Invoice & Receipt Corrections: Fixing Billing Issues and Managing Refunds

Even with well-established billing processes, occasional adjustments are inevitable. Whether you need to correct client information, update an invoice, issue a refund, or apply credits to future services, understanding your options can help you resolve issues efficiently.

During our recent Client Billing and Integrated Payments webinar, clinicians asked a number of questions about invoice changes, receipt corrections, credits, and refunds. Below, we’ve collected the most common scenarios and answers for easy reference.

Invoice & Receipt Corrections

Owl Practice Help Centre Articles: Billing

Q: If an invoice amount or client name needs to change, do I have to delete and reissue the invoice, or is there a better way? What is the correct process for refunds? 

A: It depends on where the invoice is in the payment process. There is a flow chart below that will help you determine what changes you can make and when you can change them during the payment process with Stripe. In short: 

• Before payment: the invoice can be deleted and recreated after updating the session, the payor can be changed via Split Charge, and the amount can be freely increased or decreased. 
• After payment and if not yet refunded: the invoice can be deleted, which generates a credit for the receipt amount to apply to a future invoice. The amount can only be increased, not decreased, and the payor can no longer be changed. The receipt itself can never be deleted. 
• After payment and refund: the invoice can no longer be deleted, but the amount can now be decreased to match the refunded value (as well as increased). The payor still cannot be changed, and the receipt is never deleted, only refunded. 

Refunds: The best way to process a refund for your client is to navigate to the receipt that is the record of the payment. You will be able to view the receipt, and there is a refund button when viewing the receipt that will process the refund of that specific payment. 

Q: If I give a client a small credit, for example $2 toward parking, can the invoice still show the full standard cost and the credit as a separate line so the insurer can see why the out-of-pocket amount is lower? 

A: Showing line items for credits specifically and what they were for is currently not available. We will bring this to the attention of our Product team for review.  

Q: My client needs a specific name for insurance purposes, but the original invoice/receipt was done with their preferred name. Is there a way to edit the name on receipts without refunding the payment (credit card) and re-charging the client? 

A: There isn’t a way to directly update the original documents. However, there may be a workaround that you can use in this situation.  

• You can edit the client’s contact details and make sure the first and last name is set to the name their insurance needs, while adding their preferred name in the preferred name box. Then you can delete the original invoice, which will generate a credit on the client’s account. You can then re-create the invoice, so the name the insurance needs is on that invoice and then apply that credit balance to the invoice. 
• If the insurance needs the document showing that payment via the client’s method of payment (not account credit) occurred, then you will need to refund the payment and re-charge the client. You can complete the steps above to update the contact details for the client and then delete the invoice first prior to refunding the receipt. This will ensure that you can re-create the invoice with the original session and then process payment.  

Q: Is there a way to avoid Forcefully Splitting invoices first, in order to register payment method from different “payors” on same bill. Example: Insurance 70% client copay 30%? 

A: Splitting invoices by percentage by payor during invoice creation is currently not available, so splitting the invoice is the current method for assigning different amounts to different payors. We will bring this to the attention of our Product team for review.   

Q: In couples therapy, sometimes there are separate individual sessions. If there is overpayment in one of those individual sessions, how can I credit it to the couple (session)? 

A: In the case of an overpayment, there should be a credit balance applied to that specific client’s profile. When creating the couple session, ensure that the client that has the credit balance is the main client the couple session is booked for. Then when processing payment for the couple session, that credit balance should be available to apply to the invoice. 
 

Handle Billing Adjustments with Confidence

Billing corrections are a normal part of running a practice, whether you’re updating client information, issuing a refund, applying credits, or adjusting invoices after payment. Understanding what changes can be made at each stage of the billing process can help you resolve issues quickly while maintaining accurate financial records.

If you encounter a billing scenario that’s not covered here, our Help Centre and support team are available to help you find the right solution. With the right tools and processes in place, managing corrections and refunds can be straightforward and stress-free.

If you missed the webinar, or would to rewatch it at your convenience, you can find the “Mastering Client Billing with Integrated Payments” session here.

Not using Owl Practice? Start a free 14-day trial today or book a demo with one of our experts to see how Owl Practice simplifies invoicing, payment tracking, refunds, and financial recordkeeping for private practices.