Refunds

Sometimes you need to give money back — a member drops out, a parent pays twice, or an event is called off. You can refund a collected payment directly from Scoutworks, without leaving the app, and the parent is paid back automatically.

What you can refund#

A refund applies to a single payment that has actually been collected — money that has reached the group's bank account. That covers both kinds of payment:

• One-off payments — a single charge you created for an event fee, trip, or similar.
• A single collection from a recurring subscription — for example, one month's or one term's subscription. You refund the individual collection, not the subscription as a whole.

Where to start a refund#

A Refund option appears on any payment that has been collected. You'll find it in three places, all under Finance → Online Payments:

When a payment can be refunded#

The Refund option is only active when a payment can genuinely be refunded. If it's greyed out, hover over it and a short note explains why.

Full or partial refund#

When you open the refund window:

1. By default the whole payment is refunded. To return only part of it, tick Partial refund and enter the amount — it can't be more than the original payment.
2. Choose a Reason: Duplicate payment, Event cancelled, Overpayment, Payment error, Parent refund request, or Other.
3. Check the amount on the confirm button and select Refund.

After you confirm a refund#

• The parent is emailed automatically to let them know a refund is on its way.
• The money is returned to their bank account, typically within two to five working days.
• Refunds can't be reversed once you confirm them, so double-check the amount before you go ahead.

Tracking refunds#

To see every refund you've issued and where each one is up to, open the Finance Actions dropdown and select Manage Refunds. This opens the Refund History list, which shows each refund with its status.

Refund History is a read-only record — you can't start a refund from here. To issue a new refund, use one of the three places above.

Refunds you paid another way#

If you've already sent the money yourself by bank transfer, there's nothing to refund here. Instead, match that bank transaction to the payment it gives back so the payment stops showing as paid. See Recording a Refund You Paid Yourself.

What's next#

• Recording a Refund You Paid Yourself — match a refund you sent by bank transfer to the payment it reverses.
• One-Off Payments — create one-time payment requests for events and trips.
• Collecting Subscriptions from Parents — set up recurring Direct Debit payments you can later refund per collection.
• Catching Up on Missed Subscription Payments — recover payments that didn't collect the first time.