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FAC-BILL-04 · Adjustments and refunds: a reasoned discount, and a refund for an item returned
An adjustment reduces what a bill comes to: a discount, a waiver, charity, or a credit note reversing a charge. It never deletes a line. Each one is added to the bill with its reason and the name of the person who authorised it. A refund gives money back from a payment. When the patient returns something they paid for, you need both: credit the charge, then refund the money.
Why this matters
Reductions that just edit the price leave no trail, and auditors look for exactly that. Refunds are the other half. A refund without a matching credit leaves the bill saying the patient owes the money again. And cash handed back that isn't taken off the drawer shows up as a shortage at close (FAC-BILL-02).
Before you start
- Cashier:
cashier@demo-clinic.test/Verabase-2026. The Billing Officer role can apply adjustments and refund payments. - For the refund: run FAC-BILL-02 first, so a bill with a medicine on it is paid partly in cash and partly by transfer (in the captured walk, Zara Okonkwo's ₦32,000 bill: ₦11,500 cash, ₦20,500 transfer).
Steps
1. Discount an unpaid bill
Revenue → Invoices & payments. Choose the unpaid invoice. In Discount, waiver, charity, or credit note, choose the Type, enter the Amount (₦), and give a Reason of at least ten characters, e.g. who approved it. Apply adjustment stays disabled until the reason is long enough to mean something.
The bill's total drops, and Authorized adjustments lists the adjustment with its reason and the person who applied it. The original lines stay as they were.
2. An item returned on a paid bill: credit it first
The patient whose bill you settled in FAC-BILL-02 brings back ₦500 of the medicine they paid for, unused (in the walk, ferrous sulfate + folic acid). Choose their invoice. Because it's paid, the only Type offered is Credit note: a settled bill can be credited but not discounted. Enter ₦500 and the reason, and choose Apply adjustment.
The bill now comes to ₦500 less and is still Paid. The patient has paid ₦500 more than they owe.
3. Refund the credit
Choose Open invoice receipt. The Payments card says the patient is in credit by ₦500. On the payment it was paid with (here the cash), choose Refund. The amount defaults to what's left on that payment; change it to ₦500 and give the reason. Record refund stays disabled until you do.
Choose Record refund and hand the money back. The payment shows ₦500 refunded, the credit is gone, and the bill is still Paid with nothing left to take. A cash refund comes out of your open shift, so the drawer count at close still balances.
What Verabase will refuse and why
| You try to… | Verabase says | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Apply an adjustment without a real reason | Apply adjustment stays disabled under 10 characters | The reason is the audit trail |
| Discount or waive a bill that's already paid | A settled invoice can only be credited. Use a credit note, then refund the difference. | Money already taken is given back as a refund, against a credit |
| Refund more than is left on a payment | Only ₦29,500.00 remains refundable on this payment. | A payment can't be refunded twice |
| Adjust a bill by more than it comes to | The adjustment cannot exceed the invoice balance. | A bill can't go below zero |
Refunding without a credit note is allowed, for example when a patient paid twice. But if the charge still stands, the bill reopens as Partially paid and shows the refunded amount as owing again. For an item returned or a charge made in error, always credit first.
You're done when…
- [ ] Every reduction on a bill is an adjustment with a reason and a name, never an edited price.
- [ ] Refunds for returned items follow a credit note, and the bill stays paid.
- [ ] Cash refunds are handed back from the drawer of the shift that records them.
Practice task
Apply a ₦1,000 waiver to an unpaid bill with a reason. Then credit ₦500 on a paid bill and refund it in cash. Check: the trainer sees both adjustments with your name, the payment marked ₦500 refunded, and the paid bill still Paid.