Refunds, Credits and Disputed Charges
Money going back out, money waiting to be directed, and a charge a parent has queried with their bank.
Refunds: your decision, in two steps
Finance → Refunds lists what your parents have asked for. Agreeing and paying are deliberately two acts: "Approve" records that the school agreed and sends nothing, and the send button that appears afterwards is what actually moves the money. That way an approval can never be a misclick that paid somebody. Whether to refund at all is your school's call, never the platform's.
Declining a refund
"Decline" asks for a reason under "Reason for declining — the parent is given this word for word". Write it as something you are content for the family to read, because that is exactly what happens to it.
Refunds that did not arrive
The page separates refunds you approved but have not sent, and ones sent that have stalled on the way to the parent. Both are shown alongside the finished ones, because a list that hid them is how the same refund gets approved twice.
Credit: money received against no bill
When a family pays more than a bill, or pays before one exists, the balance is held as credit. Finance → Payer credits shows it: find the pupil by name or admission number under "Find the pupil", or open "Payer credit" from the pupil's fee account or an invoice. It is never spent for them — not on the oldest bill, not on next term, not on a brother's — because that is the family's money to direct.
Putting credit against a bill
Once the family has told you which bill it should go to, use "Apply to an invoice": the "Invoice" they chose from the family's open bills, the "Amount (₦)", a "Note" recording the instruction, then "Apply credit". Credit cannot be moved to a sibling's bill — if it needs to go to another child, the family has to request a refund and pay again.
A charge a parent disputed with their bank
Finance → Disputes shows charges a parent has queried through their card provider. You answer with "Defend this charge" — which requires "Why the charge was legitimate — required to defend" — or "Agree to repay". Answering here is not the same as the case being filed: it records your position for a platform operator to submit. Say what the money was for and what the family received, in the words you would use to a stranger.
Still stuck?
Email info@tocel.ng and tell us which guide you were following.