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Administrative Refund FAQ

What is an administrative refund?​

An administrative refund is a record in Zooza that a payment has been returned to a client, without triggering a real refund through Stripe or any other payment gateway. It creates a negative transaction on the booking to reflect that the income has been reduced.

When should I use an administrative refund instead of a real Stripe refund?​

Use an administrative refund when:

  • You returned the money outside Zooza — for example via bank transfer, cash, or as a credit on another invoice.
  • Stripe is no longer connected to your account and you cannot trigger a gateway refund.
  • You want to record the return now but handle the actual money movement separately.

If Stripe is connected and you want Zooza to send the money back through Stripe automatically, leave the Administrative refund only checkbox unticked — that triggers a real gateway refund.

Does the administrative refund actually send money back to the client?​

No. An administrative refund only creates a record in Zooza. You are responsible for returning the money through whatever channel you agreed with the client (bank transfer, cash, etc.).

Will the client be notified about the administrative refund?​

No automatic notification is sent for an administrative refund. If you want the client to know, contact them separately.

Does the refund reduce the client's outstanding debt automatically?​

No. The refund reduces recorded income on the booking (it appears as a negative transaction), but it does not automatically change the total charge or outstanding balance. After recording the refund, review the booking and adjust the debt manually if needed:

  • If the client now owes less, edit the total charge on the booking's Payments tab.
  • If no further balance adjustment is needed (e.g. the client simply overpaid), no action is required.

What happens if Stripe is disconnected?​

When the Stripe gateway is not connected to your Zooza account, the refund dialog shows: "Gateway refund is currently not available. You can record an administrative refund." In this case only the administrative record option is available. The refund is still saved immediately in Zooza.

I refunded the payment in the Stripe dashboard — why does Zooza still show the money as received?​

Because Zooza never hears about it. Zooza only knows about refunds made inside Zooza. A refund you issue from the Stripe dashboard moves the money, but nothing is passed back, so the booking keeps showing the full amount received and Refunds issued: 0.00.

Record it in Zooza as well, and the booking will agree with your bank:

  1. Open the booking and go to the Payments tab.
  2. Scroll to the Online payments box and click the card payment itself.
  3. On the right you will see a Refund box. Click Refund payment.
  4. Zooza will tell you the gateway refund is not available — the money has already gone back — and offer an administrative refund, pre-filled with the amount. Confirm it.

It is not on the payment line in the Payments list. The refund action lives on the card payment in the Online payments box, which is why people look for it and conclude it is missing.

Doing it the other way round is simpler: issue the refund from inside Zooza in the first place, and the gateway refund and the record are the same action.

Can I issue a partial administrative refund?​

Yes. In the refund dialog, enter any amount up to the original payment amount. Zooza prevents you from refunding more than the original payment (minus any refunds already issued).

Can I refund the same payment multiple times?​

Yes, as long as the total refunded amount does not exceed the original payment amount. Each refund creates a separate negative transaction.

How do I find administrative refunds in reports?​

Administrative refunds appear in the same payment reports as gateway refunds — as negative transactions reducing total income. If you need to distinguish them (for accounting purposes), contact Zooza support — the underlying data includes a source field that identifies each refund as administrative or gateway.

Can I undo an administrative refund?​

No. Once recorded, an administrative refund cannot be deleted. If you made an error, contact Zooza support or add a correcting manual payment to offset the negative transaction, and add a note explaining the adjustment.

Can clients ask for a refund themselves?​

Yes, if you let them. Allow refund requests, on Settings → General, lets a client request a refund when they cancel an eligible session. It is off unless you turn it on.

A request does not move any money. It is a conversation with a record, not an automatic payout — read that twice before switching it on, because the wording matters to clients.

What happens:

  1. The client cancels an eligible session and asks for a refund, giving a reason and a requested amount.
  2. A Refund request banner appears on the booking detail, with Approve and Deny.
  3. On Approve you confirm the Amount to refund — prefilled from your refund policy, and capped: you cannot approve more than the maximum Zooza shows. You can add a note for the client, which goes into the email.
  4. You still issue the refund yourself through your payment provider. Approving records your decision and emails the client; it does not touch Stripe or GoCardless.
  5. On Deny, the client is emailed and the request cannot be reopened — denying is final.

Requests are Pending, Approved or Denied, and resolved ones stay on the booking under Resolved refund requests, so there is a record of who asked for what and what you decided.

Two emails you can rewrite. Refund request – approved and Refund request – denied are templates under Communication → Templates, carrying the approved amount and your note. The note tag is wrapped in a conditional, so a decision you made without a note does not send an empty paragraph.

The gap to close before you switch it on: approving creates an expectation and does not create a payment. If nobody on your team then issues the refund in Stripe, the client has an email saying yes and no money. Decide who owns that step first.

A client cancelled their registration — can Zooza automatically keep a percentage as a cancellation fee?​

Zooza does not have a built-in cancellation penalty feature. If your policy is to retain a portion of the payment when a client cancels early (for example, keeping 20% and refunding 80%), you need to calculate the retained amount manually and then:

  1. Issue a partial refund (via Stripe refund or administrative refund) for the amount you are returning to the client.
  2. Adjust the outstanding amount on the booking to reflect the retained amount.

The client sees the refund on their side. The retained portion remains as income in your Zooza records. There is no automated way to set a percentage rule — it must be calculated and applied per booking.

Terminology note: "Storno poplatok" (SK) or "cancellation fee" refers to money you keep from a client who cancels. In Zooza, you handle this through the refund flow — issue a partial refund for what you return, and the rest is implicitly retained.