Support Excess Refunds for Payments

Stay is enhanced to allow users to process refunds when the amount being refunded exceeds the original payment made. With this enhancement, users will be displayed alerts when they process refunds that exceed the payment made. Users are also provided with the ability to make a single refund for the total payments made across all the folios in the reservation by a particular payment method.

Feature Setting

Name: Excess Refund for Payments
Value: Must be enabled
Comments: Licenses is not required

Permission

The following new permission is introduced to allow users to make a refund for an amount greater than the original payment.

Stay_AllowExcessRefunds

This permission is provided to the following roles by default:

System Administrator
Stay Hotel Manager 
Department Manager
Stay Hotel Supervisor
Guest Service Agent Supervisor
Stay Accounting
Accounts Receivable Manager

Processing Excess Refunds from Make Payment Screen

Users can make refunds from the Make Payment screen by entering a negative amount for a folio. When users enter a negative amount, the system validates if the amount entered is greater than the total payments made by the payment method across all the folios in the reservation including the third-party folios. For example, if a user has used a Visa card to make a payment of $50 for folio1, another payment of $120 is made for folio 2, then the total payment made for both the folios is $170.

When the user enters an amount greater than $170, the payment field is highlighted in yellow, and the following message is displayed: Refund Amount Exceeds Total of Previous Payments. Users with the Stay_AllowExcessRefunds permission can continue processing the refund by entering the credentials and clicking on the Apply button.

If the user does not have the new permission, the Authorize screen is displayed where users are prompted to authorize the credentials. If users have the new permission, the refund is processed successfully. If the user does not have the new permission, the message, Permission Denied, is displayed and the refund is not processed.

Users can process an excess refund for a payment from the following screens:

Reservation folio ➜ More ➜ Make Payment)
Group folio ➜ More ➜ Make Payment)
House account folio ➜ More -> Make Payment)
A/R account ➜ Invoice ➜ Make payment ➜ Issue refund

When the refunds are processed successfully, a record for the refund is displayed in the folio to which the amount is refunded. When the user who initiated and approved the refund is the same, a record is created that displays the username, date, and time when refund is processed. For example: Excess refund approved by JamesS at 10.10 AM, Jan 15, 2023.

When the refund is initiated and approved by different users, the usernames of both users are displayed in the record. For example: Excess refund initiated by MillerR and approved by JamesS at 10.10 AM, Jan 15, 2023.

Excess refunds are not supported for A/R Unapplied Payments.

Processing a Combined Refund

Users can process a single refund for all payments made by a particular payment method by clicking on the Refund button on the Payment Method section or the Folio section. Users can process a combined refund for the following:

Reservation
Group
House account

When the Refund button is clicked, the Refund screen appears that displays the following view by options:

Payment Method
Folio

When the view by payment method option is selected, the following columns are displayed:

Field	Description
Payment Method	Displays a list of all the payment methods used for making payments for the reservation. Users can select a payment method to proceed with the refund. An accordion is provided for each payment method that displays the folios for which the payment was made. The amount is displayed as $0 when no payment is made using the payment method. The payment methods are displayed in alphabetical order and can be sorted.
Amount	Displays the amount for which the payment was made for each payment method. This column can be sorted.
Total Applied Payments	Displays the total payment made across all the folios using all the payment methods.

When the view by folio option is selected, the following columns are displayed:

Field	Description
Folio	Displays a list of folios in the reservation. Users can select a folio to proceed with the refund. All folios except the comp and package folios are displayed. If payment is not made for a folio, the amount for the folio is displayed as $0.00. An accordion is provided for each folio that displays the payment methods used for making payments for the folio. Each folio name is displayed as a hyperlink that displays the balance amount for the folio when users hover over the name. The folios are displayed in alphabetical order and can be sorted.
Amount	Displays the amount for which the payment was made for each folio. This column can be sorted.
Total Applied Payments	Displays the total payment made across all the folios using all the payment methods.

When users click Next, the following information is displayed on the Refund Details screen:

Field	Description
Refund For	Refundable Amount: This option is selected by default. Non-refundable amount: This option is displayed when the Non-Refundable Payments feature setting is enabled. Users with the Stay_OverrideNonRefundablePaymentsandDeposits permission can process refunds for non-refundable payments successfully.
Select a Payment Method	It is a mandatory field that displays all the payment methods associated with the reservation, including the third-party payment methods. The payment method selected in the previous screen is displayed by default. Users can choose a different payment method for which the refund should be processed, from the drop-down list. Users can also select the payment method for which no payment was made, from the drop-down list.
Amount to Refund	Based on the payment method selected, the amount paid using the payment method is displayed by default. Users can also modify the amount. This is mandatory field that allows only positive numeric values. The following message is displayed when an invalid amount is entered: Invalid amount. When the amount entered is lesser than the payment made, the refund is processed without authorization. When the amount entered is greater, the field is highlighted in yellow, and the following message is displayed: Refund Amount Exceeds Total Of Previous Payments.
Reference Number	This a text field that allows users to enter a reference number for the refund. This field is marked as mandatory/non-mandatory based on the property setup. If the payment method requires a reference number, this field is marked mandatory.
Payment Balance	This is a read-only field that displays the current balance of the selected payment method. For example, if $170.00 is the payment done for a VISA card, the payment balance is displayed as -$170.00.
Payment New Balance	This field is calculated as the sum of payment balance and amount to refund (- payment balance + refund). For example, if $170.00 is the payment done for VISA card and user enters the amount to refund as $150.00, the new balance will be $-20.00.
Post Refund To	It is a mandatory field that allows users to select the folio to which the refund should be posted. It is a single-select drop-down list that displays all the guest and third-party folios. Users can also enter a new folio name by clicking on the +Add a Folio option from the drop-down list. When clicked, an input text field is displayed that allows users to enter the folio name. When users enter an existing folio name and click on the Proceed with Refund button, the following message is displayed: A folio with this name already exists.
Display Folio Balance	When this flag is enabled, the following fields are displayed: Current folio balance New folio balance
Current Folio Balance	This is a read-only field that displays the current balance of the folio selected in the Post Refund To drop-down list. For example, if $100.00 is the folio balance of the selected folio, the balance is displayed as $100.00.
New Folio Balance	Based on the folio selected in the Post Refund To drop-down list, the new folio balance is calculated as current balance + amount to refund. For example, if $100.00 is the current folio balance and user enters the amount to refund as $150.00, the new balance is $250.00.

When users select a payment method for which no payment was made, the following message is displayed: You are trying to refund for a payment method which has no payments collected, and the Amount to Refund field is highlighted in yellow as it is an excess refund.

Once the user enters the values for all the mandatory fields and the credentials to initiate the refund, the Proceed to Refund button is enabled for selection. When clicked, the entered details are validated, and the refund is processed.

When the amount to refund exceeds the amount paid, and if the user does not have the new permission, the Authorize screen is displayed where the user is prompted to reauthorize his credentials.

On successful validation of credentials, the Refund Processing screen appears that displays a spinner and the following message: Please keep this window open while the refund processes. Closing this window may result in a failed transaction.

Once the refund is processed successfully, the following message is displayed at the top of the Refund screen: Refund posted successfully. If the refund fails, the following message is displayed: Refund processing failed due to network issues. Click Retry button to try again. When users click the Retry button, the user’s credentials are validated again, and the refund is processed accordingly. A record is created in the folio for the refund and excess refund processed that displays the usernames of the users who initiated and approved the refunds. For example:

Non refundable: Refund approved by JamesS at 10.10 AM, Jan 15, 2023.
Non refundable: Excess refund initiated by MillerR and approved by JamesS at 10.10 AM, Jan 15, 2023.

When users select a closed folio in the Post Refund To drop-down list, an info icon with the message, The selected folio is closed, is displayed. Users with the Stay_OverrideClosedFolio permission can override and process refund to the closed folio by reopening the folio. For users without this permission, the Authorize screen is displayed where the users are prompted to authenticate their credentials.

If the entered credentials do not have the Stay_OverrideClosedFolio permission, the message, User does not have permission to override closed folio, is displayed. If the user does not have the Stay_AllowExcessRefunds permission, the message, User does not have permission to make excess refund, is displayed. If the user does not have the Stay_OverrideNonRefundablePaymentsandDeposits permission, the message, User does not have permission to refund non-refundable payment, is displayed.

To support this enhancement, a new button, Refund, has been added to the Payment Method and Folios sections. When clicked, the Refund screen appears that allows users to make a refund for the total payments made.