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Knowledge Base / Billing

Refunds

Updated October 5, 2026

Refunds return money from a payment to the payer. For payments made online, TeachHero can send the money back through Stripe automatically; for offline payments (check, cash), TeachHero records the refund and you return the funds yourself.

Refund a payment

  1. Go to Billing → Payments → Received and open the payment.
  2. Scroll to the Refunds section and click Refund.
  3. Keep the refund number or click Generate.
  4. Enter the Amount — it can't exceed what's still refundable on the payment.
  5. Enter a Reason.
  6. For payments made through Stripe, answer How is the money going back? It's required. Choose Send it back through Stripe to return the money to the payer's card or bank account. Choose I already refunded it another way to record the refund only — no money moves, so use it for a check or cash you've already given back.
  7. Click Send refund (Stripe) or Record refund.

Payments that didn't go through Stripe, like checks and cash, don't show the question — TeachHero records the refund and you return the funds yourself.

Warning: A refund sent through Stripe cannot be undone — the money is returned to the payer immediately. Refunds recorded without Stripe can be deleted, but Stripe refunds cannot.

Stripe refunds show as Processing until Stripe confirms them, then Succeeded. The payment's own status changes to Refunded (fully refunded) or Partial refund.

Refund from the invoice

You can also start from the invoice the money landed on: open it from Billing → Invoices (or from the Invoices panel on the Billing tab of the student's page) and choose Manage → Refund. It appears only while one of that invoice's payments can still be refunded.

When more than one payment reached the invoice, pick the Payment first. The rest of the form is the same one above — the refund number, the Amount, a Reason, and How is the money going back? for a payment made through Stripe.

Refunds and what the family still owes

A refund reduces what the family has paid — it does not remove the underlying charges. If the charges still apply, the family owes that amount again. If you want to return money and forgive the charge (for example, a dropped class), also issue a credit or remove the charge from the invoice.

Adjust which charges a refund counts against

TeachHero spreads a refund across the payment's items automatically. For a partial refund, you often want it counted against one specific charge — say a payment covered two class fees and the student dropped one class.

  1. In the Refunds section, click the refund to open it.
  2. In the Items table, use Edit to change an item's amount, delete an item, or click Add item to allocate the refund to a different payment item.

From the refund page you can also Download PDF, edit the number and reason, or delete the refund (only if it wasn't processed through Stripe).

Refund an overpayment

If a payment has an unallocated amount (money not matched to any charge), the payment view shows an Unallocated amount alert. Click Issue refund, enter the amount and reason, and — for payments made through Stripe — answer How is the money going back? The amount cannot exceed the unallocated portion.