Refunds can be issued or recorded through brightwheel whenever the need arises - whether a student leaves the program early, a deposit needs to be returned, or if a payer unintentionally overpaid a student's account balance by a meaningful amount.
An online refund will return funds to the payer for an amount previously paid, on the original payment method, as long as it's within 85 days of the original payment.
An offline refund can be recorded in brightwheel for recording keeping purposes and reporting, but should be issued through other means such as a physical check, Venmo, etc.
Issue a Credit
Ultimately, deciding to issue a refund or a credit is up to the program and the payer. Credits can be easily added to the account and will reduce the balance owed by a payer on a future invoice. Credits are automatically applied to the next invoice that is created but can be manually applied elsewhere as needed.
💡 Learn more about Credits!
Issue an Online Refund
Refunds can be issued for online payments once the payment has fully processed, and up to 85 days after the payment was made. There are no additional processing fees associated with a refund and any processing fees charged at the time of payment are not refunded to the party that paid the processing fee (payer or school)
🚩 Please be aware that if issuing a partial refund, you will need to customize the Refund amount field. If you do not, the full payment amount will be refunded to the payer.
Navigate to the applicable student's billing profile
💡 Open the Billing page from the sidebar, jump to the Students tab, and select the student's name!
Locate the applicable payment to refund by following either of these steps:
On the Current activity tab, open the Available credits & payments tab
On the All transactions tab, open the Credits & payments tab
Click the Actions drop-down menu next to the payment that needs to be refunded, and select Refund
Input the Refund amount
🚩 If issuing a partial refund, customize this field. If you do not, the full payment amount will be refunded to the payer.Select the Refund method
Select the Reason
Input any optional Notes
Click Refund payment
Review the popup that may display stating that issuing the refund will remove the payment from the most recent invoice first. If the invoice is marked as paid, it may be re-opened.
Click Yes, refund to continue
ℹ️ Once refunded, payers will be automatically notified of the refund being processed. Please be aware that it can take up to 10 business days for the funds to return to the payer's account.
Record an Offline Refund
Offline refunds can be issued at any time, and allow administrators to record cash or check funds to payers. This is a great option for returning funds that were originally paid through cash, check, or a third-party system; or for refunding an online payment that is greater than 85 days old.
Navigate to the applicable student's billing profile
💡 Open the Billing page from the sidebar, jump to the Students tab, and select the student's name!
Open the All transactions tab and then the Credits & payments tab
Click the Actions drop-down menu next to the payment that needs to be refunded, and select Refund
Input the Refund amount
Select the Refund method
Select the Reason
Input any optional Notes
Uncheck or leave the box checked for Notify payer about this change depending on what's preferred
Click Refund payment
Review the popup that may display stating that issuing the refund will remove the payment from the most recent invoice first. If the invoice is marked as paid, it may be re-opened.
Click Yes, refund to continue
Once you've tracked the offline refund in brightwheel, follow up by providing the cash or check refund to the payer directly outside of brightwheel.
🚩 Recording an offline refund in brightwheel will not send or mail funds to payers.