Void an invoice, refunds, and disputes

Three different situations, three different answers.

Voiding an invoice — the invoice was wrong or shouldn’t have gone out, and no money has moved. Void sits on the invoice itself, on drafts and on sent invoices alike. It stays on the record marked as void, which is what you want; a canceled invoice that vanishes is a hole in your history. Voiding only works while no payment has been collected. If a payment is already recorded against the invoice, PoolHelm blocks the void and tells you so — refund the payment in Stripe first, then come back.

Refunding a payment — money already moved and you need to give it back. Refunds happen in your Stripe dashboard, because it’s your Stripe account holding the money. Every paid invoice carries a View in Stripe link that takes you straight to that payment, so you’re not hunting for it. Refund it in full or in part; the funds come out of your Stripe balance.

The refund then shows up in PoolHelm. You’ll see it on the invoice — “Refunded $150.00 on Aug 8” — and it’s taken out of your revenue figures rather than left inflating them. You don’t have to record anything by hand; PoolHelm reads it back from Stripe on its own.

A chargeback or dispute — the customer went to their card company instead of coming to you. Stripe notifies you and gives you a window to respond with evidence, and PoolHelm puts that deadline in your morning briefing so it can’t quietly pass while you’re out on a route. This is where PoolHelm earns its keep: you have a timestamped service record for the visit, arrival and departure photos, water chemistry readings, and the chemicals added. Attach that to the dispute. It’s exactly the proof card networks look for.

Why refunds and disputes live in Stripe rather than in PoolHelm: it’s your account, your money, and your relationship with Stripe. PoolHelm never holds the funds, so it can’t move them back.

See also: “Understanding your pool service report” (Collection 9), which is what your customer received as proof.