Refunds & Chargebacks

Sometimes money needs to go back to a family — whether you are issuing a refund, recording a chargeback from their bank, or handling a bounced check. Campflow tracks all of these as reversals against the original payment, so your financial records stay accurate.

Refunds

A refund is when you return money to a family. Only payments made through the online payment processor (credit card or ACH) can be refunded directly through Campflow — the money goes back to the family’s card or bank account automatically.

How to Issue a Refund

1. Go to the family’s detail page.
2. Find the original payment in the Payments section.
3. Click the Refund button on the payment row.
4. Choose Full refund or Partial refund.
5. For partial refunds, enter the amount you want to return.
6. Optionally add a note explaining the reason.
7. Choose whether to send a refund receipt to the family.
8. Click Process Refund.

Full vs. Partial Refunds

• Full refund — Returns the entire payment amount. If the payment has not yet settled with the payment processor, Campflow will void the transaction instead of refunding it (the result is the same for the family, but voids are faster).
• Partial refund — Returns part of the payment. You can issue multiple partial refunds against the same payment, as long as the total does not exceed the original amount.

Refund Fee Handling

When you refund a payment, the processing fees from the original transaction are not refunded by the payment processor. Campflow gives you the option to either absorb the fee (so the parent gets the full refund amount) or pass it on (so the refund amount is reduced by the fee).

When refunding a payment that included processing fees, you have two options:

• Effective refund (default) — Refund only the base payment amount. The family gets back what they owed, but not the processing fee. This is the most common choice since the processing fee has already been paid to the processor.
• Full refund — Refund the full amount the family was charged, including the processing fee.

There is also a flat $0.30 transaction fee on the refund itself. You can choose to deduct this from the refund amount.

Note

If the refund is for the full amount and it’s the same day as the original payment, it will usually be processed as a void rather than a refund. A void cancels the original transaction entirely, so no processing fees are charged at all. Campflow can’t guarantee this in advance, but same-day full refunds are typically voided.

What Happens After a Refund

• The family’s balance increases by the refunded amount (since money was returned to them).
• The original payment shows a “Refunded” or “Partially Refunded” label.
• A separate refund record appears in the payment table.
• If you chose to send a receipt, the family gets an email confirming the refund.

Chargebacks

A chargeback happens when a family disputes a credit card charge with their bank. The bank reverses the payment, and you need to record this in Campflow so the family’s balance reflects the reversal.

How to Record a Chargeback

1. Go to the family’s detail page.
2. Find the original payment in the Payments section.
3. Click the Record Chargeback/Return button.
4. Select Chargeback as the type.
5. Choose Full or Partial amount.
6. For partial chargebacks, enter the amount.
7. Optionally add a note and an external reference (the chargeback case number from your processor).
8. If you want to charge the family a fee for the chargeback, check Include a fee and enter the fee amount. This adds a new charge to the family’s invoice.
9. Click Save.

Returns (Bounced Payments)

A return is when an ACH payment or check bounces — the bank reverses the transfer because of insufficient funds or a closed account. Like chargebacks, you record these so the balance updates correctly.

How to Record a Return

1. Go to the family’s detail page.
2. Find the original payment in the Payments section.
3. Click the Record Chargeback/Return button.
4. Select Return as the type.
5. Choose Full or Partial amount.
6. Optionally add a note, reference number, and a fee to charge the family.
7. Click Save.

Manual Refunds

If you refunded a family outside of Campflow (for example, you wrote them a check or sent money through a different system), you can record it as a manual refund. This works the same way as recording a chargeback, but you select Refund as the type. The balance adjusts accordingly, but no money is moved through Campflow’s payment processor.

Editing and Deleting Reversals

You can edit chargebacks and returns after recording them — click the reversal in the payment list to change the amount, note, or reference number. Reversals that were entered manually (not processed through the payment processor) can also be deleted.

Online refunds processed through Campflow cannot be edited or deleted since the money has already been returned.

Good to Know

• Refunds through the payment processor are only available for credit card and ACH payments. For other payment methods (cash, check, Zelle), use the manual refund option to record that money was returned.
• A payment can have multiple reversals — for example, a partial refund followed by a chargeback on the remaining amount.
• The original payment always stays on record. Reversals are separate entries that reference the original payment, so you have a complete history.
• When Autopay is active, refunding a payment causes the Autopay schedule to recalculate since the balance has changed.