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How much time do I have to void a payment?

Zuora

How much time do I have to void a payment?

Overview

Z-Payments allows you to perform a variety of payment operations including payment method verification (authorize a payment method), sale (create a payment), void (cancel a payment), and refund (reverse a payment). If an electronic payment is created by a user due to a mistake (for example, the wrong credit card on file was used), a user has the option of voiding the payment transaction if the payment has not yet settled.

An external payment (such as a cash payment or wire transfer) has already been settled prior to being added to Zuora. Because of this, these payments cannot be voided. Instead, you can cancel these payments to reverse the transaction.

Solution

You can void a payment before it is settled. When you void a payment, it increases the balance of the associated invoices. 

Voiding a Payment Prior to Settlement

You can attempt a void in Zuora at any time. However, the void is only successful if the electronic payment has not yet settled. Settlement occurs when the payment has been fully processed and the funds are transferred from the card network associations or the issuing bank to the merchant's bank account.

A credit card payment transaction typically settles immediately, but some credit cards can take up to a day to settle. Direct debit payments (such as ACH in the US) take several days to settle, thus the period in which a direct debit payment can be voided is longer than a credit card payment.  Additionally, some gateways and processors have a nightly batch process for submitting payments to be settled. It is recommended that you check with your gateway and processor to understand when your payments are submitted for settlement, thus giving you an idea of the window of time in which you may void a payment.

There is no harm in attempting to void a payment in Zuora if the payment has already been settled. If the payment has already been settled and the time period for voiding a payment has passed, you will simply see an error when attempting the void operation.

Once a Payment Has Settled

If an electronic payment has settled and can no longer be voided, you can use the refund functionality to reverse out the payment.  

Voiding or Canceling a Payment Increases the Invoice Balance

Voiding a payment in Zuora will open up the balance of the invoice to which the payment was originally applied so that invoice shows as unpaid. Another payment can be attempted to collect for unpaid invoices at any time. As discussed earlier, external payment can be canceled rather than voided and there is no time limit for canceling an external payment unless the accounting period for which the payment transaction date falls in is closed. Cancellation of a payment has the same effect on an invoice balance as a void.