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Brightwheel offers several options for administrators to consider when the need arises to return funds to payers. This may happen if students leave the program early, when a provider needs to return a deposit, or if a payer unintentionally overpaid a student's account balance by a meaningful amount. A refund returns funds to the payer for an amount that they had previously paid.
One option to consider is issuing an account credit towards a future charge or balance instead of a refund. Alternatively, administrators also have the option to issue an online refund to the original payment method as long as it's within 85 days of the paid date. The option to issue an offline refund (cash or check) will always remain present for all payments regardless of timeframes.
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Issue a Credit
Ultimately, deciding to issue a refund or a credit is up to the program and the payer. However, we encourage admins to consider issuing credits instead of refunds: these 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 unapplied, if an admin would prefer to manually apply it elsewhere. Learn more about how to create a credit here.
Issue an Online Refund
Refunds for online payments can be issued through brightwheel once the payment has been fully processed, and up to 85 days after the payment was made. Payments that have not been fully processed will be labeled as Pending for their payment status. Online payment refunds can take up to 5-10 business days to hit the payers account.
Click on the Available Credits and Payments tab in a student’s billing profile under Current Activity
Click the Actions drop-down menu next to the payment that needs to be refunded, and select Refund
NOTE: Payments that have been applied to invoices cannot be refunded. To refund an applied payment, be sure to unapply the payment first!Indicate the amount to refund in Refund amount
Select a Refund method and a Reason for refund
[Optional] Add notes if desired
[Optional] Uncheck/Check the box to 'Notify parents about this change'
Click Refund payment
Please note, that there are no additional processing fees associated with a refund. Any processing fees that were charged at the time of payment will NOT be refunded to the party that paid the processing fee (payer or school).
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.
Keep in mind that while offline refunds can be recorded in brightwheel, providers will need to make sure to deliver the cash or check refund to the payer. Recording an offline refund in brightwheel will not send or mail funds to payers on a program's behalf.
Go to the All Transactions tab in a student’s billing profile
Click the Actions drop-down menu next to the payment that needs to be refunded, and select Refund
NOTE: Payments that have been applied to invoices cannot be refunded. To refund an applied payment, be sure to unapply the payment first!Indicate the amount to refund in Refund amount
Select a Refund method (cash or check) and a Reason for refund
[Optional] Add notes if desired
[Optional] Uncheck/Check the box to 'Notify parents about this change'
Click Refund payment
Follow up by providing the cash or check refund to the payer directly outside of brightwheel
