Introduction
From the main menu open Financials, then click the Refund process tile. The screen is headed Batch generation and has three tabs, worked left to right: 1. Settlement, 2. Validate and Generate and 3. Batches. The first two are lists of bookings with a button above each; the third lists the bank files you made before.
First you settle each booking, so that what is left is deposit money that belongs to the customer. You then generate a batch: one bank file that pays all those customers back, which you upload to your online banking.
You will use this when:
- vehicles came back undamaged, the invoices are done, and the deposits need to go back
- a customer paid more rent than the final invoice
- a customer paid a deposit and then cancelled for free
Words used on this screen
| The screen says | It means |
|---|---|
| Settlement, Settle | Using the deposit to pay rent still owed, or moving rent paid above the invoice to the deposit side |
| Batch | One bank file with several refund transfers in it |
| Iban, BIC | The customer's bank account number and their bank's code |
| To be refunded | Tab 1: total paid minus the booking price. Tab 2: the deposit left, which the bank file pays |
| Refund blocked | Why a booking cannot go into a bank file yet, or Ready |
Every way to do this task
| Route | What you get |
|---|---|
| Financials menu, Refund process tile | Settle many bookings at once, then make one bank file for all refunds. Covered here |
| Payments on a booking, then Settle on the Booking payments screen | Settles one booking. It does not pay anything back |
| Financials menu, Batch lookup tile | The bank files you made before, and the bookings in each one |
Use this page when the invoice is final and you refund by bank transfer. To lower an invoice, use a credit note; to release a card hold, see deposits and pre-authorisation.
How to use
Configuration
The bank file needs your own bank details and one company-wide setting. A company administrator sets these up once.
-
Choose how batches are split. From the main menu open Admin, then Settings, then click the Financial tile. The screen is headed Financial settings. Find Batch creation type. It has two choices:
Choice What you get PerLocation (the starting value) One bank file for each pickup location that has a booking in your selection PerBranch One bank file for each branch Press Save. The setting applies to the next batch you generate. Files you made earlier do not change. On the same screen, use subledging decides whether settlements reach your accounting package: set to no, one half of each settlement is sent; set to yes (the starting value), neither is. See accounting sync.
-
Enter the account the refunds are paid from. From the main menu open Admin, then Product design, then click the Branches tile. Open each branch and fill in Iban and BIC. Fill in the full address too: Street, House number, Postal code, City and Country, and the branch Name. The app does not make a file for a branch or location whose name or address is incomplete. Press Save.
Before you start: the Refund process and Batch lookup screens, and both set-up screens above, need a company administrator account. The Settle button on a single booking works with any staff account. Bank files can only be made when your company's currency is the euro. Every customer you refund needs a valid bank account number (IBAN) and a city and country in their address; a BIC is needed only for an account outside the European Economic Area (EEA). See set a customer's payment and invoicing terms for where the bank details go.
Using the refund process
-
From the main menu open Financials, then click the Refund process tile. The 1. Settlement tab opens.
-
Narrow the list with the filter box under a column heading, such as Invoice name. It shows bookings where the money is not yet split correctly between rent and deposit.
-
Tick the bookings to settle and check To be refunded.
-
Click Settle selected. There is no message; settled bookings leave this tab at once.
-
Open the 2. Validate and Generate tab: bookings with the rent fully paid and deposit money left over. In the Iban and BIC columns, a green tick means the value is filled in (for Iban, also valid); a cross means missing or wrong. The Refund blocked column reads Ready, or the reason the booking cannot be paid back yet:
Refund blocked says Fix it on the customer form No customer The booking has no customer; add one to the booking IBAN missing / IBAN not valid Fill in or correct Iban on the Financial tab City or country missing Complete the address BIC not valid Correct or clear BIC BIC missing (IBAN outside the EEA) Fill in BIC; foreign accounts need one -
For a row that is not Ready, click it, open the customer and fix it. Then reopen the tab.
-
Tick the bookings to refund, and click Generate batch from selected.
-
Your browser downloads a file named BATCH_REFUND_ plus a number, ending in .xml: one per location or per branch. You may see two messages:
Message What it means Please check the branch setup of branch. Missing data. Batch process continues for other branches. That branch's name or address is incomplete; its bookings were skipped The deposit of n booking(s) was not refunded because customer data is missing. Those bookings were skipped and stay on the tab; Refund blocked says what is missing -
Upload the file to your online banking and approve it.
-
To download a file again, open 3. Batches (newest first) and click the download icon at the right-hand end of the row.
To settle one booking: open it, click Payments, then Settle on the Booking payments screen. The app says Settled! (or Total paid is less than total invoiced.). You still refund the money through steps 5 to 9.
Key details
What settling records. Two payments with the reference Settlement, dated now: one takes an amount off one side, the other adds it to the other side, so the total paid stays the same. Both show on the booking's Booking payments screen. Rent that settling creates goes onto the booking's open invoices straight away.
| Situation | What settling does |
|---|---|
| Rent paid is less than the invoiced amount | Moves deposit money across to rent, up to the invoiced amount |
| Rent paid is more than the invoiced amount | Moves the extra across to the deposit side, so it can be refunded |
What generating a batch records. For every booking in the file the app records a refund at once: a payment for minus the full Total deposit paid, method Batch. The deposit paid goes to zero and the booking leaves 2. Validate and Generate. This happens when the file is made, not when the bank pays. Each transfer carries the booking number as its description. Less than €0.05 of deposit is never paid out; it stays on the booking as deposit.
A worked example. A van costs €484.00 including value-added tax (VAT). The customer paid €300.00 rent and a €250.00 deposit, €550.00 in total. You invoice €484.00.
| Step | Rent paid | Deposit paid | Where it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before | 300.00 | 250.00 | 1. Settlement, To be refunded 66.00 (550 − 484) |
| After Settle selected | 484.00 | 66.00 | 2. Validate and Generate, To be refunded 66.00 |
| After Generate batch from selected | 484.00 | 0.00 | In the batch file as a €66.00 transfer to the customer |
Had they paid €500.00 rent and no deposit, settling moves €16.00 to the deposit side and €16.00 goes in the next batch.
Which bookings reach the first tab. A booking appears on 1. Settlement only when all of these are true:
| Condition | What to check on the booking |
|---|---|
| It is returned and invoiced, or cancelled | The booking status, and Total invoiced |
| The invoiced amount matches the booking price to within 5 cents | Total invoiced against Total price incl vat |
| Rent paid differs from the invoiced amount by a cent or more | Total rent paid |
| The customer has paid at least the invoiced amount in total | Total rent paid plus Total deposit paid |
A booking priced at €484.00 and invoiced at €484.05 still appears; invoiced at €484.06 it drops off both tabs until the two match again.
Which bookings reach the second tab. Rent paid equals the invoiced amount to the cent, something was invoiced, and at least €0.05 deposit is left. A cancelled booking with a price of zero and no rent paid also appears if the customer paid at least €0.05 deposit. Here To be refunded is the deposit left, rounded to the cent: exactly what the file pays.
What to do next: upload the file to your bank the same day, then fix the bookings left on 2. Validate and Generate and generate again.
Q&A
The bank rejected a transfer, but the booking says the deposit has been refunded. What now? The app records the refund when it makes the file, not when the bank pays. Open the booking, click Payments, and delete the payment with method Batch on the Booking payments screen. The deposit comes back on the booking and the booking reappears on 2. Validate and Generate. See sort out a payment that is missing, wrong or not in the accounts.
The downloaded bank file is lost. Can I generate the batch again? No. The bookings in it already have their deposit set to zero, so they are no longer on 2. Validate and Generate. Download the same file again from the 3. Batches tab.
A customer is still on the Validate and Generate tab after I generated a batch. Why? They were left out for the reason in the Refund blocked column. Fix the customer form, then generate again for that booking. Street, house number and postal code are not needed. A blank BIC only blocks an account outside the EEA.
Why did clicking Generate batch from selected do nothing at all? Either no bookings were ticked, or Batch creation type on Financial settings is empty. Ask a company administrator to set it to PerLocation or PerBranch.
Why does "SEPA batch files are only available for companies with currency EUR." appear? Bank files use the European SEPA transfer system, which only works in euros. Pay the refunds another way and record each one on the booking, see Record a payment a customer has made.
A booking has a few cents of deposit left. Why is it on neither tab? Less than €0.05 is never paid out. It stays on the booking as deposit.
Why did no file download for one location, while others did? That location's branch has an incomplete name or address, and the message Please check the branch setup of named it. A company administrator fixes it under Admin > Product design > Branches. The branch's Iban and BIC are not checked, so check them yourself: they are the account the money is paid from.
Why does Settle on the booking say Total paid is less than total invoiced when the list shows money to refund? The single Settle button only works when something was invoiced and the customer paid more than the invoiced amount. A cancelled booking with nothing invoiced always gets this message. Use Settle selected on the 1. Settlement tab instead, which handles those bookings.
Why is a returned booking with a deposit missing from both tabs? Check three things. Has it been invoiced? Does the invoiced amount match the booking price to within 5 cents? Has the customer paid at least the invoiced amount? A customer who still owes money is never refunded. Take their payment first, see check what a customer owes and take a payment. If the invoice is wrong, correct it with a credit note.
A credit note reads To refund. Does the refund process pay it? Not directly: the refund process works from each booking's paid and invoiced totals, not from credit notes. If the booking still shows money to give back, it appears on 1. Settlement like any other. What To refund means on a credit note is on See which invoices are paid and open.
How do I see which bookings were in a batch? Open Financials, click Batch lookup, then the eye icon on the batch. Click a booking to open it.
Why can't I open the Refund process tile? The screen needs a company administrator account. Ask your administrator.
Related pages
- Take a vehicle back at the end of a rental: the return comes before the final invoice and the refund.
- Invoice a booking: a booking needs its invoice before it can be settled.
- Cancel a booking: cancelled bookings with a deposit end up here.
- Deposits and pre-authorisation: deposits held on a card are released there, not refunded here.
- Recording a payment: to record a refund you paid by hand outside a batch.