Recording a refund and its bank line

What is this page about: Refunding a customer credit posts a ledger transaction as soon as you enter it, and reconciling it against the bank is a separate step. This page covers both: recording the refund payment, and matching the ledger transaction to the bank statement line so AR and the bank both end up right.

# On this page

• Record the refund payment
• Why the refund still needs matching
• Match the ledger transaction to the bank line
• Best practices
• Related articles

# Record the refund payment

1. Open a Posted or Partially cleared customer credit.
2. Click Enter payment.
3. Set the Payment date and choose Payment to: the bank account or ledger account the refund is paid from.
4. Accept or change the pre-filled Amount.
5. Click Enter payment.

The payment posts straight away. It credits the account you chose and debits the customer's AR, clearing the credit's balance the same way applying it to an invoice would. A full refund moves the credit to Cleared. A partial refund moves it to Partially cleared.

# Why the refund still needs matching

Choosing a bank account in the payment dialog tells Light which account to post to. The posted transaction is then an ordinary ledger line, unmatched until it's linked to a real bank statement line.

The two records represent different things:

• The ledger transaction is what Light posted when you entered the payment.
• The bank statement line is what your bank shows once the money leaves, from a live bank feed or an imported statement.

Until they're matched, the refund shows as unreconciled on the bank account, even though AR is already cleared. If you use automation rules, Light can match it for you when the bank transaction is imported. Otherwise, match it by hand.

# Match the ledger transaction to the bank line

The goal is to find the statement line and the ledger transaction that represent the same refund, and link them.

1. Go to Accounting > Bank reconciliation and open the account the refund was paid from.
2. On the Unmatched tab, make sure the right-hand pane shows Closed transactions.
3. Tick the statement line for the refund on the left.
4. Tick the matching ledger transaction on the right.
5. Check the Difference amount in the action bar. Match is available once the difference is exactly zero.
6. Click Match.

The pair moves to the Matched tab, and the bank account's reconciled balance includes the refund.

If the amounts differ, for example because the bank charged a fee, Match stays disabled and its tooltip shows how much the selected amounts differ by. Open the Difference dropdown to post the gap:

• Bank Fee, offered when the difference is negative.
• Journal Entry, for any other difference.

# Best practices

• Treat matching as part of the refund. Entering the payment clears AR; matching is what reconciles the bank.
• Match refunds promptly, so the account's unmatched count stays a useful signal.
• If the amounts don't line up, check for a bank fee before assuming you picked the wrong pair, and use the Difference dropdown to post it.

# Related articles

• Customer Credits
• Automated Bank Reconciliation

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