There are two places you can issue a refund: directly through Square, or from the ArtistryHost run sheet. The right one depends on what you're refunding.
Refund from the run sheet (the usual case)
This is the cleanest path because the refund stays linked to the booking record.
- Open the booking from the run sheet or Bookings → All.
- Click Refund.
- Choose:
- Full refund. Refunds the entire amount paid.
- Partial refund. Enter a specific amount.
- Refund deposit only (if there's a balance you haven't collected yet).
- Add an internal note (optional, but useful for your records. "Guest cancelled 5 days out, full refund per policy").
- Confirm.
Square processes the refund within 1–3 business days. The guest sees the credit on their statement. The booking is marked refunded in ArtistryHost.
Refund from Square directly
You can also refund any transaction from Square Dashboard → Transactions or the Square POS app. This works fine, but the ArtistryHost booking won't automatically know about the refund. You'll see it as "paid" in our system even though the money has been returned.
If you must refund from Square directly, follow up with a quick edit in ArtistryHost (Bookings → [this booking] → Mark as refunded) to keep the record consistent.
Refunding a cancellation or no-show fee
If your cancellation policy charged the guest a fee (e.g., they cancelled inside 48 hours and a 50% fee applies), and you want to refund that fee anyway as a goodwill gesture:
- Open the booking.
- The fee shows up as its own line item. "Cancellation fee (50%): $37.50."
- Click Refund next to that line.
- Confirm.
Only that specific charge is refunded. The rest of the booking history stays as-is.
Common refund questions
The guest paid via gift card. Can I refund that? Yes. The refund goes back to the original payment method, which means the gift card balance is restored. Square handles this automatically.
The guest paid the deposit but balance isn't collected yet. Refunding the deposit cancels the booking. The balance you never collected isn't refunded because it was never charged.
Card on file booking, guest no-showed. Charge the no-show fee from the run sheet (per your policy). If you decide to waive it later, refund the charge from the booking detail page.
Refund taking longer than 3 days. Most refunds clear in 1–3 business days. Some banks take 5–10. If it's been more than 10, contact Square Support. They can trace it.
Partial refunds and tips
If you refund part of an order that included a tip, the tip is refunded proportionally by default. You can override this, for example, to refund the booking but keep the tip. In the refund dialog. Talk to your bookkeeper about whether your state requires the tip to be returned alongside the booking refund.
Receipts
The guest receives a refund receipt from Square automatically. You don't need to send anything extra. If they ask for confirmation, you can resend the receipt from Bookings → [this booking] → Resend receipt.