback takes back money when a cardholder disputes the charge. Enter the Dispute reference from the processor, the Amount in dollars and a reason.
Move money to another permit
Move to another permit corrects a payment applied to the wrong application. Choose the permit under Move to, enter the Amount in dollars and a reason. The option appears when other applications exist and lists only the 25 most recent. It moves money onto a fee that is still due, so Chiban refuses if the other permit has no unpaid fee of at least that amount.
Every reversal needs a reason
Each of these asks for a reason of at least 10 characters, which is kept with the entry. Refunds, returned checks and chargebacks cannot be undone, so each asks you to confirm.