Refund an Inspection in Hive: Full, Partial or One Service

In the dashboard: open the inspection, then Fees and Payments → Refund Payment

You refund a client from the inspection itself. Hive can return the money to the client’s card or bank account through Stripe, or record a refund you paid back yourself, such as cash or a check. Hive never refunds on its own. Canceling, rescheduling or deleting an inspection doesn’t give any money back. If the client should get money back, refund them with Refund Payment.

Refunds are only on the web dashboard. The mobile app can’t refund. On the inspection summary screen, tap Edit Inspection Order to open the inspection in your browser.

Before you start

You need three things:

A payment on the inspection. The Refund Payment button shows once Service Paid is more than $0.00.
A Confirmed or Canceled inspection. The Fees and Payments card only shows on these. It stays on a canceled inspection, so you can refund after you cancel.
The Financial Data Access permission. The account owner always has it. Other team members need it turned on in Teams. See Team permissions.

Card, bank transfer and Affirm refunds also need the Stripe account that took the payment to still be connected. If you switched to a different Stripe account, refund older payments in the old account’s Stripe Dashboard. See Set up payments and Stripe.

Refund a payment

Open the inspection

On the Inspections page, click the inspection to open its order page. The Fees and Payments card is below Quick Actions.

Click Refund Payment

On a fully paid inspection, it’s the red button on the green Fully Paid banner. On a partly paid inspection, it’s below the other buttons.

The Fees and Payments card for an inspection paid in full by card: Service Total 706.56 dollars, Service Paid 734.82 dollars, Service Due 0.00 dollars, Show Invoice and Edit Payment buttons, and a green Fully Paid banner, Last payment on Oct 22, 2026 via Card, with a red Refund Payment button

Check the badge and the refundable amount

The badge at the top says what kind of refund this will be:

Stripe refund (live): Stripe sends the money back to the client.
External refund (tracking only): Hive only records it. You give the money back yourself.

Below it, Refundable shows the most you can refund. It’s the amount paid, less any earlier refunds. When the client paid by card and you pass the 4% Technology Fee on, the amount includes the fee.See Stripe refund or tracking-only refund.

Choose Custom amount or Refund a service

The dialog opens on Custom amount, with the full refundable amount filled in.

Custom amount: keep the full amount, or type a smaller one. Refund full amount puts the full amount back.
Refund a service: tick one or more services or add-ons. Hive adds up their prices, plus the matching 4% fee when the client paid it.

See Choose how much to refund.

Add a reason (optional)

Reason / notes is for your records. The client doesn’t see it. If you refund a service and leave it blank, Hive saves “Refund:” and the service name.

Click the refund button

It reads Refund $X via Stripe for a Stripe refund, or Record Refund $X for a tracking-only refund.

The Refund Payment dialog for a card payment: Issue a refund to the customer through Stripe, a Stripe refund (live) badge, Refundable (net amount paid, includes the 4% technology fee) 734.82 dollars, Refund a service selected, and a list of services each with its price plus the fee, such as Home Inspection 416.00 dollars (400.00 dollars plus fee) and Radon Testing 182.00 dollars (175.00 dollars plus fee) ticked. Below: Service value 175.00 dollars, Technology fee (4%) 7.00 dollars, Returned to the card 182.00 dollars, a note to remove the service from the inspection afterwards, Reason / notes Radon test canceled at the client's request, and a Refund 182.00 dollars via Stripe button

Confirm with Yes, refund

A second window asks you to confirm.

For Stripe: “This issues a real refund of $X to the customer’s original payment method via Stripe. This cannot be undone from Hive.”
For tracking only: “This records an external refund of $X for tracking. It does not move any money — issue the actual refund separately.”

The confirmation window: Refund 182.00 dollars? This issues a real refund of 182.00 dollars to the customer's original payment method via Stripe. This cannot be undone from Hive. Service value credited: 175.00 dollars plus 7.00 dollars technology fee for Radon Testing. Cancel and Yes, refund buttons

A Refund processed message confirms it, for example “$182.00 refunded via Stripe.” For a bank transfer or Affirm refund, it adds “Settlement pending.”

Remove refunded services (if any)

If you refunded a service, remove it from the inspection’s services. Otherwise the invoice still bills it, the client shows a balance due, and the report can lock again. See Remove a line.The success message reminds you: “Next: remove [service] from this inspection’s services so the invoice total matches.”

Stripe refund or tracking-only refund

Hive picks the refund type from how the client paid. You can’t choose it.

How the client paid	Badge	What happens to the money
Card through your payment page or a payment link	Stripe refund (live)	Stripe returns it to the same card. It usually shows on the client’s statement in 5 to 10 business days.
Bank transfer (ACH) through your payment page	Stripe refund (live)	Stripe returns it to the same bank account. It shows as pending for a few days.
Affirm	Stripe refund (live)	Affirm credits the client’s loan. It can show as pending for a few days.
Cash, check, Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, e-Transfer, wire, or a card you charged on your own terminal	External refund (tracking only)	Nothing moves. You return the money yourself, then Hive’s records match.

The Refund Payment dialog for a hand-recorded payment: Record a refund for this manually-recorded payment (tracking only, no Stripe transaction), an External refund (tracking only) badge, Refundable (net amount paid) 706.56 dollars, Custom amount selected, Refund amount 706.56 with Max 706.56 dollars and a Refund full amount link, Reason / notes, and a Record Refund 706.56 dollars button

A payment you recorded with Record Payment is always tracking only, even if you chose Credit Card as the payment type. Hive can’t reach a card it never charged.

When the client paid more than once

Hive refunds against the most recent payment.

If the last payment went through Stripe, the refund goes back through Stripe, to that card or account. Stripe won’t refund more than that one payment. If you try, you get a Refund failed message and nothing changes.
If the last payment was recorded by hand, the refund is tracking only.

For example, a client pays a $300 deposit by check, then the remaining $406.56 by card. Refund Payment refunds through Stripe, up to the $406.56 card payment. To give back the check deposit too, return it yourself. Then ask us in the chat bubble in your dashboard to record it.

Choose how much to refund

Full refund

Leave Custom amount at the amount filled in, or click Refund full amount. This is the usual choice when a job is canceled. When the client paid by card and you pass the 4% fee on, a full refund returns the fee too. For example, a $706.56 inspection paid by card was charged $734.82, and a full refund returns $734.82.

Partial refund: a custom amount

Type the amount to give back. It can’t be more than Refundable. Use this for a goodwill credit, a late-arrival discount, a trip fee you’re waiving, or a cancellation where you keep a fee. When the client paid the 4% fee, the box reads Amount to return to the card (includes the 4% technology fee). Under it, Hive shows how much service value that credits, for example “Credits $96.15 of service value ($100.00 ÷ 1.04)”. Hive also tells you where the invoice will end up:

“After this refund the invoice will show a balance due of $X.” The client will owe that much, because the services are still on the inspection. Lower the price or remove a service to match.
“After this refund the customer will still have paid $X more than the services on the invoice.”
No message means the invoice will be in balance.

Partial refund: one service or add-on

Click Refund a service, then tick what you’re refunding, such as a radon test that couldn’t be done. Each line shows what the client paid for it. When they paid the 4% fee, the line shows the price ”+ fee”, and the summary shows:

Line	Example
Service value	$175.00
Technology fee (4%)	$7.00
Returned to the card	$182.00

The list shows services and add-ons with a price above $0. The Technology Fee isn’t listed on its own, because it’s refunded with each service. If the total is more than Refundable, Hive shows it in red. Untick a service or switch to Custom amount. Refunding a service doesn’t remove it from the inspection. Remove it yourself afterwards.

Lowered the price after the client paid? Change the price first. Then refund the difference with Custom amount. When no balance message shows under the amount, the invoice and the payments match.

Fees on a refund

The client gets back what they paid. That includes the 4% Technology Fee when you pass it on.
Processing fees aren’t returned to you. Stripe keeps its processing fee on the original payment, and Hive keeps its platform fee. The refund comes out of your Stripe balance.
Not enough in your Stripe balance? The refund fails with: “Your Stripe balance doesn’t have enough funds to cover this refund.” Add funds in your Stripe Dashboard under Balance → Add to balance, or wait for new payments to arrive, then try again.

See Technology Fee: refunds.

What changes after a refund

What	After the refund
Service Paid	Goes down by the refund.
Payment status	A full refund sets it to Refunded. A partial refund usually leaves it Partial, because the services are still on the inspection. Once you remove the refunded service, it goes back to Paid.
Invoice	Hive rebuilds the invoice PDF. The refund is listed in red with its date, and AMOUNT PAID and BALANCE DUE update.
Client portal	The Payments section shows the updated invoice. A fully refunded invoice shows Refunded.
Report access	If a balance is now due, the report locks for the client again, as for any unpaid inspection. If you removed the services so nothing is due, it stays unlocked. To control it by hand, use Manual Lock Override for Reports. See When clients can see the report.
Emails	Nothing is sent to the client. No automation runs. Stripe can email its own refund receipt if you turned on receipts in your Stripe Dashboard.
Services and price	Unchanged. Remove refunded services yourself.
Inspection status	Unchanged. Refunding doesn’t cancel the inspection.
Request balance from customer	Shows again if the client now owes money, so they can pay again.

Previous refunds

Every refund on the inspection is listed at the bottom of the Refund Payment dialog under Previous refunds. Each one shows the amount, Stripe or External, the date, the reason and a status:

Status	Meaning
succeeded	Done.
pending	Stripe is still processing it. This is normal for bank transfer and Affirm refunds for a few days.
failed or canceled	Stripe couldn’t return the money, and Hive has put the amount back on the inspection. See A refund shows failed.

You can refund again until the full amount paid has been returned.

Customer overpaid

After you refund a service at its list price and remove it, the card can show Customer overpaid by $X. This is the 4% fee on that service, which wasn’t part of the refund. The invoice shows it as a credit due to the client. Click Refund $X in that box. The refund dialog opens with the amount and the reason “Refund overpayment (technology fee on refunded service)” filled in. The dialog shows the same hint with a Use $X button.

Common situations

Situation	What to do
The client canceled the job	Refund the full amount, or keep a cancellation fee with Custom amount. Then set the status to Canceled. You can also cancel first: the card stays on canceled inspections. See Inspection statuses.
You’re deleting the inspection	Refund first. After you delete it, you can’t open it to refund. See Delete an inspection.
A service couldn’t be done	Refund a service, tick it, then remove it from the inspection’s services.
The client paid twice	Refund the extra payment with Custom amount. Before you do, check your Stripe Dashboard to see which payments really went through. Also check for a duplicate inspection at the same address.
You’re giving a discount after payment	Lower the price first, then refund the difference with Custom amount.
A check bounced	Don’t refund, because no money arrived. Use Edit Payment → Clear Payment & Reset to Pending, or edit the amount. See Clear a payment.
You recorded a payment by mistake	Don’t refund. Clear it instead. A tracking-only refund is for money you actually returned.
An agent paid a share with Add Invoice	Refund that share from your Stripe Dashboard. See Shares paid by an agent or other contact.

Refunds made outside Hive

Refunds from your Stripe Dashboard

You can refund in your Stripe Dashboard instead. Hive picks it up on its own when it’s for the inspection’s most recent Stripe payment. It updates Service Paid, the status and the invoice, and lists it under Previous refunds with the reason “Refund initiated in Stripe dashboard”. If a Stripe Dashboard refund doesn’t show in Hive, don’t refund it again with Refund Payment. That would return the money twice. Ask us in the chat bubble in your dashboard to update the records.

Shares paid by an agent or other contact

A share someone else paid through Add Invoice can’t be refunded in Hive. Refund Payment only refunds the client’s own payments. To refund a share, find the payment in your Stripe Dashboard and refund it there. Hive’s records for that share don’t change, so ask us to update them. See Split payment.

Payments you edited or cleared

Edit Payment replaces the payment history with one hand-recorded payment. If the client had paid through Stripe, Hive loses the link to that card payment, and later refunds become tracking only. Refund before you edit a Stripe payment.
Clear Payment & Reset to Pending erases the payment history, including the refunds listed on it. It doesn’t move any money.

See Edit a payment.

A refund shows failed

If Stripe refuses the refund right away, you see Refund failed with the reason, and nothing changes in Hive. Common reasons are not enough money in your Stripe balance, an amount more than the card payment, or a payment taken on a Stripe account you’ve since disconnected. Refund payments from an old Stripe account in that account’s Stripe Dashboard. If Stripe creates the refund but can’t send it, the message reads “Stripe couldn’t process this refund”, and the refund is listed as failed under Previous refunds. If a refund fails later, which can happen with bank transfers, Hive puts the money back on the inspection by itself:

Service Paid goes back up by the refund amount.
The refund comes off the invoice, and Hive rebuilds the PDF.
The payment status is worked out again, for example back to Paid.
The refund stays under Previous refunds as failed or canceled, so you can see what happened.

Nothing is emailed to the client. The client didn’t get the money, so refund them again with Refund Payment once the cause is fixed, or return it another way. If you edited or cleared the payment after the refund, Hive can’t tell what to put back, so it leaves the amounts as they are. Ask us in the chat bubble in your dashboard to correct them.

QuickBooks

Hive doesn’t send refunds to QuickBooks. A fully refunded inspection stops syncing and is flagged for you to fix by hand. Record the refund in QuickBooks yourself, for example as a refund receipt or credit memo. See QuickBooks.

Who can refund

Action	Who
See Refund Payment and issue refunds	Team members with Financial Data Access. The account owner always has it.
See Previous refunds	Same as above
Refund in the mobile app	Nobody. Use the web dashboard.

If you can’t see Refund Payment, either you don’t have Financial Data Access, or nothing has been paid on the inspection.

Common questions

How long does a card refund take? Stripe sends it right away. Most banks show it on the client’s statement within 5 to 10 business days. Bank transfer refunds take a few days. Can I undo a refund? No. Once a Stripe refund is sent, it can’t be taken back. If you refunded by mistake, ask the client to pay again with Request balance from customer. Does a refund cancel the inspection? No. The inspection keeps its status. Cancel it separately if the job isn’t going ahead. Why is the refund less than I expected? Refundable is what’s left after earlier refunds. If the client paid more than once, a Stripe refund can’t be more than the most recent card payment. Why can I only record a tracking-only refund for a card payment? The payment was recorded by hand, or the most recent payment wasn’t made through Stripe. Hive can only refund through Stripe for payments made on your payment page. The client says they didn’t get their refund. Open the payment in your Stripe Dashboard. It shows the refund’s status and a reference number (ARN) the client’s bank can trace. If the refund shows failed, see A refund shows failed. Does Hive email the client about the refund? No. Tell them yourself, or turn on Stripe’s refund receipts. Will my Stripe and Hive fees come back? No. Stripe keeps its processing fee and Hive keeps its platform fee on the original payment.

How-to guides

Refund an Inspection in Hive: Full, Partial or One Service

Before you start