Sales processed through Lightspeed Payments can be refunded through either the POS or through your Restaurant Manager.
To be eligible for a refund, the transaction must be:
- Less than 90 days old.
- An eligible payment method.
- Not previously refunded.
Sales that do not meet these requirements will need to be refunded to a different payment type.
Sales that are currently involved in a chargeback dispute should not be refunded without first contacting Lightspeed Payments support.
Refunding a sale through the Financial Services tab
Sales can be fully or partially refunded in the Financial Services tab.
- In your Lightspeed Restaurant Manager, navigate to Financial Services > Payments.
- Search for the payment you wish to refund.
- Click on the payment to open the details.
- Click Refund.
- Enter the amount to be refunded and a note if applicable. This can be the full amount, or a partial amount.
- (Optional) Click Email Receipt.
- Click Done.
Once the refund has been completed, the amount will be deducted from that day's settlement total. Refunds typically take 3-7 business days to settle to your customer's account.
Refunding receipts
For receipts that cannot be unfinalized through the Lightspeed Restaurant POS, there is no need to re-open the original receipt. You can refund the full amount or a partial amount of the original payment directly to the original card by accessing the refund option in Restaurant Manager.
The steps to refund will vary depending on the terminal used.
For receipts that are no older than 7 days, or receipts that cannot be unfinalized from the POS, you can choose to refund the payment to the original card used by using the refund option in Restaurant Manager.
Refunding in this way creates a paper trail in your reports that allows you to see the original receipt and the refunded receipt as two separate lines.
Note: Receipts that have been included in a Closing Z Report, regardless of date, must be refunded through Restaurant Manager using the steps below.
To refund a payment to the original card:
- In Restaurant Manager, click Payments.
- Click Payment Processing.
- Refine your search by selecting History and the date of the transaction you wish to refund.
- On the transaction to be refunded, click Refund.
- Confirm the full refund amount when prompted, or enter a partial refund amount.
- Click Refund payment.
Please note that this action cannot be undone.
Note: Most major card brands will process a refund to an active card so long as the card used on the original payment has not expired and the cardholder has not made any changes to their account. However, some card types, such as Interac, Girocard, and EFTPOS may have shorter refund limits. If you are unable to refund to the original card, you must refund to a different payment type.
Once the refund has been confirmed and completed, you can view the transaction in both your Payment Processing report and in the Day Report.
Transactions refunded through the back office will appear in your Payment Processing report with the status of "void in progress." Once the refund is successful, the status will update to show "voided."
For receipts that are no older than 7 days, or receipts that cannot be unfinalized from the POS, you can choose to refund the payment to the original card used by using the refund option in Restaurant Manager.
Refunding in this way creates a paper trail in your reports that allows you to see the original receipt and the refunded receipt as two separate lines.
Note: Receipts that have been included in a Closing Z Report, regardless of date, must be refunded through Restaurant Manager using the steps below.
To refund a payment to the original card:
- In Restaurant Manager, click Payments.
- Click Payment Processing.
- Refine your search by selecting History and the date of the transaction you wish to refund.
- On the transaction to be refunded, click Refund.
- Confirm the full refund amount when prompted, or enter a partial refund amount.
- Click Refund payment.
Please note that this action cannot be undone.
Once the refund has been confirmed and completed, you can view the transaction in both your Payment Processing report and in the Day Report.
Transactions refunded through the back office will appear in your Payment Processing report with the status of "voided."
FAQs
- Can I refund to an Interac card?
Interac sales can only be refunded on the same day the payment was accepted, before the batch closes. If the payment link has expired, sales paid for via Interac must be refunded to a different payment type.
- Can I refund a sale that I have not captured payment for?
No. Preauth sales must be captured before a refund can take place. If the payment has not yet been processed, you can cancel the payment instead.
- Why am I unable to refund a specific sale?
To be eligible for a refund, the transaction must be:
- Less than 90 days old.
- An eligible payment method.
- Not previously refunded.
- Not currently involved in a chargeback dispute.
If you are unsure why the refund option has been disabled, contact support.
- Can I cancel a refund I have processed?
No. Once a refund has been initiated, the refund cannot be canceled. If the refund was processed in error, the card will have to be charged again for the correct amount with the customer’s consent.
- How long does a credit card refund take to process?
Once a refund to a customer's credit card has been initiated, the cardholder can expect their funds to settle into their account in 2-7 business days, depending on their bank's policies.