Payments
Taking money is part of AnchorPoint itself. Payments, refunds and statements all live in one place, and cards are processed through Stripe.
There's no Payments item in the menu. You reach payments from wherever the money belongs:
- a registration — open the registration drawer and go to its Payments tab
- a student — open their record and go to the Payments tab
It's the same panel in both places, and in the student's own account.
The Payment History Panel
Every payment against the registration or student, newest first. Each row shows:
| Part of the row | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Tender icon | How the money came in — card, cash, check, ACH, gift certificate, or external. See Icons & Statuses. |
| Amount | What was paid. Struck through means the payment was fully refunded. |
| Status chip | Paid, Refunded, Partially refunded, or Recorded |
| Ref: number | The check or reference number, on hand-recorded payments |
| Processor · charge id | The Stripe charge, on processed payments |
| Surcharge waived | An admin chose not to apply the card surcharge |
| Note icon | An admin left a note on this payment |
| Actions | Refund, Edit, Delete, and a receipt menu |
The Download payments button above the panel exports the whole history to a spreadsheet.
Payment Statuses
| Status | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Paid | Processed through Stripe and settled |
| Refunded | Fully refunded |
| Partially refunded | Part of it was returned. Expand the row to see each refund. |
| Recorded | Entered by hand — cash, check or external. No processor was involved. |
Tuition
Above the payment history sits the tuition breakdown, which is how the balance is arrived at.
| Line | When It Appears |
|---|---|
| Original Tuition | Always — the class price at the time of registration |
| Adjustment Applied | When tuition has been adjusted |
| Coupon | When a coupon is on the registration. Its own line, never folded into the adjustment. |
| Tuition Total | Always |
| Total Surcharges | When card surcharges have been charged. Informational — it sits outside the tuition maths. |
Adjusting Tuition
Adjust Tuition offers three choices:
| Type | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Discount | Takes an amount off the price |
| New price | Replaces the price outright |
| Waive | Sets the tuition to zero |
A reason is required, and it's permanent — it's how the next person understands why the price changed.
A coupon worth more than the tuition brings the total to $0, never a negative figure.
An adjustment records who changed the price and why. Editing payment amounts so the maths works leaves no trail.
Class Price Drift
If the class price changed after a student registered, an alert appears telling you whether it went up or down and by how much. Only admins see this — the student doesn't. There's an action to bring the registration into line with the current price if you want to.
Recording a Payment
Open Add Payment from a registration or a student record. The form opens in a side drawer.
| Field | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Amount | Yes | Must be greater than 0, and at most two decimal places |
| Method | Yes | Card, cash, check, ACH, gift certificate, or external |
| Card | Card only | A card already on the account, or a new one |
| Waive the credit card surcharge | No | Card only, and only when a surcharge would apply |
| Reason for waiving | When waiving | Required — the waive is audited |
| Check # | Check only | The reference number. Shows on the payment row. |
| Certificate Code | Gift certificate only | The code being redeemed |
| Received date | Yes | When you took the money |
| Notes | No | Free text, kept with the payment |
Bill To details — name, email and address — can be captured on any payment.
Paying by Card
Charge a card already saved to the student's account, or enter a new one. A new card can be saved for next time, and the tile tells you whether it will be.
The Card Surcharge
If your organization has card surcharging switched on:
- The fee is always disclosed before the payment is submitted — on public registration, in the student's payment drawer, and here.
- It appears as its own line beside the amount, never folded into the balance.
- Debit and prepaid cards are never surcharged. When a newly entered card's type isn't known yet, the rule is explained in words instead of a figure.
- You can waive it on any payment you're recording, with a reason.
Surcharging is configured in Organization Settings.
Refunding a Payment
Refund on a payment row opens the refund form. Refund the full amount or part of it, and choose the refund method.
| Refund method | When to use it |
|---|---|
| To card | An automatic reversal through Stripe. Only available on Stripe-processed payments. |
| Cash | You handed the money back |
| Check | You wrote a check |
Things the form will tell you:
| Message | What It Means |
|---|---|
| "This payment wasn't processed by card, so it has to be refunded manually." | Cash, check and external payments have no processor to reverse. Return the money outside AnchorPoint and record it here. |
| "A cash or check refund returns the principal only. The amount surcharge on this payment will not be returned." | The surcharge comes back only through a card refund. |
| "This payment was taken through Clover, which the app can no longer refund. Refund it in Clover and record the reversal there." | Legacy payments predate the Stripe integration. |
| "Amount can't exceed the amount still refundable." | You've asked for more than remains. |
Expand a partially refunded row to see each refund that's been issued against it.
Correcting and Deleting a Payment
| Action | When It's Available | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| Edit | Only on a hand-recorded payment with nothing refunded against it | Corrects the amount, date, reference or notes in place |
| Delete | Any payment | Removes the row from the ledger |
Deleting a payment removes the record. Money already taken through Stripe or Clover stays taken. The dialog says as much:
"Deleting this automated payment will not refund any payments that have already been processed"
If money needs to go back to the student, refund it. Delete only when the record itself was entered in error.
Statements and Receipts
A statement is the payment record for a registration. Look for Download Statement and Resend Payment Statement Email(s).
Per payment, the receipt menu offers:
| Option | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Download Receipt | Saves a PDF |
| Email Receipt | Sends it to the student |
Before v1.4.0 statements were called receipts. Older emails still use the old word. See the Glossary.
Overpayments
A registration paid beyond its balance is flagged with an amber warning triangle. Hovering reads "Has excess funds paid", and the Payments tab explains the excess.
It isn't an error. Refund the difference, or leave it and apply it against another class.
Saved Cards
Students can keep cards on file, managed from their Payments tab and from the student's own Account Settings.
| Mark | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Default | The card charged by default |
| Surcharge | This card will attract the surcharge |
| Set as Default | Makes this the default card |
| Remove | Detaches the card. "Payments already taken on it are not affected, and the card can be added again later." |
When Things Are Disabled
| What's Disabled | Why |
|---|---|
| Add Payment and Adjust Tuition | The registration is cancelled or deferred |
| Quick stats (Tuition / Paid / Balance) | Hidden for cancelled and deferred registrations |
| Edit on a payment | Only hand-recorded payments with no refunds against them can be corrected |
| Refund on a payment | Only when the processor reports the charge as refundable |
| To card refund method | Only on Stripe-processed payments |
| Waive the credit card surcharge | Only when the payment is by card and a surcharge would actually apply |
| Card as a payment method | Your organization's Stripe connection isn't configured. See Organization Settings. |
| All card payments | Payment processing is in maintenance mode — "Our online ordering is undergoing upgrades…" |
Icons on This Page
| Mark | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Tender icon on a payment row | Card, cash, check, ACH, gift certificate, or external |
| Paid / Recorded / Refunded / Partially refunded chips | Where the payment stands |
| Struck-through amount | Fully refunded |
| Surcharge waived chip | An admin waived the card surcharge |
| Default / Surcharge chips on a card | The default card; a card that attracts the surcharge |
| Amber warning triangle | The registration has been overpaid |
→ Full list: Icons & Statuses
Key Relationships
- Registrations: payments attach to a registration, not to a student in general. That's how a student can owe on one class and be paid in full on another.
- Students: the Payments tab on a student record rolls up their payments across every class.
- Coupons: a coupon reduces what's owed. It isn't a payment and doesn't appear in payment history.
- Gift Certificates: a redemption is a payment, with the certificate as its tender.
- Deferrals: deferring holds a registration's payments as credit against a future class.
- Organization Settings: the Stripe connection and the surcharge rate are set there, by a Super Admin.
- Exports: the Payments export — called Deposits before v1.4.0 — pulls payments in bulk.
Tips & Notes
- Check the Balance stat before a class starts. It's the quickest way to see who still owes, and resending the statement is often all it takes.
- Refund, don't delete. Delete removes the record without moving any money. It's for correcting a mis-keyed entry, not for giving money back.
- Waive the surcharge with a real reason. It's audited, and "customer complained" tells the next person more than "n/a".
- Watch for the overpayment triangle at the end of a class. Excess funds sit quietly until someone notices — usually the student.
- Cash and check refunds don't return the surcharge. If that matters to the student, refund to the card instead.