> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://harnesscalendar.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Credits

> Issue an account credit and apply it as a deduction on the next invoice.

A **Credit** is goodwill granted to an **account**: an amount knocked off what it will owe, separate from any payment made. It belongs to the account, not to one student, so on a shared or family account it covers whatever you bill that account next.

A credit is not the same as an account being "in credit". An account is *in credit* when it has **paid** more than it owes; a credit you **issue** is goodwill on top of that. The two are tracked separately. A credit never turns into cash; returning money an account has actually paid is a [refund](/docs/billing/refunds).

## Issue a credit

Issue a credit from the account's **Balance** card, on its detail page (**Finances → Accounts → an account**). The credit row shows available credit; open it and use the add (**+**) control.

Enter the **Amount** and an optional **Reason** (e.g. "Makeup for canceled lesson"), then choose **Issue credit**. The amount is added to the account's available credit right away.

## Where credit shows

| Place                          | What it shows                                                                |
| ------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **The account's Balance card** | The credit row: "\$X available", or "No credit"                              |
| **The credit history**         | Every credit issued, applied, or voided on the account (open the credit row) |
| **On an invoice**              | A deduction line that lowers the amount due                                  |

## How credit applies

Credit lowers what an account owes; it doesn't pay anyone. When you send an invoice, available credit is applied automatically as a deduction, capped at the amount due, and the recipients see a lower amount to pay. You can also apply it yourself in the invoice editor (see [Send an invoice](/docs/billing/send-an-invoice)). Either way, applied credit comes off the account's available credit and the amount due drops by that much.

## Voiding a credit

A credit can be voided while it's still unspent, before any of it has been applied to an invoice. Once applied, it can't be voided. Voiding is a correcting entry, not an edit; see [Understand your transactions](/docs/billing/understand-your-transactions).