Track refunds, credits, and duplicate charges clearly

A credit promise is not money received

A vendor may agree to refund a charge days before the money appears. Record both events. Keep the original expense, create a linked adjustment, and give the adjustment a status such as requested, promised, received, or disputed. Do not increase a cash balance merely because a phone representative said a refund was on its way.

Capture the amount, reason, vendor reference, expected payment method, and follow-up date. If a credit will apply to a future invoice instead of being returned as cash, label it as a vendor credit. Otherwise a reader may assume that funds are available in the estate account when they remain with the vendor.

Investigate before calling a charge a duplicate

Similar amounts can represent separate services, a deposit and a balance, or a pending authorization followed by a settled charge. Compare dates, invoice numbers, service periods, and payment references. Describe the item as a possible duplicate until the evidence supports a conclusion.

Keep a dispute log with the contact date, person or department reached, reference, request, and response. Use known vendor or financial institution contact details. Do not follow a link in an unexpected refund message that requests account credentials. The FBI warns against supplying login credentials and financial information in response to email requests.

• Original expense reference
• Adjustment amount and reason
• Cash refund or future credit
• Vendor confirmation and dispute reference
• Expected resolution date
• Statement match when the adjustment completes

Worked example: a returned supply purchase

An estate account pays $90 for packing supplies. Unused items are returned for a $24 refund. Keep the $90 original expense and link a $24 adjustment to it. The net cost is $66 once the refund is confirmed, while the payment history still shows $90 out and $24 back. This is easier to reconcile than replacing the original amount with $66.

If a relative personally paid the $90 and received the $24 refund, the net personal advance is $66. Confirm that fact before approving a reimbursement. A full $90 reimbursement plus a refund kept by the payer would overstate the repayment. Keep the refund evidence with the original request.

Review unresolved adjustments separately

At the end of the month, list refunds that have been promised but not received, credits that have not been used, and disputes awaiting an answer. Give each item a next action. A vendor credit that expires or cannot be applied may require a new decision, not simply a status change to complete.

When an adjustment is received, match it to the statement and record the clearing date. Keep any difference visible, such as a shipping fee that was not refunded. Ask the accountant how unusual settlements or chargebacks should appear in the estate reports. The organizational goal is to show the actual sequence of events so that a reviewer can distinguish expenditure, recovery, and unresolved claims.

Keep a final resolution note even for a small amount. “Refund posted November 12, matched to statement line 8” provides a useful stopping point. Without that note, another helper may spend time reopening a dispute that has already been settled.