> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.decodahealth.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Charges & Payments

> View and manage charges, process payments and refunds, send receipts, handle write-offs, and monitor deposits.

<Info>
  Navigate to **Billing > Charges** or **Billing > Payments** to access the features described on this page.
</Info>

## Charges

Navigate to **Billing > Charges** to view and manage all charges across your organization.

### Charges Table

The table displays each charge with:

* **Amount:** The charge total and status badge (Outstanding, Paid, Payment Plan, Written Off, External Settlement, Refunded, Void, Chargeback, Collections).
* **Outstanding Balance:** If the charge is partially paid, the remaining amount is shown.
* **Patient:** The patient's name and identifiers.
* **Created Date:** When the charge was created, plus the date of service if different.
* **Payment Date:** When the most recent payment was recorded.

Use the **filter bar** to narrow results by patient name, charge ID, patient ID, external IDs, amount range, date range, status, or location.

### Charge Actions

Click the settings icon on any charge row to access actions specific to its status:

**Outstanding charges:**

* **Take Payment** -- Opens checkout pre-loaded with the charge.
* **Edit Charge Amount** -- Opens an adjustment window to increase or decrease the charge total.
* **Write off charge** -- Marks the outstanding balance as uncollectable.
* **Externally Settle Charge** -- Mark as paid outside Decoda (cash, check, Venmo, etc.). The charge shows as settled without processing a card.

**Payment plan charges:**

* **Cancel Payment Plan** -- Stops future automatic installment charges.

**Paid / Externally settled charges:**

* **Detailed Receipt** -- Opens a printable receipt in a new tab.

**All charges:**

* **Edit Details** -- Modify the charge description, external ID, or date of service.
* **Add/Edit Comment** -- Attach or update an internal staff comment.
* **Delete Charge** -- Permanently remove the charge (disabled for charges with card payments). Before confirming, choose which side effects to undo in the [Reverse side effects](#reverse-side-effects) panel.

### Charge Timeline

Click the caret on any charge row to reveal the **Charge Timeline**, which shows every event in the charge's lifecycle -- creation, payments, refunds, adjustments, write-offs, invoice sends, and status changes.

### Export Charges

Click **Export Charges** to download all charges matching your current filters as a CSV file. Requires the Export Charges permission.

## Payments

Navigate to **Billing > Payments** to view every individual payment transaction.

### Payments Table

Each row shows:

* **Amount:** The payment amount in green, with the payment ID, creator, and location.
* **Status badges:** Refunded, Refund Failed, Payment Plan, Succeeded, Processing, or Failed. A **Failed** badge shows the failure reason underneath (for example, an ACH return code and description). See [ACH Returns](#ach-returns).
* **Patient:** Contact details including phone, email, and external IDs.
* **Card:** The card brand icon and last four digits (if a card payment).
* **Payment Method:** The method used (POS Terminal, Virtual Terminal, Cash, Patient Credit, Payment Plan, Payment Link).
* **Date:** When the payment was recorded.

Click the caret to view the **Charge Timeline** for the associated charge.

### Payment Actions

Click the settings icon on any payment row:

* **Refund Payment** -- Opens the [refund window](#process-a-refund). Only available when the payment has un-refunded balance remaining. Requires the Process Refunds permission.
* **Receipt Details** -- View and send the receipt via SMS or email.
* **Generate Detailed Receipt** -- Opens a printable detailed receipt in a new tab.
* **Move to Another Patient** -- Transfer the payment to a different patient's account.
* **Move to Location** -- Reassign the payment to a different clinic location.
* **Change Settlement Type** -- Change the payment method label on a non-card payment (e.g., reclassify "cash" to "check"). Not available for card payments.
* **Delete Payment** -- Permanently remove the payment (disabled for card payments, insurance payments, and payments with refunds).

### One-Time Payment

Click **One Time Payment** to record an insurance or manual payment without going through the full checkout flow. This creates a standalone payment record linked to a patient.

### Export Payments

Click **Export Payments** to download all payments matching your current filters. Requires the Export Payments permission.

### View Deposits

Click **View Deposits** to navigate to the [Deposits](#deposits) page. Requires the View Deposits permission.

## ACH Returns

When a patient pays by bank transfer (ACH), the bank can pull the funds back days or weeks later -- usually because of insufficient funds, a closed account, or the patient asking their bank to reverse the transfer. This is called an **ACH return**.

When a return arrives, the payment's status flips to **Failed** with a short reason under the badge (for example, `R01 - Insufficient Funds`), and the original charge goes back to **Outstanding** for the returned amount. To find returned payments, filter the Payments table by **Status: Failed**.

Because the charge is outstanding again, follow up with the patient and collect a new payment using **Take Payment** on the charge -- or write it off / start a payment plan if they can't pay. Turn on the **ACH Return** alert in **Settings > Notifications** to be notified when a return comes in.

Unlike a [chargeback](/modules/billing/chargebacks), there's no dispute process and no evidence to submit -- you simply collect the money again.

## Process a Refund

<Steps>
  <Step title="Navigate to Payments">
    Go to **Billing > Payments** and find the payment you need to refund.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open Refund Window">
    Click the settings icon on the payment row and select **Refund Payment**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review Existing Refunds">
    If previous partial refunds exist, they are listed at the top with their dates, reasons, statuses, and amounts.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose where the refund goes">
    Under **Refund to**, pick one:

    * **Original payment method** — the money goes back to the card, ACH, or whatever was originally used.
    * **Patient credit** — Decoda issues a fresh credit on the patient's account for the refund amount instead of reversing the original payment. Useful when the patient prefers to keep the money on file.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter Refund Details">
    * **Amount:** Enter the refund amount (from \$0.01 up to the remaining refundable balance). If the payment bought one or more packages that are still active, a **Remaining package value** option appears with the unused dollar amount in parentheses. Pick it to refund only the portion the patient hasn't redeemed yet — Decoda cancels the package and refunds the unused value. If multiple packages qualify, choose which one from the dropdown that appears.
    * **Reason:** Select a reason (Duplicate, Dispute, or Other).
    * **Description:** If you selected "Other," provide a written explanation.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Reverse Side Effects (Full Refunds Only)">
    For full refunds, a **Reverse side effects** panel appears listing everything this charge touched. Check the boxes for whatever should be undone alongside the money. See [Reverse side effects](#reverse-side-effects) for what each option does.

    Partial refunds skip this panel — the patient still received partial value, so packages, memberships, and inventory stay as they were.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Process">
    Click **Process Refund**. Card refunds take 6-7 business days to reach the patient's account. Patient credit refunds are added back to the patient's credit balance immediately — for how a refund-to-credit moves between liability and revenue, see [Patient Credit Accounting](/guides/patient-credit-accounting#refunds-and-credit). Cash/external refunds are marked as processed.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  If a refunded payment includes a booking fee that became patient credit, Decoda removes the unused booking-fee credit so the patient cannot spend refunded money. If that credit was moved to another patient before the refund, Decoda removes the remaining moved credit too.
</Note>

### Reverse Side Effects

When you do a full refund or delete a charge, Decoda can also undo the things that charge did to the patient's account — restock products, give back package sessions, roll back a membership renewal, and so on. The **Reverse side effects** panel lets you pick which of those to reverse, one category at a time.

Only options that apply to this specific charge appear. For a refund, all boxes start unchecked so you reverse only what you mean to. For a charge deletion, the boxes most staff want — restoring banked credits, member discounts, and rolled-back memberships — are checked by default, since deleting a charge usually means it shouldn't have existed at all.

| Option                           | What it does                                                                                                                           |
| -------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Restore inventory**            | Adds products sold on this charge back to their original shipment stock. Use when the patient is returning physical products.          |
| **Restore membership discounts** | Returns any member-discount uses (e.g., one of the patient's monthly perks) so the patient can use them again.                         |
| **Restore banked credits**       | Returns any banked credits (pre-paid services) that this charge consumed back to the patient's balance.                                |
| **Cancel purchased packages**    | Cancels packages this charge sold, and archives the discounts those packages issued. The package shows its name in the toggle.         |
| **Restore package sessions**     | Returns sessions this charge used back to the patient's packages, so they can be redeemed again.                                       |
| **Reverse membership renewal**   | Rolls back a membership renewal cycle this charge paid for. If the renewal also issued membership credit, that credit is reversed too. |

Leave a box unchecked when the patient is keeping the benefit — for example, refund the money but let them keep the product, or delete a duplicate charge without giving the package session back.

## Receipts

Receipts can be sent after any successful payment.

### Send a Receipt

From the **Payments** table, click the settings icon on a payment and select **Receipt Details**. From there you can:

* **Send via SMS:** Sends a receipt link to the patient's phone number.
* **Send via Email:** Sends a formatted receipt to the patient's email address.

### Detailed Receipt

For paid and externally settled charges, select **Detailed Receipt** or **Generate Detailed Receipt** to open a printable receipt page in a new tab. This receipt includes itemized services, editable medical codes (ICD-10 and CPT), and a payment summary that breaks down each payment.

## Write-Offs & Adjustments

### Write Off a Charge

To write off an outstanding charge:

1. Navigate to **Billing > Charges**.
2. Find the charge and click the settings icon.
3. Select **Write off charge**.
4. Confirm the write-off. The charge status changes to **Written Off** and the outstanding balance is zeroed out.

Write-offs can also be applied in bulk from the [Invoice Management](/modules/billing/invoices) page.

### Adjust a Charge Amount

To increase or decrease an outstanding charge:

1. Navigate to **Billing > Charges**.
2. Find the charge and click the settings icon.
3. Select **Edit Charge Amount**.
4. Enter the adjustment amount (positive to increase, negative to decrease).
5. Confirm the adjustment.

### External Settlement

To mark a charge as settled outside the payment system:

1. Navigate to **Billing > Charges**.
2. Find the outstanding charge and click the settings icon.
3. Select **Externally Settle Charge**.
4. Confirm the settlement. The charge status changes to **External Settlement**.

## Deposits

Navigate to **Billing > Deposits** (accessible from the Payments page via **View Deposits**) to monitor bank deposits from your payment processor.

### Deposits Table

Each deposit row shows:

* **Subtotal:** The gross payment amount minus refunds.
* **Total Fees:** Processing fees, refund fees, and deposit fees combined.
* **Amount Deposited:** The net amount deposited into your bank account.
* **Transactions:** Count of payments and refunds included in the deposit.
* **Status:** Processing, In Review, Succeeded, or Failed.
* **Created:** When the deposit was initiated.

If you have multiple merchant accounts, use **Group by > Merchant Account** to see subtotals per account (see [Filter and Group](#filter-and-group) below).

### Deposit Details

Click any deposit row to open the **Deposit Details Drawer**, which shows the individual payments and refunds included in that deposit along with their fees and amounts.

### Deposit Timing

Deposits are created on each US banking day for merchant accounts with available funds. One deposit per merchant account per day combines all eligible funds, regardless of when those payments were processed.

#### Processing Times

How quickly funds become available for deposit depends on the payment method:

| Payment Method | Typical Timing                        |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| Card           | T+1 (1 business day after processing) |
| PayPal         | T+1                                   |
| ACH            | T+4                                   |

<Info>
  "T+1" means one business day after the payment is processed. The exact timing may vary by merchant account.
</Info>

#### Daily Cutoff Times

Payments submitted after the daily cutoff are treated as if they were submitted the next day:

| Payment Method | Cutoff Time |
| -------------- | ----------- |
| Card           | 11:00 PM ET |
| PayPal         | 11:00 PM ET |
| ACH            | 9:00 PM ET  |

#### Weekends and Holidays

Card and PayPal payments processed on weekends or holidays still count that day as the processing date, but the business-day countdown starts on the next banking day. For example, a card payment on Saturday with T+1 timing is deposited on Monday.

ACH payments processed on weekends or holidays start counting from the next banking day. For example, an ACH payment on Saturday with T+4 timing is deposited on Thursday.

<Note>
  ACH payments made over the weekend can be canceled until 9:00 PM ET on Sunday. If Monday is a banking holiday, the cancellation window extends to 9:00 PM ET on the holiday.
</Note>

#### Expected Deposit Date

Each payment shows an expected deposit date while it is still processing. This is an estimate — the actual date may change if the payment is flagged for review, canceled, or returned.

### Filter and Group

Use the filter bar above the table to narrow the list. Available filters: **Status**, **Amount**, **Fees**, **Transactions**, **Created Date**, and **Payment Date**.

Use the **Group by** menu to group deposits by **Merchant Account** or **Status**. The table shows a subtotal row for each group.

The deposits list is paginated -- use the controls at the bottom of the table to move between pages.