Refund an ACH Payment Processed Through Stripe

    
ACH payments made through Stripe on the Consumer Portal in Elite cannot be refunded directly within POR. This article explains how to issue an ACH refund using Stripe and how that refund is recorded in Elite, including what happens to the transaction from an accounting perspective.
   

Topics included in this article

Understand ACH refund limitations

Refund the ACH payment in Stripe

Record the refund in Point of Rental Elite

How the refund affects the transaction in Elite

Accounting and reconciliation considerations

     
Understand ACH refund limitations

ACH payments submitted through the Consumer Portal are processed by Stripe, not directly by your POR software. Because of this, ACH refunds cannot be issued from within Point of Rental.

When a customer requests a refund for an ACH payment, part of the process must be completed in Stripe, and part must be recorded in Point of Rental to keep customer balances and accounting records accurate.
    

Refund the ACH payment in Stripe

1. Log in to your Stripe Dashboard.
2. Locate the customer’s ACH payment you want to refund.
3. Select the payment and choose Refund.
4. Follow Stripe’s prompts to complete the refund.
     

ACH refunds are processed by the banking system and may take several business days to complete.
    

For the most current instructions and Stripe-specific processing details, refer to Stripe’s official documentation:
 Refunds for ACH Direct Debit Payments (Stripe)
      

Record the refund in Point of Rental Elite

Because the refund is issued outside of Point of Rental, you must manually record it in Elite.

1. Create or use a disbursement item intended for ACH refunds.
   You can find instructions on creating a disbursement item here: https://por.my.site.com/uLearn/s/article/Creating-a-New-Disbursement-Item-1522747197?language=en_US 
2. Apply the disbursement to the same contract or invoice that originally received the ACH payment. 
3. Enter the refund amount so the payment is offset correctly.
      

This disbursement represents the funds leaving your bank and allows Point of Rental Elite to reflect the refund accurately.
    

How the refund affects the transaction in Elite

• The original ACH payment is treated similarly to a returned payment, such as a bad check.
• The transaction becomes unpaid in Point of Rental Elite.
• A journal entry is created to your bank account to reverse the previously recorded deposit.
     

This behavior ensures your financial reports accurately reflect both the original payment and its reversal.
    

Accounting and reconciliation considerations

• Assign the same general ledger (GL) account to the ACH refund disbursement that you use for your Stripe or credit card clearing account.
• The disbursement is used to both offset the original payment and record the refund leaving your bank.
• If you use accounting software such as QuickBooks, ensure your accounting team is aware of the process to properly reconcile transactions between Stripe, POR Elite, and QuickBooks. They will need to track the external Stripe refund and the corresponding disbursement in POR Elite. 
     

Coordinating this process ensures Stripe, Point of Rental, and your accounting system remain in balance.