Issuing a refund

Refunds are processed through Stripe and then reconciled inside Inspector Studio. Because Inspector Studio does not move money directly, the refund itself happens in Stripe and you update the invoice record in Inspector Studio to reflect it.

Full vs. partial refunds

• A full refund returns the entire amount the customer paid.

• A partial refund returns a portion of what was paid — for example, refunding the cost of an add-on that was canceled.

Both types are handled the same way: issue the refund in Stripe, then adjust the invoice in Inspector Studio.

Step 1 — Issue the refund in Stripe

1. Log in to your Stripe dashboard.

2. Go to Payments and find the transaction you want to refund.

3. Click the payment to open it.

4. Click Refund.

5. Enter the amount to refund (leave it at the full amount for a full refund, or type a lower amount for a partial refund).

6. Add a reason (optional — visible to you in Stripe, not to the customer).

7. Click Refund.

Stripe will email the customer a refund confirmation and return the funds to their card. Refund timing depends on the card issuer — typically 5–10 business days.

Step 2 — Adjust the invoice in Inspector Studio

After issuing the refund in Stripe, update the invoice record so Inspector Studio's records match.

For a full refund: open the invoice and change the status to Canceled (or adjust the balance as needed to reflect $0 collected).

For a partial refund: record a negative payment entry on the invoice to reduce the collected amount. Click Record Payment, enter a negative amount equal to the refunded amount (for example, -75.00), and add a note such as "Partial refund issued via Stripe — radon test canceled."

This keeps Inspector Studio's payment history accurate without requiring you to delete or rewrite existing entries.

What the customer receives

Stripe sends the customer an automatic refund receipt by email. You do not need to send them a separate notification from Inspector Studio, though it is good practice to send a brief message through Threads explaining the refund and the reason.

Refunds for cash or check payments

If the original payment was cash or check (recorded manually in Inspector Studio rather than paid online), the refund happens outside the platform — hand the customer a check or cash. Then record the refund in Inspector Studio using the negative payment method described above so your records reflect the actual balance.

Refund timeline for the customer

Card refunds through Stripe typically appear on the customer's statement within 5–10 business days, depending on their bank. If a customer asks why their refund has not appeared after 10 business days, ask them to contact their bank and also verify in the Stripe dashboard that the refund was processed successfully.