With Cloudbeds Payments, refunds back to your guest’s credit card can be submitted directly from your Cloudbeds PMS. This article explains how to submit refunds to your guests.
Refunds of transactions made via the terminal will also be processed directly through the Cloudbeds PMS.
Do you have questions about refunds? Please check the following article:
Background
Some quick definitions of relevant terms to better understand the refund process:
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Refund to credit card: When an original sale was made by credit card, you can refund the transaction to that same credit card. All credit card refunds are final and cannot be undone. Original processing fees are not reversed when a transaction is refunded.
- Returned: In your Cloudbeds software, you will see the return amount in red font on the folio after a transaction has been returned.
- Gateway Refund: In your Payment Processing Report, a refunded transaction will be displayed as Gateway Refund under the Payment Types.
- Void: With Cloudbeds Payments, we process and settle a transaction instantly — once a transaction is settled, it can no longer be voided (you can still void an authorization). If you make a mistake when processing a payment, you need to refund the transaction.
What kind of functions does Cloudbeds Payments feature allow?
| Refund Functions | YES / NO |
|---|---|
| Full Refund | YES |
| Partial Refund | YES |
| Void* | NO |
| Refund to a Different Credit Card | NO |
*Void option is available for authorization only. You can release an authorization by clicking the void button on the Credit Card Details page. See article: Cloudbeds Payments - How to Authorize Incidentals
How to refund a transaction inside the reservation
- Navigate to the Reservation and access the Folio tab.
- Click the gear icon next to the transaction made through Cloudbeds Payments.
- Click Refund Transaction.
This process also applies when the original payment was made through the Cloudbeds Payments terminal. This refund will also be processed directly through the Cloudbeds PMS.
- Enter the amount to be refunded (by default, it will be the full amount of the charge, but this can be edited to any amount).
- Click Process Refund.
Another option to refund:
- Click Add/Refund Payment and select Refund Payment.
- Select the credit card which has been previously charged.
- Select the guest to refund the transaction.
- Select the desired folio.
- Select Refund Payment Gateway Transaction.
- If you select a credit card which was already charged, this option will be selected by default.
Selecting Capture/Note existing refund DOES NOT process the refund to the guest's card through the payment gateway. The refund will be added only as a record to the guest's folio.
- Select the transaction to refund (if there were several charges on one card).
- Enter the amount to be refunded.
- If you are processing a partial refund, enter the desired amount.
- Refunding a greater amount than charged is not possible.
- Post with current date and time: Indicates the refund is added with the current time.
A refund can only be processed with the current time. It is not possible to process a refund for a past or future date. Even if the box is unchecked, you will not be able to change the date.
- Enter the notes if needed.
- Click Add refund.
Why is Refund Payment Gateway Transaction unavailable?
The Refund Payment Gateway Transaction option is only available when Cloudbeds PMS can identify an eligible payment transaction that was processed through a connected payment gateway.
The option may be greyed out or unavailable in the following situations:
- The payment was added using Capture/Note Existing Payment or another record-only method.
- The payment does not have a payment gateway transaction associated with it.
- The payment was processed outside Cloudbeds PMS.
- The Cloudbeds Payments deposit is still unconsumed in the Deposit Ledger and does not yet appear as a payment transaction in the reservation folio.
A payment or refund recorded in the folio is not necessarily a gateway transaction. Record-only entries document activity in the folio but do not send money to or from the guest's credit card.
Before attempting the refund, verify that the original charge was processed through Cloudbeds Payments and that the payment appears as an eligible transaction in the reservation folio.
If the original payment was entered as a record-only payment and has no gateway transaction, Cloudbeds Payments cannot issue a gateway refund for it. The refund must be handled through the system or provider where the original charge was processed.
How to refund an unconsumed Cloudbeds Payments deposit
If a deposit processed through Cloudbeds Payments is still unconsumed in the Deposit Ledger, it may not be available for selection as a gateway transaction in the reservation folio.
To process a partial refund from the original Cloudbeds Payments transaction:
- Open the reservation and navigate to the Deposit Ledger.
- Locate the applicable deposit and consume it.
- Confirm that the consumed deposit now appears as a payment transaction in the reservation folio.
- Click Add/Refund Payment.
- Select Refund Payment.
- Select the credit card, guest, and folio associated with the original payment.
- Select Refund Payment Gateway Transaction.
- Select the applicable gateway transaction.
- Enter only the amount that needs to be refunded.
- Click Add refund to process the refund through Cloudbeds Payments.
For example, if the original deposit was $534.66 and the reservation has an overpayment of $45.60, consume the deposit first and then process a partial gateway refund of $45.60.
Consuming the deposit does not create a gateway transaction if the original payment was record-only. If the payment was not originally processed through Cloudbeds Payments, the Refund Payment Gateway Transaction option will remain unavailable.
Partial versus full refunds from the Deposit Ledger
When the deposit remains unconsumed, refunding it directly from the Deposit Ledger may require the original deposit amount to be refunded.
If only part of the deposit needs to be refunded, the recommended workflow is to consume the deposit first and then process a partial refund against the resulting payment transaction in the reservation folio.
This avoids refunding the full deposit and then having to charge the guest again for the amount that should remain applied to the reservation.
Before processing the refund, confirm the amount that should remain applied to the reservation and refund only the applicable overpayment or excess amount.
How to process a partial refund
- On the guest folio, click the gear icon next to the transaction made through Cloudbeds Payments.
- Click Refund Transaction.
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Enter the desired partial amount to be refunded.
- By default, it will be the full amount of the charge, but you can edit it to process a partial refund.
- Click Process Refund.
How to refund a transaction made on House Account
Transactions not related to a reservation can be processed via the terminal on House Accounts. You can refund the payment by following the steps below.
This process also applies when the original payment was made through the Cloudbeds Payments terminal. This refund will also be processed directly through the Cloudbeds PMS.
- Go to House Account.
- Select the house account where the transaction was made.
- Use the filter to find the transaction you would like to refund.
- Locate the transaction and click the gear icon next to the column Credit.
- Select Refund.
- Double-check the credit card and Amount, then click Process Refund.
- If you have the Payment Allocation feature enabled, you may allocate the refund.
- The refund transaction will appear in blue with the amount in brackets.
House Account transactions will still be recorded in Cloudbeds PMS. The details of the refund can be found in the respective House Account and in the following reports: Payment Processing Report and Transactions Report.
How to refund a transaction that was not made via Cloudbeds Payments
If the payment was made through another payment gateway that was previously used for your Cloudbeds PMS account, the system will automatically route refunds to that gateway as long as the gateway transaction happened within Cloudbeds PMS.
We cannot help in issuing a refund for any transaction that occurred outside Cloudbeds PMS.
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