Refund advice

Looking for help with refunds via Schoolcomms? We have a number of guides and advice below for all users!
Schoolcomms online reporting

How to issue a refund when the Online Transaction Refunds limit is reached

Our initial advice is to check the ‘Balances available to refund report’, please note this is a live value upon view which changes in line with payments completing the banking process, therefore we cannot guarantee that the value will not change between now and the point in which the funds are assigned to your account.

To view the balances you have available to make refunds, please go to:

  • Dashboard
  • Management Reports
  • Payments (4th from the bottom)
  • Balances Available to Refund

If you are not due to receive payments from payers on School Gateway for the bank account required in the near future and you have insufficient funds to refund against in Schoolcomms you may wish to refund monies paid by cash or cheque and record a manual transaction in Schoolcomms.

Manual Transaction Guide

Submitting a BACS payment (minimum amount – £500)

Providing the total amount you wish to refund exceeds £500 it is possible to make a BACS payment to Schoolcomms.

Before making a BACS payment to Schoolcomms

  • Please check that the original payments that you need to refund were made within the last 180 days.
  • Please check your balance available to refund report.
  • If you have a negative balance to refund against on the bank account, you will need to allow for this as well as the overall amount you need to refund to the parents.
  • It’s best to overestimate for this as any funds not used for refunds will be settled back to the bank account.

Please note:

  • Any unused funds that are settled back to the bank account will not show in any of the settlement reports within your Schoolcomms account.
  • Due to payment protection rules put in place by our banking partners, Schoolcomms can only be used to process refunds for online transaction payments which were collected within the last 180 days. Any payments made outside of the 180 day window or payments made by cash, cheque etc would have to be refunded as a manual transaction.
  • Once the BACS payment and refund advice form are received it typically takes approximately 3 – 5 working days to be processed.
  • Please use the school postcode for the BACS reference. Schoolcomms bank account details can be found on your latest invoice.

To submit a BACS payment request please complete the refund advice form.

Refund Advice Form

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