Pick the right tool
Refund when money actually goes back to the customer. Credit note when you are reducing what they owe (or banking value for later). Write-off when the balance is uncollectible. Void when the invoice itself was a mistake. Each one leaves a different trail on the invoice, the customer, and QuickBooks.
Refund an online payment
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Open the invoice → Credit Notes & Refunds
The panel shows Max additional credit or reduction and Stripe refund after online payment. Stripe refunds are available only after the invoice is fully paid through Stripe; cash and check payments are refunded outside Zentive and recorded as a credit note.
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Enter the amount
Full or partial. Stripe sends the money back to the original card or bank account; it typically appears in 5 to 10 business days.
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What the customer sees
The refund shows on the invoice in their portal and on their emailed receipt. The refund is posted to QuickBooks once (not twice), and reports count it against revenue on the date it was issued.
Credit note or customer credit
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Reduce this invoice
Credit Notes & Refunds → issue a credit note up to the Max additional credit or reduction. The balance drops and the note prints on the invoice.
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Bank a credit for later
Overpayments and goodwill credits sit on the customer record as a credit balance. When you send the customer's next invoice, Zentive applies the credit and the invoice shows Credit applied; the customer pays the difference.
Write off a balance
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Open the past-due invoice → More → Write off balance
Enter a reason. The invoice closes as written off, reminders stop, and the dashboard's bounced/overdue alerts clear.
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Bookkeeping
A write-off is not a payment. It does not sync to QuickBooks as one; record bad debt there according to your accountant's method.
Void an invoice
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Open the invoice → More → Void
Use for invoices sent in error (wrong customer, duplicate). The invoice stays visible with a Voided badge for the record and shows as voided in the customer portal; its number is not reused.
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Already paid?
Refund or credit first, then void. Zentive blocks voiding an invoice with money on it.
Disputes are different
If the customer's bank reverses a card payment, that is a chargeback handled in Stripe, not a refund. See the Stripe disputes article.
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Include your business name, account email, what you were trying to do, what happened instead, and a screenshot if possible. For billing, sync, or login issues, include the exact error message if shown.