> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://clubdock.co.uk/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Credit and refunds > How account credit arises and is spent, how to issue a credit note, and how to give money back to a family. When a family is owed money, ClubDock puts it on their account as **credit**, ready to spend on their next booking. Giving it back to them is a separate step, a **refund**, and only a Manager can make it. ## How credit arises | What happened | The credit is called | | - | - | | A place they had paid for is cancelled, by the parent within your cancellation policy or by staff | **Cancelled places on CD-…** | | They paid more than they owed | **Overpayment on CD-…** | | A Manager removed a charge they had paid | **Charge removed from CD-…** | | A Manager issued a credit note | The credit note's own number, **CN-…** | A place cancelled before it was paid for creates no credit. Its price simply comes off what the family owes, so their next booking is charged in full. ## How credit is spent Credit is spent automatically on the family's next booking, oldest first, and shown as applied. They are never asked to pay money your club already owes them. Card or Tax-Free Childcare covers only the rest. You can see a family's credit on their parent record. See [A family's records](https://clubdock.co.uk/docs/families/a-familys-records.md). ## Issue a credit note Use a credit note for a goodwill gesture, such as a session that did not go as it should. > [!NOTE] > > Only a **Manager** can issue a credit note. 1. Open the booking and, in its menu, choose **Issue a credit note**. 2. Enter the **Amount to credit** and a **Reason**. 3. Confirm with **Issue credit note**. The credit note first clears anything still owed on that booking. Only what is left over becomes credit on the family's account. ![The Issue a credit note dialog at 1280px, with Amount to credit and Reason filled in](https://mintcdn.com/club-dock/i5cYbq0jP2hBThbX/money/issue-a-credit-note.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=i5cYbq0jP2hBThbX\&q=85\&s=55f2502b0ab0ec2e3da1ceaaff0eb50c) ## Refund credit > [!NOTE] > > Only a **Manager** can refund credit. Every way in opens the same dialog: **Refund credit** in a booking's menu, **Refund** beside a credit note, or **Refund** on the parent's page. The dialog offers only what fits where the money came from. **1. Open the refund** Choose **Refund credit** in the booking's menu, or **Refund** beside the credit. **2. Choose how it goes back** **Back to their card** or **I have paid them another way**. See below. **3. Enter the amount and a reason** Enter the **Amount to refund** and a **Reason**. You can refund part of the credit; the rest stays on their account. **4. Confirm** Press **Refund to card** or **Record refund**, then confirm. ![The Refund credit dialog at 1280px, with Back to their card and I have paid them another way highlighted](https://mintcdn.com/club-dock/i5cYbq0jP2hBThbX/money/refund-credit.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=i5cYbq0jP2hBThbX\&q=85\&s=48b84704fa065a33ad36153e4d70bc44) ### Where the money came from decides how it goes back | The money was paid by | What you can choose | What happens | | - | - | - | | **Card**, through ClubDock Pay | **Back to their card** (first), or **I have paid them another way** | Stripe refunds it from your Stripe balance. It takes 5 to 10 working days to reach the parent, and Stripe keeps its original fee. Limited to what is left of the credit and what was paid by card and not already refunded | | **Tax-Free Childcare** | **I have paid them another way** | You must repay it **to the child's childcare account**: sort code 60-89-71, account 10027165, quoting the parent's 13-digit childcare account number. Never to the parent's bank. This is the law | | **Part card, part Tax-Free Childcare** | **Back to their card**, up to the card part | The dialog names the Tax-Free Childcare share and says it must go back to the childcare account. That part stays as credit until you repay it the right way | | **Bank transfer, vouchers, cash or cheque** | **I have paid them another way** | Pay the parent by bank transfer, then record it here | With **I have paid them another way**, ClubDock only records the refund. You move the money from your own bank. > [!WARNING] > > A refund to a card cannot be taken back. Check the amount before you confirm. ### What is refused * **More than is left of the credit, or more than was paid by card.** Refused before anything moves, naming both figures. * **Credit that has already been spent.** What remains is worked out at the moment of the refund, so the same money cannot be spent and refunded. * **Pressing twice.** It makes one refund, not two. * **A closed club.** It cannot refund. Its card payments and their records stay as they were. ## With accounting software connected > [!NOTE] > > With Xero or QuickBooks connected, a refund is **not** sent to your accounts. After you record it, the dialog says **Now refund it in Xero** (or QuickBooks) and gives you the reference to search for there: the booking reference (CD-…) for credit from cancelled places, or the credit note number (CN-…) for credit issued by hand. Credit notes are sent to your accounts against the booking's invoice. If one does not get there, the booking shows a sync problem, and the credit note says so under **Credits** with **Send again**. See [When something does not sync](https://clubdock.co.uk/docs/accounting/when-something-does-not-sync.md). ## Refunds made in Stripe If you refund a card payment in your Stripe dashboard instead: * **After cancelling the places in ClubDock.** It is recorded as a refund of that credit. * **Without cancelling anything.** The booking shows as owing that money again, so ClubDock never says a parent paid money they have had back. ## Related topics - [Downloading a receipt](https://clubdock.co.uk/docs/parents/receipts.md) - [Cancelling and changing a booking](https://clubdock.co.uk/docs/bookings/cancelling-and-changing.md) - [Card payments with ClubDock Pay](https://clubdock.co.uk/docs/money/clubdock-pay.md) - [FAQs](https://clubdock.co.uk/docs/help/faqs.md) - [Troubleshooting](https://clubdock.co.uk/docs/help/troubleshooting.md) This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.