Issuing Cancellations & Refunds

Owned by Benjamin Allan-Rahill (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Aug 24, 2023 by Hayli
5 min read

We've made it painless to issue cancellations and refunds in the CourseStorm administration area.  On this page, we discuss how to cancel and/or refund an individual registration, but we also make it simple to cancel an entire class and automatically issue refunds to the registered students.  Learn more about canceling classes.

Find the Registration

From the admin area, the fastest way to find the registration in question is to use the search field in the top-right of the screen, type in the name of the student, select them from the list of results, and then click on their registration in the Recent Registrations list on their student record.



Alternatively, you can browse your list of all registrations by clicking Registrations in the admin menu and then click on the name of the student for the registration you'd like to refund.



You'll now be looking at the Registration screen.  From here, you can see all information associated with the registration including payment info, the history of the transaction, and be able to issue cancellations and refunds.

Canceling & Refunding

It's useful to note that canceling and refunding are completely independent actions on individual registrations.  You can refund a registration without canceling it and you can cancel individual registrations without refunding them.  You can even issue partial refunds.  The choice is yours.  On class cancellations (i.e. the Admin user is canceling a class via the Actions button on the class info screen), refunds are automatically issued when possible to the entire roster at once, and the Admin User has the option of issuing refunds with or without the original service fees included.  Partial refunds are not currently available when canceling an entire class.

When can I refund?

Your ability to refund involves several factors, including payment method, payout status, and whether or not the registration is on a payment plan.

Refunding back to the original card is available for credit card registrations that meet the following criteria:

  • The registration funds have not yet been paid out to your program.

  • If the registration is on a payment plan, no payments (including the deposit) have yet been paid out to your program.

  • The registration is not the last remaining registration on the last remaining pending payout in your Admin Menu (Admin Menu > Registration > More > Payouts).

Registrations in the following categories cannot be refunded through CourseStorm.

  • Cash and check registrations - these can’t be refunded through the system because the student did not pay through the system. The funds for these registrations are outside of the control of CourseStorm.  Cash or check registrations can be canceled via CourseStorm.

  • Credit card registrations that have already been paid out to your program. Once a registration is paid out, those dollars have been deposited to your bank account and CourseStorm no longer has access to them to issue a refund. You can view your Payouts anytime at Admin Menu > Registration > More > Payouts. Note: You can suspend your payouts at any time by emailing support@coursestorm.com and requesting a payout suspension.

  • Credit card registrations on a payment plan where any payments (including the deposit) have already been paid out to your program. Because of the complexities of payment plan registrations, once any payments (including the deposit) have been paid out to your program, no payments on that payment plan can be refunded through the system.

  • The last remaining credit card registration on the last pending payout - Because CourseStorm’s service fees are deducted from Payouts, there always needs to be at least one registration on a payout to cover the fees. The last remaining un-canceled registration on the last remaining pending payout isn’t refundable through the system because refunding it would cause the payout to become a negative dollar amount (which is not possible in the payment processor’s system). In these cases, the simplest approach is to issue a manual cash or check refund through your program’s business office. The registration will be paid out, less applicable service fees, as scheduled.

 

The Admin Menu makes it simple to tell what your options are: the Actions dropdown menu on any Registration will only show you the options that are possible on that registration. When Refunding, Canceling, and Canceling & Refunding together are available, you’ll see those options. If canceling is available but refunding is not possible, then you’ll only see the cancellation options. If neither refunding or cancelling is available, then none of the options will appear.

To cancel, select Actions > Cancel & refund... and we'll ask you to select the amount you want to refund to the student.  When a registration is canceled, the original service fees for the registration are not refunded by CourseStorm.  You have the option to refund the full amount of the registration, including these fees, back to the student, and have the program pay for the fees out of a future payout.  Alternatively, you can choose to refund the original transaction amount minus the fees (which means the student essentially pays the original service fees).

Here is a breakdown of the options you have for individual registrations: 

  • If you choose a Full Refund Including Fees, the amount of the original service fees will be deducted from an upcoming payout.  You will see these fees appear as Adjustments with the student's name on the payout detail screen and in the Payout Export.

  • If you choose a Full Refund Excluding Fees, the registrant will receive the reflect refund amount (CourseStorm does the math for you!) when selecting this option.

  • If you choose a Partial Refund, they can enter a custom refund amount (up to the total amount originally paid by the student).  Any remaining amount, minus CourseStorm's usual service fees, will be paid out to the program on the next available business day - regardless of escrow schedule.

  • If you choose No Refund, the registration will be canceled and no refund will be issued to the registrant.  The registration funds will be paid out to the program, minus CourseStorm's usual service fees, on the next available business day - regardless of escrow schedule. This is detailed on the Payouts Screen in the Admin Menu.


If you have chosen to issue a refund, the funds will be returned from escrow back to the customer's card and be displayed on their bank statement within 1-2 business days.

Automatic Notifications

Whether you're canceling a registration or just refunding it, we will send an automatic notification to the person who placed the registration.  

Payment Plans

If the registration you are working with uses a payment plan and all funds paid to date are being held in escrow, we will automatically handle refunds for you.  If a payment plan is still in progress and you choose to cancel the registration, all future payments will be automatically canceled as well.

In the event that any payments have been paid out from escrow to your program, we will automatically release all remaining funds to you so that you can issue your own refund.

Partial Refunds

When issuing a refund (either when canceling a registration or by itself), you will be given the opportunity to enter the amount of the refund.  We will then automatically return this amount back to the customer's card.  For more information, we have an excellent article detailing partial refunds as well.