Refund best practices apply only to payments processed through Paystand.
⚠️ Before You Begin
Review these requirements before initiating any refund:
| Payment Type | When Can You Refund? |
|---|---|
| ACH / Bank Network | Only after funds have been deposited in the merchant's bank account |
| Credit Card | After the clearing period has passed |
| Credit Card (via Payment Record) | As soon as the Payment Record is created in NetSuite |
Key Rules:
- The refund must be for an equal or lesser amount than the original payment.
- After saving the Refund Record, if no Paystand Event is generated, the refund did not go through — go back and verify all steps were followed correctly.
- Always set the refund Account to Undeposited Funds.
- Always select a Paystand Payment Method (Paystand ACH, Paystand Card, or Paystand Bank). Selecting a non-Paystand method will cause the refund to fail.
Which Method Should I Use?
Use this table to find the right method for your scenario:
| Scenario | Use Method |
|---|---|
| Invoice paid directly through Paystand (most common) | Method A — Credit Memo (Preferred) |
| Invoice paid through a Sales Order / Customer Deposit | Method C — Customer Deposit Refund |
| Need to reopen the invoice to accept a new payment | Method D — Un-apply from Invoice |
| Duplicate payment or refunding Invoice + Convenience Fee | Method D — Un-apply from Invoice |
| Method A is not available in your account | Method B — Return Authorization |
📝 Note on Navigation
The navigation paths below are based on the Administrator role. The center bar may look different depending on your role in NetSuite.
Refund Methods
Method A — Credit Memo Refund (Preferred)
Best for: Standard invoice paid through Paystand.
- From the Invoice Record, click Credit to create a Credit Memo.
- Save the Credit Memo.
- Click Refund to refund the Credit Memo.
- Confirm the Account is set to Undeposited Funds.
- Save the Customer Refund Record.
Method B — Return Authorization Refund
Best for: Invoice refunds when Method A is not available in your account.
⚠️ Note
This option may be disabled in some accounts. If unavailable, use Method A instead.
- From the Invoice Record, click Authorize Return to initiate the refund.
- Save the Return Authorization.
- Click Approve to approve the return.
- Click Refund on the Return Authorization.
- Save the Credit Memo that was generated.
- Click Refund on the Credit Memo. Confirm the Account is set to Undeposited Funds.
- Save the Customer Refund.
Method C — Sales Order / Customer Deposit Refund
Best for: Invoices originally paid through a Sales Order or Customer Deposit (CD).
🚨 Critical — Unapply the Customer Deposit First
Before starting this process, the Customer Deposit (CD) must be unapplied from the Sales Order. If the CD is still applied when you attempt the refund, the refund will not go through.
How to unapply the Customer Deposit:
- Open the Sales Order.
- Go to the Billing tab.
- Locate the Customer Deposit.
- Click Remove or reduce the applied amount to $0.00.
- Save the Sales Order.
Once the CD is unapplied, return here and follow the steps below.
- From anywhere in NetSuite, go to Transactions > Customers > Issue Customer Refund.
- In the Customer field, select the customer receiving the refund.
- Scroll down to the Apply tab. Confirm the Account is set to Undeposited Funds.
- Click the Deposits subtab.
- Check the box next to the Customer Deposit you want to refund.
- Enter the refund amount in the Amount field.
- Go to the Refund Method tab and select the Paystand payment method used for the original Customer Deposit:
- Paystand Card
- Paystand ACH
- Paystand Bank
- Confirm the Account is set to Undeposited Funds.
- Save the Customer Refund.
📝 Note — Refunding Sales Orders That Include Fees
To refund fee revenue from a Sales Order, you must refund the full transaction amount (payment + fee), then manually remove the fee revenue line afterward.
This is required because Sales Orders do not post to the general ledger and do not affect the Accounts Receivable (AR) balance. Removing the fee line keeps your accounting records accurate.
Method D — Un-apply from Invoice (Reopen Invoice)
Best for: Duplicate payments, reopening an invoice to accept a new payment, or refunding Invoice + Convenience Fee amounts.
⚠️ Note
This method is only available when the accounting period is still open.
- From the Payment Record applied to the Invoice, click Edit.
- Go to the Apply subtab.
- Reduce the applied amount on the Invoice Record (and the Fee Revenue line, if applicable) by the amount you wish to refund.
- Save the Payment Record.
- Go to Transactions > Customers > Issue Customer Refund.
- In the Customer field, find and select the customer record.
- In the Apply tab, click the Credits subtab.
- Check the box next to the Payment you want to refund.
- Go to the Refund Method tab and select the Paystand payment method used for the original payment:
- Paystand Card
- Paystand ACH
- Paystand Bank
- Confirm the Account is set to Undeposited Funds.
- Save the Customer Refund.
General Notes
- ACH / Bank Network refunds can only be processed after funds are deposited in the merchant's bank account. Attempting a refund before deposit will result in a failed transaction.
- Credit Card refunds can be initiated as soon as the Payment Record is created in NetSuite.
- These methods only work for payments made through Paystand. If no Paystand Event appears after saving the Refund Record, the refund did not process — verify all steps were completed correctly.
- When refunding from an Invoice, NetSuite should automatically populate the Payment Method.
- Always use a Paystand Payment Method (Paystand Card, Paystand ACH, or Paystand Bank). Non-Paystand methods will cause the refund to fail.