Refunds

The use of refunds allows the user to issue a check to a homeowner for an overpayment or credit balance on their account. This is currently not an option for past owners. The refund process does not create a vendor record for the homeowner, which helps to keep vendor lists lower. Note: This is not the same as a reimbursement (paying back a Homeowner/Board Member for an association expense).

When processed in Smartwebs Accounting, refunds do not create vendors in the system but are treated in every other way as a regular payable (i.e. on reports, recognized as liabilities, etc.)

Example: A homeowner overpays their annual assessments and rather than carrying a credit balance for a year, opts to receive a refund.

To add a “Refund,” the payee must be a current owner in the system and the payable must be processed in Smartwebs Accounting (not an integrating partner. (i.e. Avid/Strongroom)).

** If the user is using the Avid/StrongRoom integration, and wants to process the invoice through Avid/StrongRoom, a separate vendor must be created.

Creating a Refund

1. Navigate to Accounting > Receivables > Homeowners
    
2. Locate the homeowner with a credit balance.
    
3. From the "Options" dropdown menus, select "Issue Refund"
4. Type - From the dropdown, Select the payment type: Check or Cash
5. Pay From - From the dropdown, Select the bank account (if different from the default)
6. Ref #: - Optional
7. Cost Center - From the dropdown, Select the Cost Center (if different from the default)
8. Memo - Optional
9. Payment Date - This will default with today's date, make changes if needed
10. Refund Amount - Here you can enter the full Credit/AR balance or a portion of that Credit/AR balance
11. Once all required fields are completed, you will select the blue "Create" button.

You have now created an Invoice with a Pending status. You can see this here : Accounting > Payables > Invoices

Printing the Check

1. Navigate to: Accounting > Payables > Checks
2. Check the box in row for the check you want to print, or select all from the header
3. Select the blue "Print Selected Checks" button
4. In the Pop-up, confirm the starting check number and check position, then select the blue "Print" button
5. There will be a Pop-Up giving you options to:
   1. View in a new tab - This opens a new window with the check image
   2. Download - Allows you to name, then save a copy of the PDF
   3. Email - Sends the PDF via email
   4. Post - Allows you to save the PDF to a document folder within the association documents
6. For this example we will use the "View in a new tab" option. Select the blue "Open" button
7. A confirmation Pop-Up will ask if the checks printed correctly; Select the orange " Yes" button to confirm
8. The check will now show in the "Printed" tab instead of the "Pending" tab and will have a status of "Paid"
9. The Payment Journal Entry is now created. To view the Journal Entry: Navigate to Accounting > GL > Journal Entries. Here you will see the entry to debit the default Accounts Payable GL and credit the bank account GL
10. The homeowner ledger will now reflect the refund

Refunds for Past Owners

Past owners cannot use the Refunds process, so you will need to add a charge to the account for the amount of the refund then create a traditional vendor payment. You will use the revenue GL that is associated to the charge code you used as the expense GL for the payment.