How to pay back money overpaid

[lje]

My client has paid me twice for the same invoice. I have just emailed to tell them of their error (yes I'm that honest / stupid).

How do I return the money to them? Do I just discount the next invoice or is there a better way to do this?

[Craig@Clarity]

You can ask for their bank account details and make a transfer back to them.

[lje]

How would I account for that in my accounts?

[doodab]

You'll need to account for it in your paperwork somehow. I have in the past dealt with this by including a "credit note" for the relevant amount on the next invoice, but that was for quite a small amount. If you do refund the money straight away you'll probably want to send them a separate invoice / statement of account which includes both the overpayment and refund.

[Craig@Clarity]

There's no need for paperwork as it seems to be a genuine error of overpayment. Simply pay the amount back to the client so you're left with the correct amount which matches your invoice.

[escapeUK]

My client has paid me twice for the same invoice. I have just emailed to tell them of their error (yes I'm that honest / stupid).

How do I return the money to them? Do I just discount the next invoice or is there a better way to do this?

Keep the money, invoice as normal. Allocate the payment against the new invoice. Or you can send them a cheque back as someone suggested.

Whatever you do dont "discount the invoice" or give them a "credit note". It would just mess up your accounts.