Refunding a Payment | Help Center

You refund from the payment itself. Open the invoice from your billing dashboard, find the payment under Payment History in the invoice panel, and click Refund on that row.

There is no Refund button on a void invoice, on a payment with an open dispute, or on a payment that is pending, processing, failed or returned.

Account Credit or Money Back

The refund dialog opens with the amount set to what is still refundable. You can lower it for a partial refund. Then choose how to return it:

Account credit (the default) - adds the amount to the family's credit balance, which you can later apply to an open invoice (see below). Nothing goes through Stripe, and the paid invoice stays Paid. Available on every plan.
Return to original payment method - sends the money back to the card or bank the family paid with, through Stripe. This option needs Stripe connected and is available on the Pro plan and above.
Record cash or check returned - for a payment you took as cash or check, this records that you handed the money back outside Trio. Available on every plan.

The dialog shows only the choices that fit the payment. A payment made with account credit can only be returned as credit; the dialog explains this.

Pick a Reason, add a Note (optional), and use For (optional) to link the refund to one line of the invoice. Then click Refund.

After a refund to the card or bank, the invoice stays Paid and shows the Refunded amount.

Applying Account Credit

Account credit stays on the family's balance until you apply it yourself. Open the family from your families list. The family billing card shows "Account credit: $X". Click Apply credit, then choose an open invoice and an amount. The credit lowers that invoice's balance. The invoice becomes Paid when nothing is left, and otherwise Partially Paid, or Overdue when its due date has passed.

Apply credit shows only when the family has credit and an open invoice. Only owners and admins can apply credit.

Who Can Request and Who Approves

Owners and admins click Refund to refund at once. They can also Approve or Cancel a request.
Staff see Request refund instead. The request shows under the payment as Requested until an owner or admin approves it. Staff can cancel their own request. Staff have no Billing link in the sidebar: they open an invoice from the family page with View all invoices.
Teachers cannot refund.

Refund Status

Each refund shows under its payment with one of these labels:

Requested - waits for an owner or admin to approve it.
Submitted - sent, and still clearing.
Refunded - done.
Failed or Canceled.

A refund made in Stripe, not in Trio, shows as "Refunded in Stripe". Trio updates each status when Stripe finishes.

What the Family Gets

The family gets an email when you refund a payment, when you add account credit, and when you apply credit to an invoice. A refund to the card or bank also shows on the family's bank or card statement.

Fees and Timing

When you return money to the card or bank, the family gets the full amount back. Stripe keeps its processing fee from the original payment, so your studio pays that fee. A bank (ACH) refund takes 5 to 10 business days to reach the family. Account credit is instant. For what a payment costs, see Payment Fees, Payouts and Payment Methods.

Refunds and Disputes

While a payment has an open dispute, you cannot refund it. The payment row shows "You cannot refund this payment while a dispute is open." instead of the Refund button.

How Refunds Show in Reports

Trio counts money in your reports on the day it moves:

A refund to the card or bank, or cash or check you hand back, counts as money out on the day it was paid out.
The original payment keeps its own month. A family pays $100 in March and gets $20 back in May: March shows $100 in, and May shows $20 out.
A refund to account credit is not money out, and a payment made with account credit is not money in.
A bank payment that comes back (an ACH return), or a card payment lost in a dispute, counts as money out on the day the money came back.

A refund brought in from your Stripe history after the fact (shown as "Refunded in Stripe") counts in the month Trio brought it in, not the month of the original refund.

These rules apply to Paid This Month on your billing dashboard, Collected on your dashboard, and the Income Report.