Koha Question of the Week: What's the Difference Between a Refund and a Payout?

by Kalleen Marquise on Aug 13, 2021

Each Friday, we will bring you a new Koha Question of the Week. We will select real questions that we receive and share the answers with you!

This week's answer was made possible by our Amazing Educator Andrew!

Question: What's the Difference Between a Refund and a Payout?

When a patron has paid off a debit, use a refund to reflect that they shouldn't have owed you for that debit in the first place and you're giving their payment back to them. If you give their refund to them as cash or some other payment type, the refund completes the interaction because it leaves the patron at an amount due of $0. If you give their refund as account credit (or if the refund is generated through an automated process that creates a credit -- like returning a lost item), then the patron will end up with unused credit on their account. That credit could be paid out to the patron or could be left on the account to pay for future fees.

When a patron has an unused credit on their account, use a payout to reflect that you've given that credit to the patron as cash (or some other form of payment) and therefore the library no longer owes the patron money.

Andrew put together a quick demo video to explain the difference between Refund and Payout:

Related Resources

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