Chargeback
Money a card processor takes back from you after a customer disputes a card payment with their bank. Usually comes with a separate dispute fee.
In Solo Superstars
A chargeback happens in stages, and each stage affects your books differently:
| Stage | What happens | Effect on reports |
|---|---|---|
| Dispute opened | The customer’s bank questions the payment. | None yet. No money has moved. |
| Funds withdrawn | The processor takes the disputed amount out of your balance. | Revenue goes down on the withdrawal date. |
| Dispute fee | The processor charges a fee for handling the dispute. | A separate Bank Charges expense on the same date. |
| Dispute won | The processor returns the disputed amount. | Revenue comes back on the date the money returns. |
The original payment is never edited. The withdrawal and any recovery are separate records, so the history shows exactly what happened and when. The original card fee usually stays spent even if you win.
When a dispute is opened on a payment-link payment, workspace users who opted in to that notification are emailed. The app does not yet post chargebacks automatically: the withdrawal and fee arrive in your processor or bank feed and are categorized like other bank activity. Live card processing is a later release.
Example
A customer disputes a $45 card purchase from Harbor Lane Coffee’s online shop. On May 2 the processor withdraws $45 and charges a $15 dispute fee. Categorize them separately:
| CoA | Account | Amount | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
4900 | Sales Returns & Allowances | $45 | The sale was reversed |
6010 | Bank Charges | $15 | The cost of the dispute |
May shows −$45 of sales and $15 of fees on both views. If the café wins on June 10 and the $45 comes back, June shows +$45. The $15 fee is usually not returned.
Codes shown are the defaults a new workspace starts with. Yours may be renamed or renumbered — check Accounting › Chart of accounts. See the full default chart.
Also called
- dispute
- card dispute
- payment dispute
Related
- Processor fee — What Stripe, Square or PayPal keep from a card payment. Booked as an expense so revenue stays gross.
- Refund — Money returned to a customer. Recorded as a negative payment against the original so the invoice’s net stays right.
- Payment — Money received against an invoice, by card, bank transfer, check, cash or other method. Clears the receivable.
- 6010 Bank Charges — Bank service fees, wire fees and card-processing charges. Where Stripe and Square fees land by default.
- Processor payout — A deposit from Stripe, Square or PayPal that bundles several customer payments minus fees. Matching it empties the clearing account.