Clinic Membership lets reception put a sale right from the invoice itself, whether that means sending money back to a patient's card or closing an invoice that should never have stood. Mistakes at the desk are normal. A sale gets rung up twice on a busy morning. The wrong treatment is picked from the list. A patient changes their mind about a product before they leave, or part of a payment needs to go back.
What causes the real headache is what happens afterwards. Money goes back through one system, the sale stays untouched in another, and at the end of the month the books no longer match what actually happened. Someone then spends an evening working out which line was the mistake.
The better approach is to correct the invoice where it lives, so the sale, the payment and the record all agree.
How refunds and voids work in Clinic Membership
There are two tools for two different situations, and both sit on the invoice:
- Refund to card is for when the sale was real and should stay on the books, but some or all of the card payment needs to go back to the patient.
- Void is for when the invoice should not count as a real sale at all: the wrong amount, a duplicate, or a sale that has been cancelled completely.
Choosing between them is the main decision. Ask one question: did this sale genuinely happen? If yes, refund. If no, void.
When to refund and when to void
A few everyday examples make the difference clear.
Refund to card makes sense when:
- A patient bought two aftercare products and brings one back unopened before leaving.
- You agreed a goodwill gesture and want to return part of what they paid.
- A treatment was shorter than booked and you agreed to give some of the payment back.
Void makes sense when:
- The same sale was put through twice by mistake.
- The invoice was raised for the wrong amount or the wrong treatment.
- The whole sale has been cancelled and should not appear as income.
If the patient should keep the value with the clinic rather than receive money back, account credit is a different option altogether. Our post on patient account credit covers that route.
Refunding part or all of a card payment
To send money back to the original card while keeping the sale in place:
- Open the paid invoice, from Sales, then Invoices, or from the patient card under Sales & invoices.
- Click Refund to card. The button shows when there is still a card payment on that invoice that can go back.
- Enter the amount, up to what is left of the card payment.
- If you like, tick Send refund email and add a short note for the patient.
- Confirm Refund to card.
The invoice stays paid and the sale is not voided. You can refund more than once on the same invoice, until the card amount on it has all gone back. So if a patient returns one product today and another next week, both can come off the same invoice.
One thing to know: stock is not put back automatically when you refund, so adjust your stock separately if a product has come back to the shelf.
Voiding an invoice that should not stand
To close an invoice that was a mistake:
- Go to Sales, then Invoices, or open the patient card, then Sales & invoices, then the invoice row.
- Open the invoice you need to correct.
- At the bottom of the invoice, click Void, shown in red.
- If the patient paid by card and that payment can go back, tick the option to refund to the original card as part of the void.
- If you like, tick Send refund email to patient and add a short note.
- Confirm Void invoice, or Void and refund.
That last option does both jobs in one step: the sale is closed and the card payment goes back.
What happens to the record
A voided invoice does not disappear. It stays on the patient's record with a clear Void banner and badge, so anyone looking at it can see straight away that it was closed and is not a live sale. The linked sale is voided too.
Print and PDF still open the original document. That matters when you need to look back at what was raised and when, or explain a correction to your accountant. Nothing has been deleted or overwritten, and the trail is there for anyone who needs it.
The void or refund an invoice guide shows each screen.
Cash and offline card payments
Not every payment can go back automatically. If the patient paid in cash, or by a card payment taken outside the system, the money is not returned for you.
In that case, void the invoice in Clinic Membership so the record is right, then give the patient their money back the same way they paid. The invoice and your takings still agree, because the correction is recorded where the sale was made.
Why correcting the invoice beats working around it
Handling refunds and voids from the invoice changes a few things at the desk and in the back office:
- The books match reality. The sale, the payment and the correction all sit together.
- Nothing is hidden. Voided invoices stay visible with a clear banner rather than vanishing.
- Part refunds are simple. Return what needs to go back without undoing the whole sale.
- Patients are kept informed. An optional refund email lets them know what has happened.
- Anyone can pick it up. A note on the refund or void explains it to whoever looks next.
It also takes the stress out of a mistake. Reception does not need to call the owner over or keep a separate list of corrections to sort out later.
A simple routine for corrections at the desk
You can fold this into your normal checkout routine:
- Ask the one question. Did this sale really happen? If yes, refund. If no, void.
- Add a short note. A line on why makes the record easy to read later.
- Send the refund email when money is going back, so the patient knows to expect it.
- Check stock if a product has come back, as a refund does not put it back for you.
- Look over voided invoices once a week to spot any repeated mistakes worth a quick word with the team.
For the wider checkout, from raising an invoice to taking payment, our post on POS and invoicing has the full picture.
Clinic Membership brings refunds and voids together with your patients, calendar, sales and payments on one record. Free covers up to 10 patient records. See pricing for paid plans.
