Sometimes you need to give a supporter or member their money back — for example, they were charged in error, cancelled a membership, or paid twice. In CiviPlus you can issue a refund directly from the contribution, and CiviPlus can create the matching credit note for you at the same time.
This guide explains how to issue a refund correctly, why the credit note matters, and how to put things right if a refund has left a contribution showing as “Pending (Incomplete Transaction)”.
Important: A refund on its own is not enough. To keep your records correct you also need a credit note. The easiest way is to let CiviPlus create it for you automatically when you make the refund (see the steps below). If you have already made a refund without a credit note and it now shows as “Pending”, skip to “Fixing a refund that shows as Pending” near the end of this guide.
What can I do in CiviPlus?
Issue a refund for a Stripe payment directly from within CiviPlus, without logging in to Stripe.
Automatically create a credit note for the refunded amount and apply it to the invoice, in the same step.
Record refunds that were made by other methods (for example a bank transfer, or a GoCardless refund), so your records stay complete.
Before you start
You need permission to view and edit contributions (access CiviContribute and edit contributions).
The Stripe refund option only appears on contributions that were paid using Stripe. Always make Stripe refunds from within CiviPlus — refunds made directly in the Stripe dashboard are not sent back to CiviPlus automatically and would have to be recorded by hand.
How to issue a refund (Stripe)
Follow these steps to refund a Stripe payment and keep the contribution correct.
Open the contact’s record and go to the Finance tab. Find the contribution you want to refund — it will have a status of “Completed”.
At the end of that contribution’s row, click the ⋮ (three-dot) menu and choose Submit Credit Card Refund.
The Record a credit card refund window opens. Under Select Payment To Refund, choose the Stripe payment (there may be more than one), then enter the Refund Amount and choose a Reason.
Check the box “Also automatically create a credit note for this amount and apply to this invoice”. This is an important step that will ensure that your contribution is marked as completed after issuing the refund (see “Why do I also need to create a credit note?” above).
Click CREATE.
What happens next:
The refund is sent back to the supporter through Stripe.
CiviPlus creates a credit note for the same amount and applies it to the invoice.
The contribution stays as “Completed”, with the refund and the credit note both recorded against it.
Note: Refunds take 5–10 days to appear on the supporter’s statement (CiviPlus shows a reminder about this on the refund window). This is normal and does not mean anything has gone wrong.
Why do I also need to create a credit note?
This is the part that catches most people out, so it is worth understanding.
When someone pays you, CiviPlus records two things: an invoice (what they owe) and a payment (the money you received). The two balance each other out, so the contribution shows as “Completed” and nothing is owed.
Here is what happens behind the scenes when a member pays you £100 and you later refund it without creating a credit note:
CiviPlus records an invoice for £100 and a payment of £100. They cancel out, so the contribution is “Completed” and the balance is zero.
When you refund the £100, CiviPlus records the money going back out. But the original £100 invoice is still there. The payment in and the refund out cancel each other, which leaves the £100 invoice looking unpaid again, as if the member owes you £100 once more.
That is why the contribution drops out of “Completed” and would instead show “Pending (Incomplete Transaction)”.
A credit note is what fixes this. It is the document that formally says the contact no longer owes you the £100. When you apply it to the invoice, the outstanding balance goes back to zero, so:
your accounts are correct (nothing is shown as owed when it is not), and
the contribution goes back to showing as “Completed”.
In short: the refund returns the money, and the credit note tidies up the invoice so everything balances. The good news is that CiviPlus can do both in one step — as long as you leave the credit note option ticked when you make the refund.
Checking the refund worked
Open the contribution again. You should see:
The contribution status is still “Completed” (not “Pending”).
A refund payment listed against the contribution.
A credit note linked to the contribution. You can also see it under Contributions > Credit Notes.
That’s it. The money is on its way back to the supporter and your records are balanced — no further action needed.
Fixing a refund that shows as “Pending (Incomplete Transaction)”
If you made a refund without creating a credit note — for example the credit note box was unticked — the contribution will show a balance owing again and its status will change to “Pending (Incomplete Transaction)” (or “Partially paid”). This is the exact situation this guide opened with.
Don’t worry — nothing has gone wrong with the money. The refund has already been sent through Stripe. You do not need to make another refund. You only need to add the missing credit note so the invoice balances again.
To complete the contribution follow these steps:
In the Finance tab, find the contribution that now shows as “Pending”.
Open the same ⋮ (three-dot) menu you used for the refund and choose Add Credit Note. (You can also open the contribution and use the Create Credit Note button.)
The credit note amount will default to the amount now showing as due — usually the full refunded amount. Check the line items, then save the credit note.
You will be taken to the allocation screen. Apply the credit to this contribution. (If it is not listed, tick Show All Contributions.) Save.
Reopen the contribution. The amount owing should now be zero and the status should return to “Completed”.
Why this works: the credit note cancels the amount that the refund left showing as “owing”. Once the balance is back to zero, the contribution is complete again.
Other types of refund
Not every refund goes back through Stripe. In these cases you still create a credit note, but you record the refund yourself rather than letting CiviPlus send the money:
A refund already made outside CiviPlus (for example a bank transfer or cheque, or a refund you processed directly in the Stripe dashboard): create a credit note against the contribution, then use Record Refund on the credit note to record how and when the money was returned. This keeps your records accurate even though CiviPlus did not move the money itself.
GoCardless (Direct Debit) refunds: these cannot be started from within CiviPlus. Process the refund in your GoCardless dashboard first, then record it in CiviPlus using a credit note as described above.
Related articles
How to create and allocate credit in CiviPlus — more detail on creating, allocating and managing credit notes.