Use or pay out a member's credit

Use or pay out a member’s credit

A member’s credit is money the syndicate owes them: an expense paid back, a loan, or a correction in their favour. It is used only when somebody chooses to use it: the member at Pay, their Direct Debit automatically, or you, from their charges. This page covers the two things you can do with it: pay their charges from it, or record that the syndicate has paid it back to them outside the app.

Before you start

You must be an admin (a treasurer needs the admin role).
You must be online. Both actions write to the financial ledger.

Use a member’s credit

Open the syndicate and go to Members.
Tap the member’s row, then tap Record a payment under Balance. Their outstanding charges open, with any credit they hold listed among them.
If their credit can pay at least one of their charges in full, a Use £X of credit button appears under the total. £X is how much credit it will use.
Tap it. The Use credit? dialog asks Use £X of [name]’s credit to pay N charges?
Tap Use credit, or Cancel to change nothing. The dialog stays open until Syndik8 has answered.
You see Credit used. The charges leave the outstanding list, the member’s credit goes down by the same amount, and on their own balance screen the charges read Paid with credit.

Which charges are paid:

Oldest first, whole charges only. A charge too big for what is left of the credit is skipped, and a later, smaller one can still be paid. A charge is never paid in part.
Only charges and credit nothing else is holding. A charge or credit that a payment in progress is using, a charge the member’s bank is disputing, and money owed back for a refund that did not reach the member are all left out.

The member is told with a Credit used notice. If the credit is your own, every other admin of the syndicate is told instead.

Mark credit as paid out

Use this when the syndicate has already paid a member’s credit back to them outside the app, for example by bank transfer.

Open the member’s charges as in steps 1 and 2 above.
On the credit row, tap Mark as paid out. It is offered while nothing else is holding that credit, and not while the member’s bank is disputing a payment it belongs to.
The Mark as paid out form opens. Amount paid is fixed at everything left on that credit line: it cannot be changed, and a part payout cannot be recorded.
Choose Day paid. It cannot be before the credit was added, or in the future.
Choose How you paid:
- Bank transfer: enter the Bank reference as it appears on the syndicate’s bank statement.
- Cash or Cheque.
- Another way: say how you paid them in the note, which is required.
Tap Record the payment. You see Payout recorded. The credit leaves the member’s balance.

A payout cannot be changed once recorded. If credit later goes back on that line (because a payment that spent part of it is undone), that credit can be marked as paid out again. The member is told with a Credit used notice headed Credit paid out to you. If the credit is your own, every other admin of the syndicate is told instead.

A Refund not received line, money owed back for a refund that did not reach the member, uses the same form. Recording a payout on it also settles the syndicate’s choice for that refund, exactly as Record a payment to them does on Refunds & chargebacks. See Work refunds and chargebacks.

Undoing or refunding a payment that used credit

A payment that used credit is put right from Admin → Refunds & chargebacks → Refund or correct a payment, with the same three options as any other payment. The credit always goes back as credit:

Reverse the settlement: the charges are owed again and the credit goes back to the member.
Full refund: the credit goes back to the member and the charges stay paid.

On a payment that was part card and part credit, the card money goes back first and the credit only with the last of it. If some of that credit is part of another payment that is still going through, such as a Direct Debit being collected, this is refused until that payment has finished. See Refund or correct a payment.

If it goes wrong

“Couldn’t reach Syndik8, so the credit wasn’t used.” or “Couldn’t reach Syndik8, so the payout wasn’t recorded.” The device has no connection. Nothing was written; try again when you are back online.
“Syndik8 didn’t confirm, so the credit may or may not have been used.” or “Syndik8 didn’t confirm the payout, so it may or may not have been recorded.” No answer arrived. Reopen the member’s charges and check whether the charges, or the credit, are still listed before trying again.
“Syndik8 turned this down, so the credit wasn’t used.” or “Syndik8 turned this down, so the payout wasn’t recorded.” Something changed since the list loaded, for example a payment started on those charges or another admin got there first. Reopen the member’s charges to see where they stand.
“Syndik8 turned this down, so the payout wasn’t recorded. Check the day paid is not before the credit was added.” Choose a later Day paid and try again.