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Refund Failed or Won't Process: How to Troubleshoot

Jessica Lara
  • Updated

This article covers two situations: when you cannot issue a refund (the option is missing or returns an error) and when a refund was issued but later failed. It explains the causes, where to see a failed refund and its reason, and how to resolve each.

💡Quick Answers

  • Why is Issue Refund missing or erroring? The most common reasons are that refunds are not enabled for your site, the payment is an ACH charge still clearing (ACH Pending), or the payment is past the refund time limit.
  • What are the refund time limits? Credit card refunds must be initiated within 90 days of the original payment; ACH refunds within 180 days.
  • Why can't I refund an ACH payment? ACH takes 5 to 7 business days to clear. While it shows ACH Pending, Issue Refund is unavailable. Wait until it shows Paid.
  • A refund I issued failed. What happens? The amount is automatically returned to your connected bank account and added back to the parent's ledger as a payment. If you have the Failed Payments notification on, you receive a Failed Refund Notification email.
  • Where do I see the failure reason? On the Payment History page, click Show on the payment to see the refund history and failure reason. You can also filter Status = Refund Failed. Full reason descriptions are in Stripe's Handle Failed Refunds documentation.
  • Refunds suddenly stopped working entirely. A safeguard turns refunds off automatically after unexpected large usage. Contact Support to verify the account and re-enable them.

In this Article

When You Can't Issue a Refund

If Issue Refund is missing or returns an error, check these in order:

  • Refunds not enabled: You must enable refunds under Settings > Financial > Payments > (Step 1). Until you do, the option to refund will not be available.
  • ACH payment still pending: ACH/Electronic Check payments take 5 to 7 business days to clear and show as ACH Pending. Issue Refund is unavailable until the payment moves to Paid.
  • Past the time limit: Credit card refunds must be initiated within 90 days of the original payment; ACH within 180 days.
  • Safeguard disabled refunds: As an internal safeguard, refunds automatically turn off after unexpected large usage. Submit a request to Support to re-enable them.

When a Refund Fails After It's Issued

Sometimes a refund is issued successfully but then fails on the processor's end. When that happens, the following occur automatically:

  • The refunded amount is returned to the bank account connected to your Payments account.
  • The refund is added back to the parent's ledger as a (positive) payment to balance the ledger.
  • If you have the Failed Payments notification enabled (User Notifications page), you receive the Failed Refund Notification email.

Where to See a Failed Refund

  • Payment History Report: Click Show on the payment to see the full refund history, including the failure reason. Use Filter Status = Refund Failed to list only failed refunds.
  • Parent ledger: The failed refund appears as a payment added back to the ledger.
  • Payout Report: All transactions related to the failed refund are recorded here.
  • Failure reason descriptions: See Stripe's Handle Failed Refunds documentation for the list of reasons and what they mean.

Convenience Fees and Ledger Notes

  • A full refund returns the convenience fee to the family, but the fee is not returned to your bank, so the school absorbs it. To avoid that, issue a partial refund and enter each category's amount without the fee.
  • A refund posts as a negative payment; the original charge remains on the ledger. Cancel it with a negative charge or delete it if it is not owed by the family.
  • Refunds take 5 to 10 days to appear on a statement.
  • Ledger Lock: If the original payment date is in the locked range, the refund posts with the current date instead of the original date.

Contact Finalsite Support

If a refund still will not process or you need the safeguard re-enabled, submit a request to Finalsite Support and include:

  • The affected payer or family and the transaction number.
  • The situation. Whether you cannot issue the refund, or a refund failed after issuing.
  • The exact error or failure reason. From the Payment History Report if available.
  • The original payment. Its date and type (credit card or ACH).
  • Safeguard status. Whether refunds were recently disabled by the safeguard.

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