A refund is a return of money initiated by the merchant (business). However, customers can also initiate a money return. In this case, it is called a dispute. A dispute always has a negative part (treat it in the same way as a refund). But occasionally, it may have a positive side too — when the disputed money is returned to the business.
Overview:
How disputes work
As an example, let’s take a look at the current dispute flow in Stripe (it can vary in different platforms) with Synder Sync:
- The end customer requests their money back (initiating a dispute). At the same moment, Stripe withdraws money from the merchant’s account. In Synder you will see an “Adjustment”, a transaction type which will create an “Expense” with the Stripe fees expense account and a unique description in QBO for the full amount of the payment.
Note that Stripe takes a $15 commission for reviewing a dispute covered by the merchant.
Synced expense for chargeback withdrawal in QBO
- The business can see this in their Stripe account, where they have 2 options:
- To accept the dispute (then Stripe will give the money back to the customer, in which case there will be no changes for the merchant in the books).
- To “fight” for the money – submitting evidence that the charge was valid. Then Stripe reviews the case and makes a decision within 90 days. Stripe may either:
– return the money to the end customer (nothing changes in the books for the merchant in this case);
– return the money to the merchant (then we will sync another “Adjustment” transaction creating a “Deposit” in QBO to return the money to the Stripe fees expense account).
Example of deposit for chargeback reversal in QBO
How to categorize dispute lines with Smart Rules
By default, Synder will sync dispute lines to the default Fee expense account. However, if you want to track the disputed money differently, you can set up a Smart Rule in Synder to allocate the line amount based on the description to the needed account in the books.
You’ll need 2 rules: one to categorize Expense lines, and another one to categorize Deposit lines. Due to the QBO API structure, transactions can be edited only one at a time, which is why you will need 2 rules.
Follow the steps below:
- Open your Synder account → Smart Rules left-hand side menu tab → Rules.
- Start a rule trial if this is your first time using Rules. Click Create Rule.
- Set a starting trigger by selecting Expense or Deposit Entity created event.
- Then set up a condition to check Line: Description → Contains. You can type in any word that is located in the line description. In the below screenshot examples, the description contains the word “chargeback”, so we are going to use it.
- Then select Yes to continue building blocks.
- We are going to need the Action block now → QuickBooks action → Expense → Update line → Set QuickBooks Entity Data.
- In the pop-up window with fields, select the needed Category (it will give you the Chart of Accounts list from your bookkeeping platform).
- Do the same thing for both “Deposit” and “Expense” transaction types.
Once both rules are ready, roll back and sync again any of the Adjustments for chargebacks and check out the results in the accounting platform. You should be able to see that the line with the word “chargeback” is categorized properly this time!
Reach out to the Synder team via online support chat, phone, or email with any questions you have – we’re always happy to help you!