Refunds and Payment Failures
Handle failed, voided, and refunded payments without losing invoice history.
Payment issues should be handled from the payment and invoice records so the customer balance stays clear.
Failed Payments
A failed online payment usually means the customer still owes the invoice balance. Review the invoice, payment attempt, gateway message, and customer payment method before asking the customer to try again.
If the invoice is still payable, resend the invoice or share the public invoice link after confirming payment options are enabled.
If the customer attempted payment more than once, check the provider dashboard before asking them to retry. Failed attempts, pending payments, and successful payments can look similar from the customer's side.
Collect the invoice link, customer email, attempted payment time, gateway error, and provider transaction ID when available. This helps finance distinguish a true failure from a delayed webhook or pending payment.
Refund a Payment
Use refunds when money was collected and should be returned. Review the payment, invoice, customer, amount, and gateway before refunding.
After a refund, check the invoice balance and status. If the customer should no longer owe the amount, use credit notes or cancellation workflows where appropriate instead of creating unclear manual adjustments.
Record the reason for the refund in the payment or invoice context. The note should explain whether the refund was duplicate payment, cancellation, overpayment, dispute resolution, or goodwill credit.
Tell the customer what was refunded and what remains due, if anything. A refund can be correct financially but still confusing if the invoice balance, credit note, and customer message are not aligned.
After refunding, compare Agiled, the gateway dashboard, and any accounting system. Refunds can affect payout timing, invoice status, customer balance, and finance reports.
Void a Payment
Void a payment only when the payment should not settle or should be removed from the active payment workflow. Use this carefully, especially when connected payment gateways or accounting records are involved.
Before voiding, confirm the payment has not settled and that the provider supports the state you expect. If money already moved, a refund or credit note may be more appropriate than a void.
Gateway Behavior
Stripe Connect, PayPal, and Mollie can each return different failure and refund details. Use the integration settings and provider dashboard when the gateway needs additional verification.
When provider and Agiled states disagree, use the provider transaction as the source for money movement and Agiled as the source for customer invoice state. Then reconcile the invoice with the correct payment, refund, credit note, or cancellation action.
Do not delete payment history to make a balance look cleaner. Use the proper refund, credit note, void, or cancellation path so the audit trail explains what happened.
Customer Communication
When a payment fails or is refunded, tell the customer what happened, what was not charged or what was returned, and whether any balance remains. Include the current invoice link only after confirming the invoice state and gateway status.
Payment Issue Checklist
Before changing invoice state:
- verify provider transaction status
- check Agiled payment history
- confirm invoice balance and currency
- decide whether refund, void, credit note, or cancellation is correct
- document the customer message
- review finance reports after large corrections