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Retainers

Refunding a retainer, and other limits

Refund a retainer or its card fee, give it as a credit, and what you can’t do with a retainer.

Written By Timothy Murenzi

Overview

What you can do with a retainer’s money once it is received, and what you can’t.

Watch it: the Finances lesson in Campus, step 4, “Invoice and get paid”, chapter 5, “Refunds and credit memos” (starts at 1:24) and chapter 7, “Retainers” (starts at 2:36).

Refund a retainer

  1. Open the retainer’s side panel and go to Payments. Click Refund.

  2. The retainer and the card fee are separate lines. Refund either one, or both, and type a smaller amount to refund part.

  3. Choose Refund the payment or Credit the client’s account.

  4. Set the Refund date, and add a Note to client and an Internal note if you like.

  5. Click Process refund to send it back to the card or bank it came from, or Record refund if you send the money yourself.

Refund dialog for a retainer, with the retainer and the card fee on separate lines

A credit becomes a numbered credit memo on the project, hidden from your client until you click Show to client.

Undo an applied amount

Delete the payment on the invoice that used the retainer. The invoice owes that amount again.

Limits

  • A retainer can only be applied to invoices on its own project.

  • A credit memo stays on its project. It can’t be moved.

  • You can’t apply or refund more than is available.

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