This article provides an understanding of the key differences in managing paid event ticketing, specifically covering payout structures and the critical distinction between issuing a refund and deleting an attendee.
Payout Structures: HQ-Led vs. Chapter-Level
Bevy offers two primary methods for managing where the revenue from paid event tickets is deposited:
HQ-Led Accounts
- Structure: The entire community instance uses a single bank account.
- Management: This account is managed by Bevy. The bank account information is initially input through the admin dashboard.
- Control: Any changes to payout schedules (e.g., pausing or resuming payouts), maintaining a minimum balance, etc., must be requested through a support ticket, as only Bevy controls these settings.
Chapter-Level Payouts
- Structure: An HQ admin designates a payment lead at the chapter level.
- Management: The payment lead manages their own Stripe account and connects it directly from the Bevy dashboard.
- Control: This provides the chapter-level payment lead with direct control over their payouts, including setting a minimum balance to ensure funds are available for refunds and managing their own payout schedule.
Critical Difference: Refund vs. Delete
It is critical to understand the difference between refunding an attendee and deleting an attendee, as these two actions have very different consequences for paid tickets and financial reconciliation.
| Action | Purpose & Outcome | Financial Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Refund | Processes the payment reversal and removes the attendee from the event list. | Required to keep accurate financial reports and complete the transaction cancellation. |
| Delete | Only removes the attendee from the event's attendee list (like an RSVP cancellation). | Does NOT process a refund. The ticket revenue remains in your reports, causing discrepancies. |
Refunds permissions are added to Chapter Team Roles that are designated to be the payment lead when Chapter Level Payouts are enabled. HQ Admin accounts will need to have refunds enabled on the community site in order for Admins and Chapter-Level Payout leads to be able to process refunds. Contact Bevy Support to add these permissions or check these settings.
Important Refund Policies:
- Permission Required: To process a refund in the Bevy dashboard, you must have the "order refund" permission enabled for your team role.
- Reconciliation is Key: If a refund is processed directly through Stripe, you must also process the refund in the Bevy dashboard. This ensures the attendee is removed from the event list and all reporting is accurate.
- Consequence of Deleting: Deleting a paid attendee makes it difficult to trace the ticket number and record from the Bevy dashboard, complicating your financial reconciliation.
Common Payment Issues and Troubleshooting
| Issue | Cause & Explanation | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| "Insufficient Funds" Error | Occurs for Chapter-Level Payouts when the Bevy-connected balance is zero because all payouts have been deposited. | The refund must be processed in Stripe, which can pull funds from the connected bank account. Remember to still process the refund in Bevy to update the attendee list. |
| Refund Fails (Too Old) | The refund attempt is made more than 180 days after the original ticket transaction date. | Refunds cannot be processed on our side after six months. Check the date of the ticket purchase to confirm. |
| Missing Reporting Data | An organizer accidentally deleted an attendee instead of issuing a refund. | Deleting a paid attendee complicates tracing the ticket record. Consult a senior support agent to help trace the order number in Stripe. |
| General Errors | For any other errors, contact Bevy Support | Follow the procedure of Collect information for Bevy Support troubleshooting. This collects information that Bevy Support can use to identify and determine what caused the error. |