Who this is for: All Barti users with access to patient invoices and billing.
Before you start, you'll need:
An existing payment on the patient's invoice to issue credit against — credit cannot be issued without a prior payment
⚠️ Credit is non-refundable. Once funds are converted to patient credit, they cannot be returned to a card. If the patient may need the money back, issue a direct refund instead.
Steps
Open the patient's invoice from their Invoices tab or the Billing view.
Scroll to Payment and Credit History and find the payment you want to credit.
Click the three-dot menu on the payment row and select Refund.
Set the Refund Method to Patient Credit. The modal updates:
The submit button changes to Issue Credit
The shortcut changes to Credit Original Payment
A warning appears: "Once issued, these funds cannot be refunded."
Select a Credit Reason (required):
Requested by Customer
Prescription Issue
Lab Error
Quality
Overpayment
Other
(Optional) Add a note in the Notes field.
Enter the credit amount per line item, or click Credit Original Payment to auto-fill each row to its maximum remaining amount. Each line is capped at the amount paid minus any previously refunded or credited amounts. The total must be greater than $0.
Click Issue Credit.
What you'll see when it works
The credit appears in the Payment and Credit History section of the invoice as a Credit Issued entry, with the name of the staff member who issued it. The credit is now available for the patient — and any members of their guarantor/family group — to use on future invoices.
The patient's Profile Info Bar will show a Patient Credit balance and a Patient has credit indicator.
How family credit sharing works
Credit is shared automatically within a guarantor group — no setup required. If a patient is part of a family group, any member of that group can use the available credit on their own invoices.
When credit is applied to an invoice, it's consumed in this order:
The patient's own credits
Their guarantor's credits
Other group members' credits
If a patient leaves the guarantor group, they keep credit issued from their own invoices but lose access to credit from other family members' invoices.
Troubleshooting
I don't see a Refund option on the payment row.
Make sure you're looking at a payment row in Payment and Credit History, not a line item. The three-dot menu with the Refund option appears on payment rows only.
The patient originally paid by card, but the card is now expired or Stripe is restricted on my org. Can I still issue credit?
Yes. Credit can be issued in both of these scenarios where a card refund would otherwise fail.
Can I issue a credit without an existing payment?
No. Credit must be issued against an existing payment on an invoice. There is no standalone "Issue Credit" button and credit cannot be added as a prepayment.
Can I delete a payment that has credit issued against it?
No. Payments with associated credits cannot be deleted until the credit itself is removed.
How credits appear in reports
Payment by Staff: Credit is recorded on the date it was issued, not the date of the original service.
Net Revenue Report: Credit issuance appears as a separate line item.
Payment Method Report: Credit issuance appears as a separate line item.