> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.dollarlabs.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.dollarlabs.io/dollarback-store-credit/spending-store-credit-and-rewards/refunds-cancellations-and-order-edits.md).

# Refunds, cancellations & order edits

{% hint style="info" %}
**Plan:** order edit tracking needs a plan that includes **Auto-adjust on refunds and edits** (see **Billing** in DollarBack admin). On other plans the setting is shown locked (*"Upgrade your plan to use this feature"*).
{% endhint %}

{% embed url="<https://dollarlabs.neetorecord.com/watch/9a9512d83de31e4c56e4>" %}

Orders change after they're placed: items are added, refunds are issued, whole orders are cancelled. This page explains how DollarBack keeps earned cashback in sync when that happens, and what does (and doesn't) happen to credit a customer already spent.

## Turn on order edit tracking

Reconciliation is off by default. Refunds, cancellations and order edits adjust issued cashback only when both of these are true:

* Your plan includes **Auto-adjust on refunds and edits**.
* **Enable order edit tracking** is turned on in Settings.

To turn it on:

1. Open **DollarBack admin → Settings** and find the **Advanced** section.
2. Turn on **Enable order edit tracking**; it recalculates cashback automatically when orders are edited, refunded, or cancelled.
3. Save.

<figure><img src="https://2844543096-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FcVBfwy7Yj4tU8TsxkHEr%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-61fbd45d9ca697b2d773c6dc19d40a5df90aa492%2Fdb-settings-order-edit-tracking-annotated.png?alt=media" alt="Advanced settings card with Enable order edit tracking checked, Give store credit to B2B buyers on company locations unchecked, and an Exclude customers by tag field."><figcaption><p>Enable order edit tracking is in the Advanced card in Settings.</p></figcaption></figure>

With the setting off, or on a plan without **Auto-adjust on refunds and edits**, cashback stays whatever it was when the order first triggered; refunds and edits won't touch it. Credit still in a holding period is the exception; see [Orders still in the holding period](#orders-still-in-the-holding-period).

## How reconciliation works: the diff

When a tracked order changes, DollarBack recalculates what the cashback *should now be* and compares it to what was already awarded. Only the difference moves:

| The order...                           | Diff            | What happens                                            |
| -------------------------------------- | --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| Grows (item added, upsell edit)        | Positive        | The extra cashback is issued as new pending credit      |
| Shrinks (partial refund, item removed) | Negative        | The difference is clawed back (see order below)         |
| Is cancelled / fully refunded          | Negative (full) | The order's entire cashback is clawed back the same way |

Clawbacks don't email the customer. The **Store Credit Debited** email is only for debits you start yourself (API, CSV import, Flow).

For a negative diff, the clawback runs in a fixed order:

1. **Pending credit for that configuration is offset first.** If an earlier edit left extra cashback waiting for the order to settle, that pending amount is reduced before anything else.
2. **Then the live balance is debited** for whatever remains, which can take a balance to zero if the customer already had less than the clawback.
3. **Any shortfall becomes owed credit.** A balance can't go below zero, so if the customer had already spent the credit, the rest is recorded as an amount they owe and is automatically deducted from their future cashback until it's paid down. You can see, adjust, or clear this on the **Store credit owed** card on their customer page in Shopify admin; see [Admin blocks on the customer & order pages](/dollarback-store-credit/analytics-data-and-account/admin-blocks-customer-and-order-pages.md).

<figure><img src="https://2844543096-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FcVBfwy7Yj4tU8TsxkHEr%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-876961002de617cd72fa11f07f02f06e46a63762%2Fdb-customer-store-credit-owed-annotated.png?alt=media" alt="The Store credit owed admin block on a Shopify customer page with the text &#x22;This customer owes nothing.&#x22;, a currency picker set to USD, a Set amount owed field and a Save button." width="560"><figcaption><p>A shortfall shows on the <strong>Store credit owed</strong> card on the customer's page in Shopify admin. You can change or clear it there.</p></figcaption></figure>

When an order is cancelled, any reward discount codes it earned (from a cashback program that rewards codes instead of credit) are also deleted, so they stop working at checkout. Each one is recorded in the credit log. A partial refund doesn't remove a code.

Every movement lands in the credit log, so you can trace exactly what was issued and clawed back per order; see [Credit logs & scheduled rewards](/dollarback-store-credit/analytics-data-and-account/credit-logs-and-scheduled-rewards.md).

<figure><img src="https://2844543096-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FcVBfwy7Yj4tU8TsxkHEr%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-9b349c33c3b891323b5b68c4504717e08424faa6%2Fdb-p2-es-activity-scheduled-annotated.png?alt=media" alt="Analytics, Activity page with the tabs Credits earned, Credit spent, Scheduled, Discount codes, Referrals and Clawbacks. Scheduled and Clawbacks are marked."><figcaption><p>In <strong>Analytics → Activity</strong>, clawbacks have their own tab. Credit still in a holding period is on the <strong>Scheduled</strong> tab.</p></figcaption></figure>

## Orders still in the holding period

If you set a [holding period](/dollarback-store-credit/settings/trigger-and-timing.md), a refund, edit, or cancellation during the hold doesn't create a clawback. Nothing has reached the customer's balance yet, so there's nothing to take back. Instead, when the hold ends, DollarBack recalculates the reward against the order as it is then: its current items and totals, with the programs and settings saved on the order when it was placed.

* A partial refund or a removed item during the hold reduces the credit that's released.
* A cancelled order releases nothing. Its row on the **Scheduled** view shows **Denied**.
* This happens whether or not **Enable order edit tracking** is on, and whatever your plan.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Once the hold ends, the released credit is final.** For an order that had a holding period, a refund, cancellation or edit after the credit is released doesn't claw it back, even with **Enable order edit tracking** on. The holding period exists to cover your refund and return window, so set it at least as long as that window. See [Trigger and timing](/dollarback-store-credit/settings/trigger-and-timing.md).
{% endhint %}

## Two rules that never bend

* **Credited entries are an immutable audit trail.** DollarBack never rewrites a past credit entry; corrections always appear as new debit or credit entries. Your log is a complete history, not a running total that gets edited in place.
* **Tier multipliers are snapshotted per order.** The multiplier in effect when the order earned cashback is stored with it and reused for any later recalculation. Changing your tier setup later never retroactively changes past orders' cashback, in either direction.

## If you downgrade to a plan without order editing

Moving to a plan without **Auto-adjust on refunds and edits** switches reconciliation off the moment the new plan takes effect. There is no grace period and no notice period.

* **The setting locks, but its value is kept.** **Enable order edit tracking** greys out with a lock icon. If you upgrade again later, it comes back exactly as you left it.
* **Edits, refunds, and cancellations stop adjusting cashback.** From the switch onwards, an order's cashback stays whatever it was when the order first triggered, the same as a store that never turned the feature on. If a refunded customer keeps their credit, that's why. You can still debit balances manually from the customer page.
* **Nothing that already happened is reversed.** Credit issued, clawbacks taken, and owed amounts recorded while your plan included it all stay on the ledger.
* **Credit still in a holding period is still checked when it's released.** When the hold ends, DollarBack recalculates it against the order as it is then, with or without order edit tracking, so a refund during the hold still reduces it (see [Orders still in the holding period](#orders-still-in-the-holding-period)).
* **Upgrading again isn't retroactive.** Reconciliation resumes for edits made after the upgrade. An order edited or refunded while your plan didn't include it is only reconciled if it is edited again afterwards; that later edit recalculates against the order's full current state, so it catches up any earlier changes on that order.

If you rely on refund clawbacks, and most stores with a returns window do, keep a plan that includes **Auto-adjust on refunds and edits**; see [Plans, usage & overage billing](/dollarback-store-credit/analytics-data-and-account/plans-usage-and-overage-billing.md).

## What happens to credit the customer spent

{% hint style="warning" %}
Redeemed reward codes are **not** automatically refunded. If a customer spent credit to claim a marketplace reward and the order they used the code on is cancelled, the credit cost stays deducted.
{% endhint %}

You can return that credit yourself:

* **The code is still unused:** open the customer's page in Shopify admin and use the **Reward redemptions** block. It lists the customer's unused marketplace redemptions. Click **Refund** on one, choose when the returned credit expires in **Credit expires in** (0 means it never expires), and confirm. The customer gets back the credit they spent. See [Admin blocks on the customer & order pages](/dollarback-store-credit/analytics-data-and-account/admin-blocks-customer-and-order-pages.md).
* **The code was already used:** used codes aren't listed in the block. Add the credit back manually instead, for example with a [bulk CSV import](/dollarback-store-credit/analytics-data-and-account/bulk-import-credit-csv.md).

{% hint style="warning" %}
**A refund from the Reward redemptions block can't be undone.** The code is permanently deleted, so the customer can't use it any more.
{% endhint %}

Store credit applied directly as payment at checkout follows Shopify's standard refund flow, like any other payment method on the order.

## Verify it works

1. With order edit tracking on, place a test order that earns cashback and confirm the credit in the log.
2. Refund part of the order. The log should show a clawback debit for the difference. With a holding period set, there's no clawback row; check instead that the credit released when the hold ends is the smaller amount.
3. Edit another test order to add an item. The log should show an incremental pending credit for the increase.

## Common issues

* Cashback didn't adjust after a refund: order edit tracking was probably off when the refund happened, or the store's plan didn't include **Auto-adjust on refunds and edits**; see [A customer didn't receive cashback](/dollarback-store-credit/troubleshooting-and-faq/customer-didnt-receive-cashback.md) for the wider decision tree.
* An order was refunded after its holding period ended and the credit stayed: expected. Credit released after a hold is final; see [Orders still in the holding period](#orders-still-in-the-holding-period).
* A clawback looks smaller than expected: check whether part of it was absorbed by pending credit before the balance was touched.
* A customer wants credit back for an unused reward code: refund it from the **Reward redemptions** block on their customer page (see above).

## Related articles

* [When credit is issued](/dollarback-store-credit/earning-cashback-programs/when-credit-is-issued.md)
* [How cashback is calculated](/dollarback-store-credit/earning-cashback-programs/how-cashback-is-calculated.md)
* [Set up the reward marketplace](/dollarback-store-credit/spending-store-credit-and-rewards/set-up-the-reward-marketplace.md)
* [Credit logs & scheduled rewards](/dollarback-store-credit/analytics-data-and-account/credit-logs-and-scheduled-rewards.md)