Documentation
Documentation

Adjusting gift payments

There are several things you should consider before you adjust a gift. First, you must evaluate two things:

  • Do you need to revise the Invoice? (The invoice represents a pledge to pay, and causes revenue to be recorded.)
  • Do you need to revise the Payment? (The payment is the actual receipt of money that can be applied to one, or to multiple items.)
  • Do you need to issue a voided receipt?

Where you go in iMIS to make your corrections will depend on your answers to these questions.

You have a few options when it comes to where you should begin when adjusting a gift:

  1. From the Giving History on a user's account page. The Giving History provides a way to accomplish both updates (revising the invoice and the payment) in a single-streamlined way, in select circumstances. The most common reason for using Giving History to adjust a gift is to correct staff entry errors.
Gifts that can be adjusted using Giving History

You can adjust a gift using Giving history if the gift is eligible for adjustments. The Adjust button will only appear for a gift if all of the following are true:

  1. The total gift amount matches the total amount of the payment. For example, you cannot reverse a single pledge installment if the payment was applied to the first two installments.
  2. The invoice that contains the gift has no other line items. For example, when the gift was originally recorded, there were no other items in the cart.
  3. There is only a single payment applied to the gift.
  4. The payment that was applied to the gift was not also applied to any other items, including adjustment invoices.
How Giving History works

When you Reverse a gift from Giving History, you have the option to Reverse only, or to Reverse & Replace the gift:

  • iMIS will do the following when you select to Reverse only:
    • Reverse the Invoice entirely by creating a new reversing Order and Invoice for the original gift fund, date, and (negative) amount.
    • Reverse the Payment only if the payment was a cash or check type of payment. The payment is unapplied, and then voided (this is the correct procedure to follow only if the cash/check was not actually deposited to the bank).

      • 📘 Note

      You should only use Giving History to correct cash/check gifts when it is appropriate for the payment to be reversed as voided. Cases requiring Refunds or involving NSF checks should be recorded by separately reversing the Payment and the Invoice.

      📘 Note

      Gifts originally paid by credit card will require additional steps. See Gift reversal scenarios for more information.

  • iMIS will do the following when you select to Reverse and Replace:
    • Reverse and Replace the Invoice by:
      • (Applies if date and/or amount is changed) Creating a new reversing Order and Invoice using the original gift fund, date, and (negative) amount, as well as a separate Order and Invoice for the new gift fund, date, and amount.
      • (Applies if only the fund changed) Creating a single new Order for 0.00 having one line to reverse the original fund, an invoice adjustment to reverse the original fund, and a new invoice for the fund.
    • Reverse the Payment only if the payment was a cash or check type of payment, by unapplying the payment and then voiding it (which is appropriate only if the cash/check were not actually deposited in the bank). If the payment is not being reversed, a message is displayed to remind you to perform that addition step manually. You must determine which method for reversing the payment is appropriate for your circumstance.
    • Record a new Payment (if it was cash/check) with the specified new amount and date.
  1. Adjust the invoice and the payment separately. Doing this will allow for more control over the payment reversal details.

The reason for the adjustment being made will dictate which avenue you follow.

📘

Note

Payment adjustments only record actions related to the payment, they do not send updates to the gateway. If you need to void an invalid gateway-processed credit card transaction before settlement has occurred, or wish to generate a credit through the gateway, or need to issue a refund check, you must perform those steps manually.

Gift reversal scenarios

There are several scenarios that illustrate the need for a gift reversal. These scenarios include the steps you must take to perform the gift reversal:

  • Staff user recorded a gift but made an error (the recorded gift did not exist) with a check payment
    Click for details

    The gift that was recorded did not exist and needs to be reversed in its entirety. Do the following:

    1. Reverse the gift. See Reverse Only.
  • Staff user recorded a gift but made an error (the recorded gift did not exist) with a gateway-processed credit card payment
    Click for details

    The gift that was recorded did not exist and needs to be reversed in its entirety. Do the following:

    1. Reverse the gift. See Reverse Only.
    2. Do one of the following:
      • If settlement has not occurred:
        1. Log in to the gateway website, find the payment transaction and process a void to stop the transfer of funds.
        2. Record a payment reversal. Set the Reason as Error Correction.
      • If settlement has already occurred:
        1. Log in to the gateway website, find the payment transaction and process a credit to refund the credit card transaction.
        2. Record a refund.
  • Staff user recorded a gift to the wrong donor's account with a check payment
    Click for details

    For example, there are two John Smiths, but the user recorded the gift to the wrong John Smith. Do the following:

    1. Reverse the gift. See Reverse Only.
    2. Process a new gift and payment transaction to the correct donor’s account.
  • Staff user recorded a gift to the wrong donor's account with a gateway-processed credit card payment
    Click for details

    For example, there are two John Smiths, but the user recorded the gift to the wrong John Smith. Do the following:

    1. Reverse the gift. See Reversing an invoice.
    2. Log in to the gateway website, and do one of the following:
      • Find the payment transaction and process a void to stop the transfer of funds.
      • Find the payment transaction and process a credit to refund the credit card transaction.
    3. Record a payment reversal or refund.
    4. Process a new gift and payment transaction to the correct donor’s account.
  • Donation was recorded to the wrong gift item (or wrong purpose)
    Click for details

    For example, instead of Support the Emergency Relief Fund, the donor had intended to make the gift to the Capital Fund. See Reverse and replace.

  • Donation was recorded for the wrong amount
    Click for details

    For example, instead of a donation of $100.00, a donor instead meant to make a donation of $200.00. Do one of the following:

    • If the donor paid with a check:
      1. Reverse and replace the gift. See Reverse and replace.
    • If the donor paid with a credit card:
      1. Reverse the gift. See Reversing an invoice.
      2. Log in to the gateway website, and do one of the following:
        • Find the payment transaction and process a void to stop the transfer of funds.
        • Find the payment transaction and process a credit to refund the credit card transaction.
      3. Record a payment reversal or refund.
      4. Process a new gift and payment for the correct amount.
  • Payment bounced or reversed by financial institution at donor’s request (for example, an NSF check, a stop payment, or a credit card chargeback)
    Click for details

    This is not an error condition, but a payment that ended up not being valid. The payment is no longer deposited in the bank account and therefore needs to be reversed. Do the following:

    1. Record a payment reversal. Set the Reason as one of the following:
      • NSF Check for a bounced check
      • Chargeback for a credit card chargeback
      • Other for a stop payment
    2. (optional) Reverse the gift (if you no longer expect the donor to pay); otherwise, the invoice will appear on the donor's page with an open balance.
  • Donor changed their mind and wanted the gift reversed after payment deposited (after credit card settlement), leaving a credit in their account
    Click for details

    After the donor made the gift, the donor changed their mind and wanted to reverse the gift. If a credit adjustment was processed against an invoice to which the payment was applied, the payment is left in a fully or partially unapplied state. In this case, there are two options available:

    1. Reverse the gift, which will create an open balance.
    2. Apply the open credit to new purchases or open invoices. See Applying an open credit.
  • Donor changed their mind after payment was processed (after credit card settlement), and wanted the gift and the payment reversed with a refund to their credit card
    Click for details

    After the donor made the gift, they changed their mind and wanted to reverse the gift and cancel the change to their credit card:

    1. Reverse the gift. This will create an open credit balance.
    2. Log in to the gateway website, find the payment transaction, and process a credit to refund the credit card transaction.
    3. Manually process and record the refund in the Staff site.
Reversing and replacing gift transactions in Giving History

There are several scenarios in which a staff user would need to either reverse, or reverse and replace, a gift. Before you begin, read over the gift reversal scenarios to ensure you are following the correct procedure.

Adjusting a gift: Reverse Only

Do the following to reverse a gift transaction after it has been entered:

  1. As a staff user, locate the desired donor account page and click the Giving tab.
  2. Under Giving history, find the transaction you want to reverse.
  3. Click the hyperlinked gift item. This will open the Gift Summary window.
  4. Click Adjust Gift.
  5. From the Adjustment type drop-down, select Reverse only.
  6. Click Submit. The gift and the payment will be reversed at this time, recording the original payment as voided.
  7. The transaction will be removed from the Giving history. You can see the transaction, as well as the related adjustment, are now part of the Closed Invoices.
Adjusting a gift: Reverse and Replace

Staff users can change the fund for the contribution, and enter a new gift amount and/or date. Before you begin, read over the gift reversal scenarios.

Do the following to enter replacement gift information:

  1. From the Staff site, locate the desired donor account page and click the Giving tab.
  2. Under Giving history, find the transaction with details you want to replace.
  3. Click the hyperlinked gift description. This will open the Gift Summary window.
  4. Click Adjust Gift.
  5. From the Adjustment type drop-down, select Reverse and replace. The following information appears:
    • Donor - The name of the donor.
    • Date - This field will automatically populate to the date of the original gift. Select the calendar icon to change the date. The new invoice and payment will be recorded using the date entered here; the reversing invoice and payment will always take the original date.
    • Gift Item - Select a new fund to enter a replacement gift.
    • Amount - This field will automatically populate with the original gift amount. Enter in a new amount to replace the original gift amount..
    • (optional) Replacement receipt options - This field only appears if the original gift has already been issued a receipt. If you are issuing a replacement receipt, you have the following options:
      • Email to donor - The replacement gift receipt will be sent to the donors as a PDF attachment in an email.
      • Print - A PDF attachment of the replacement gift receipt will be downloaded to your computer and you are able to print from there.

        • 📘 Note

        If the gift being reversed has not yet been receipted, then a receipt will not be issued for the replacement gift either. A receipt can be generated for the replacement gift at Fundraising > Receipting > Issue receipts.

    • (optional) Communication template - The communication template that appears depends on the receipt status of the gift being replaced:
      • Not Issued - No communication template will appear.
      • Issued/Not Sent - The drop-down will contain all templates in the $/Common/Communications/Receipts folder. Select the desired template.
      • Issued/Sent - The drop-down will contain all templates in the $/Common/Communications/Receipts/Replacement Receipts folder. Select the desired template.
  6. Click Submit.
  7. The replacement details can now be seen under the Giving tab. If you issued a replacement receipt, select the Participation tab. You will see that the receipt was processed successfully under Communications.
Automatically voiding issued receipts

Any adjustments to gift invoice that have already been paid result in voided receipts. Any cancellations of charitable event registrations also result in a voided receipt.

See Issuing and viewing charitable receipts for more information.

Updated 4 months ago

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