Overview
Contributions don't always stay the same after they're recorded. Donors request refunds, banks return payments, and sometimes a transaction was entered incorrectly in the first place. EveryAction gives you several tools to handle these situations accurately without disrupting your financial records.
What you can do—and how you do it—depends on where the contribution is in the settlement process and whether a financial batch has been closed. This article explains your options at a high level so you can find the right path for your situation.
What This Feature Helps You Do
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Correct a contribution that was entered incorrectly before it has settled
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Issue a full or partial refund to a donor through your payment vendor or by recording it manually
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Record bank-driven reversals such as chargebacks, insufficient funds, or stop payments
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Update General Ledger or Cost Center allocations without changing the source code
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Apply adjustments to several records at once using bulk tools
How This Feature Supports Your Work
| What the Feature Does | Why It Helps You | Real-World Use Case |
| Lets you edit or delete a contribution before it has settled or been posted | Fixes entry errors quickly before they affect your financial records | A cash contribution was added to the wrong contact—it's deleted and re-entered correctly |
| Processes a refund through your integrated payment vendor | Saves time and keeps your records consistent with your bank | A donor calls to cancel their gift; the refund is issued directly from EveryAction to Stripe |
| Records adjustment types like Chargeback, Insufficient Funds, Fraud, Account Closed, Stop Payment, and Processing Error | Accurately documents reversals that were initiated outside the system, aligned with standard bank return codes | A bank return arrives for a stopped check—staff records it as a Stop Payment adjustment for reconciliation |
| Applies adjustments to multiple records at once using Bulk Edit or Bulk Upload | Saves significant time when many contributions need the same update | Several recurring gifts are returned by the bank—staff bulk-applies the Account Closed adjustment type across all affected records |
Understanding Your Options
Before choosing a path, it helps to know a few key terms:
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Editing or deleting: Only available when the contribution has not yet settled, been linked to a membership, assigned a Date Posted (the date it was recorded in your accounting system), or included in a closed financial batch (a group of contributions that has been locked for accounting purposes).
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Refunding: Available once a contribution is posted or part of a closed batch. You can issue a refund through your payment vendor or record one manually.
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Adjusting: Use adjustment types to categorize what happened to a contribution—refund, chargeback, insufficient funds, fraud, account closed, stop payment, processing error, or other.
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Data Adjustment: Updates the General Ledger fund (the account a donation is recorded under) or Cost Center (the program or department it's assigned to) without changing the source code. Appears separately in your General Ledger Adjustments report.
💡 Three new adjustment types are now available across all payment methods: Account Closed, Stop Payment, and Processing Error. These align with standard bank return codes and are especially useful for organizations reconciling against external accounting systems like NetSuite.
Adjustment Types at a Glance
When you select Adjust on a contribution, you will see the following Adjustment Type options:
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Refund
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Charge Back
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Insufficient Funds
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Fraud
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Other
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Account Closed — New
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Stop Payment — New
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Processing Error — New
⚠️️ Applying an adjustment will prevent you from editing the contribution amount afterward. Make sure the adjustment type accurately reflects what happened before you submit.
Not quite what you were searching for?
· Navigate back to the Adding and Reporting on Contributions Resource Index.
Looking for training?
Explore this feature at your own pace - join a live training session or watch a recorded webinar by clicking the link below.
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