Refunds when an event is cancelled
How an organiser refunds tickets after cancelling an event, when buyers paid at the till, by pay link or on invoice, and how each refund is recorded.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Events businesses in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya
Cancelling an event is a bad day. The venue has flooded, the headline act has withdrawn, the permit has not come through. Within an hour of the announcement, the questions start: when will I get my money back, and how?
The answer depends on how each buyer paid. Tickets sold at the door on the till, tickets paid online through a pay link on an invoice, and corporate tables invoiced and paid by transfer each come back by a different route. This article sets out the three routes in Achekam, so the finance team can refund everyone accurately and the books still make sense afterwards.
Three payment channels, three refund routes
Start by splitting the buyers into three groups, because each group is refunded differently:
| How the buyer paid | How the refund is made | Where it is recorded |
|---|---|---|
| At the till, through Paystack, Flutterwave, Stripe or Pesapal | Sent back through the provider from the till | A till refund linked to the sale |
| At the till, by cash, card, PayFast, Ozow, Peach, M-Pesa or bank EFT | Made outside the till (in cash, or in the provider's portal or the bank) | A till refund recorded with a reference |
| On an invoice, paid online or by transfer | Made in the gateway's dashboard or from the bank | A credit note on the invoice, then the refund |
Get these lists from your own records, not from memory. The till's sales and the invoice list will tell you exactly who paid what, and how.
Till refunds sent back through some providers
A supervisor or manager can refund all or part of a till sale, with a reason, as its own document linked to the original sale. For sales paid through Paystack, Flutterwave, Stripe or Pesapal, Achekam sends the refund back through the provider's own system, and the refund counts as completed only once the provider confirms it.
For a cancelled event that sold most tickets at the door through these gateways, this is the quickest route: open each sale, refund it in full with the reason "event cancelled", and let the provider return the money to the buyer's card or account. Keep a list as you go, so that buyers who contact you can be told the refund is on its way.
A sale can also be voided, but only during its own till session: a supervisor or manager can void a whole sale, which reverses its journal. For a cancelled event, the sessions are long closed, so refunds are the tool to use.
Refunds recorded at the till for others
Refunds of PayFast, Ozow, Peach and M-Pesa payments made at the till are not sent by Achekam. They are made in the provider's own portal, and then recorded at the till with a reference. Cash and card refunds follow the same idea: the money goes back outside the till, and the refund is recorded at the till so the books match.
Two cautions:
- Record every refund. A refund made in the provider's portal but never recorded at the till leaves the ticket income in your books and the money gone from your account.
- Use the provider's reference. Copy the refund reference from the portal into the till refund, so the two can be matched later.
Stock is less of a concern here than in a shop, but if tickets were set up as products with quantities, a till refund returns the ticket to stock, which keeps your count of sold tickets honest.
Invoice payments refunded in the gateway's dashboard
Corporate buyers and groups often pay on an invoice, through a pay link or by bank transfer. Achekam does not send the refund of an online invoice payment through the gateway. The refund is made in the gateway's own dashboard, and a person records it. Bank transfer refunds are made from your bank in the usual way.
Stripe's documentation on refunding and cancelling payments explains the difference between cancelling a payment and refunding it, full and partial refunds, timing, and fees that are not returned. Most gateways work along similar lines, so read your own gateway's equivalent before the refunds begin, especially the part about fees: a gateway may not return the fee it charged on the original payment, and that cost is the organiser's.
Credit notes for invoiced tickets
Before refunding an invoiced buyer, correct the invoice. A credit note in Achekam is issued from the invoice it corrects, in full or for chosen lines, posted to the ledger, and can be downloaded or e-mailed. Leftover credit is held for the customer.
For a cancelled event:
- Issue a credit note against each ticket invoice, in full or for the ticket lines only.
- The buyer's paid invoice now leaves a credit on their account.
- Refund that credit through the gateway dashboard or from the bank.
- Record the refund against the customer's account.
- Send the buyer an updated statement showing the invoice, the credit note and the refund.
Some corporate buyers will prefer to keep the credit for a rescheduled event. That is their choice to make in writing; the credit simply stays on their account until it is used or refunded. The cancellation from the exhibitor's side, where they withdraw from a show that goes ahead, is covered in an exhibitor cancels a booth.
Communicating with buyers
Refunds go more smoothly when buyers know what to expect:
- tell each group how and when they will be refunded;
- explain that card refunds take time to appear on a statement;
- give one contact address for refund questions;
- confirm each refund once it has been made.
Travel businesses face the same problem when a trip is cancelled; cancellation refunds in travel describes their approach. Before your next event goes on sale, write a one-page cancellation plan that lists your payment channels and the refund route for each.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
