How Vlge Handles Refunds
This article explains what happens behind the scenes when you refund a resident payment in Vlge, so you know exactly how each choice affects the resident's balance, the general ledger, and your bank account.
Refunds are issued from Admin → Financials → Billing → Refunds. Every refund is a request that must be approved by a second person before it processes. The person who submits a refund cannot approve it.
The three decisions on every refund
When you request a refund you make three choices. Each one has a specific accounting result.
1. Where does the money go? (Destination)
Refund to original payment method The money is returned to the card or bank account the resident paid with. Available for online payments once the funds have settled (card immediately; ACH after 3–5 business days). Not available for lockbox checks or manually recorded payments.
Bank impact: cash leaves the association's account.
Ledger: the original payment entry is reversed — Accounts Receivable goes back up by the refunded amount, cash goes down.
Resident: unless you void the charge (see below), the charge they paid reopens as owed.
Account credit on the unit ledger No money moves. The refunded amount becomes a credit on the resident's account that Vlge applies to their open charges (or holds until a charge appears).
Bank impact: none.
Ledger: the refund is recorded as an unapplied payment credit against Accounts Receivable. When the credit is applied to a specific charge, the receivable for that charge is relieved - exactly as if the resident had paid it.
Resident: the credit is applied immediately to any open charges, in your association's Payment Application Order (set under Billing Settings). If there is nothing open, the credit sits on the account and is applied to the next charge that posts. It is visible on the unit page as "Unapplied credit" and on the resident's My Unit/Property page.
Paid outside Vlge Use this when you have already refunded the resident by another means - a paper check, Zelle, a bank transfer you initiated yourself. Vlge records the accounting but does not move money.
Bank impact: none from Vlge; you already made the payment. You choose which cash account the refund came from so the ledger matches your bank.
Ledger: same as an original-method refund — cash down, Accounts Receivable back up.
Resident: charges reopen unless voided.
2. What happens to the charge the payment covered? (Charge treatment)
Leave charges as they are The charges the payment covered stay valid.
For original-method and paid-outside refunds, the charge reopens as owed - the resident still owes it, they just got their money back. This is the right choice for duplicate payments or when the resident paid in error but the charge itself is legitimate.
For account-credit refunds, the charge stays paid and the credit is added on top. This is association-funded goodwill - the association is effectively giving the resident money. The amount is expensed to Refunds Issued.
Void the affected charge(s) The charge is voided and its revenue is reversed. The resident owes nothing for it.
The ledger reverses the original charge: the revenue that was recognized when the charge posted is removed, and the receivable is cleared.
For account-credit refunds, this is how a voided charge's payment "turns into" the credit: the charge goes away, and the money the resident paid for it becomes their credit.
Use this for billing errors, cancelled projects, or anything where the charge should never have existed.
3. Who absorbs the processing fee? (Fee handling)
Online payments carry a processing fee the resident may have paid at checkout. On a refund you decide what happens to it.
Association absorbs the fee: The resident gets back everything they paid, fee included. The fee portion is expensed to your Payment Processing Fees account. This is the default and the fairest choice when the refund is the association's doing.
Resident forfeits the fee: Only the payment amount is refunded; the fee stays where it went. Use this when the resident is the cause (for example, a duplicate payment they made themselves and they want a refund vs a credit).
Vlge never funds refunds. The platform's payment or service fee is not refundable and is not part of these calculations unless a platform error contributed to the refund. If you believe this is the case, please reach support.
Reading the result on the unit page
After any refund, the unit page shows two separate numbers:
Balance - the total of open charges. This is what the resident owes right now.
Unapplied credit — money on the account not yet applied to a charge (only shown when there is some).
These are deliberately shown separately. A resident with a $442.86 open charge and a $442.86 credit does not show a $0.00 balance - they show a $442.86 balance and a $442.86 credit, so you can see that something needs to be applied. Vlge applies stranded credit automatically each night and before late fees or overdue notices run, so this state is temporary. You can also click Apply credit to open charges to do it immediately.
👉 Common scenarios
Resident paid twice by accident (online)
Destination: original payment method.
Treatment: leave charges as they are.
Fee: resident forfeits (they caused the duplicate) or association absorbs (as a courtesy). One payment stays applied to the charge; the duplicate goes back to the resident.
You billed the wrong amount and the resident already paid.
Destination: account credit.
Treatment: void the charge. The wrong charge disappears, the resident's payment becomes a credit, and it applies to the corrected charge when you post it. Nothing leaves the bank.
Resident is moving out and has a credit balance
Destination: paid outside Vlge (write them a check) or original payment method if they paid online recently.
Treatment: leave as is. Record the refund so the credit is cleared from the ledger.
Board voted to refund a special assessment after a project was cancelled
Destination: original payment method or paid outside Vlge, depending on how you're sending money.
Treatment: void the charge. Reason code: project cancelled. The assessment revenue is reversed, the receivable is cleared, and cash goes back to residents.
Association wants to give a resident a courtesy credit for a hardship, without touching any charge.
Destination: account credit.
Treatment: leave charges as they are. The credit is association-funded and expensed to Refunds Issued. It applies to the resident's next charges.
Things to know
Refunds may need a second approver. Requests sit as "awaiting approval" until someone other than the requester approves them. Approvers are set under Financials settings; anyone with the Approve Refunds permission can also approve.
ACH refunds carry dispute risk. A resident can dispute an ACH payment for up to 60 days. If they dispute after you refund, they could receive the money twice. Vlge warns you about this when it applies.
Refund entries go in the general ledger dated today, in the current open period. If the original payment was in a closed period, the refund does not reopen it.
Every refund is auditable. The Refunds page shows the request, the approver, the reason, and links to the journal entry and the affected charges.
Partial refunds are supported. You can refund any amount up to what remains refundable on the payment; the fee portion is split proportionally when the association absorbs it.