Refunding Bonds/Deposits held by an Authority or Interest Bearing Account

For our users in different regions, the terminology used for bonds or deposits may vary. In North America, these are commonly referred to as "Security Deposits". To ensure clarity, we will use "Bond" throughout this article. For more information on regional terminology, please visit our Glossary of Regional Terminology.

This article is designed to guide you through the process of refunding bonds that are held by an authority or in an interest-bearing account. We aim to provide you with a clear, step-by-step approach to ensure that the refund is processed correctly within your Trust or Client Account.

Setting up a Tenancy Ledger

Before initiating the refund process, it's important to ensure that a Tenancy Ledger is established and linked to the tenant in question. If the Tenancy Ledger isn't present, here's how to set it up:

1. Navigate to the Client/Trust Accounts main page.
2. Select Tenancy Ledger Balance.
3. Use the dropdown menu next to New Owners Ledger and select New Tenancy Ledger and search for the Tenancy Name.
4. Click Save to create the ledger.

Processing the Refund

To refund a bond that has been held by a third party (such as a Bond Authority or Interest Bearing Account), follow the steps outlined below:

1. Select the relevant Tenancy and navigate to Bonds tab.
2. Choose Prepare to Refund by clicking on Contextual Menu [...].
3. Assess all outstanding invoices for the tenancy.
4. Confirm the Amount to Refund to Tenant that will be directly refunded to the tenant. 
   1. • If funds are not returning to the Client/Trust Account, tick the box marked Bond Authority has sent funds directly to Tenant.
5. If applicable, enter the Amount to Transfer to Owner. Remember not to select an amount if there are outstanding invoices.
6. Specify the Amount to Transfer to Tenancy Ledger to settle outstanding invoices or to refund the tenant later.
7. Approve the income invoice that is generated, which signifies the receipt of funds into the Client/Trust Account.
8. Save and approve the invoice to move forward with the refund.

Finalizing the Refund

Once the refund has been reconciled to the invoice:

1. Update the Tenancy Invoice Contact with payment details.
2. Process a disbursement using a profile that includes bonds. For tenant refunds, these will appear where bonds to be lodged are listed, highlighted in orange for clear differentiation.
3. Funds for the owner will be transferred to the property ledger from the bonds ledger and displayed in the Transfers section of the owner statement.
4. Amounts for the tenancy ledger will shift from the bonds ledger to the tenancy ledger, from where you can apply the funds to invoices or process a refund to the tenant.