Workflow Template
Refund Request and Approval Workflow
Collects customer refund requests, tracks eligibility review by customer service, routes approval to a team manager or finance based on amount, processes approved refunds via finance, and keeps the customer informed at each stage via email.
When refund requests arrive by email or spreadsheet, customer service loses track of who checked eligibility, which approver is holding things up, and whether the customer was ever told what happened. The Refund Request and Approval Workflow captures each request as a record with a reference number, walks it through eligibility review, routes approval to a team manager or finance based on the amount, and emails the customer automatically at every stage. Teams get a clear timeline for every refund request and spend less time answering 'what's the status of my refund' questions.
Business Outcomes
- Faster turnaround from refund request to decision
- Fewer status-check emails from customers thanks to automatic updates
- More consistent eligibility checks against refund policy
- Clear routing of approvals to the right person based on amount
- A complete timeline of each refund request from submission to payout
Workflow Steps
Steps
- 1Create Refund Request Recordcreate record
Registers the submitted refund request as a record.
- 2Set Status to Receivedupdate record
Marks the refund request as Received.
- 3Send Acknowledgement Emailsend email
Emails the customer confirming receipt of their refund request with the reference number.
- 4Set Status to Under Reviewupdate record
Marks the refund request as Under Review.
- 5Check Eligibility Against Refund Policycreate task
Assigns a customer service agent to check the refund request against policy and record the outcome.
- 6Save Eligibility Result to Recordupdate record
Persists the eligibility check outcome to the refund request record.
- 7Route on Eligibility Outcome
Routes the workflow depending on whether the refund request was found eligible.
eligibility_result: "Not eligible"→Set Status to Declinedeligibility_result: "Eligible"→Route on Refund Amount ThresholdDefault→End - 8Set Status to Declinedupdate record
Marks the refund request as Declined because it was not eligible.
- 9Email Customer - Not Eligiblesend email
Emails the customer the agent's notes explaining why the refund was declined.
- 10Route on Refund Amount Threshold
Routes eligible refunds to team manager approval if $500 or less, otherwise to finance approval.
approved_refund_amount: "500"→Request Team Manager Approvalapproved_refund_amount: "500"→Request Finance ApprovalDefault→Request Team Manager Approval - 11Request Team Manager Approvalrequest approvalrequires approval
Requests the team manager's approval for refunds of $500 or less.
- 12Route on Manager Approval Outcome
Routes the workflow based on the team manager's approval decision.
approval_status: "approved"→Process Refundapproval_status: "rejected"→Set Status to DeclinedDefault→End - 13Request Finance Approvalrequest approvalrequires approval
Requests finance approval for refunds greater than $500.
- 14Route on Finance Approval Outcome
Routes the workflow based on finance's approval decision.
approval_status: "approved"→Process Refundapproval_status: "rejected"→Set Status to DeclinedDefault→End - 15Set Status to Declinedupdate record
Marks the refund request as Declined because approval was rejected.
- 16Email Customer - Refund Not Approvedsend email
Emails the customer that their refund was not approved.
- 17Process Refundcreate task
Assigns finance to process the approved refund and record the refund date and reference.
- 18Save Refund Processing Detailsupdate record
Persists the refund date and reference to the record.
- 19Set Status to Refundedupdate record
Marks the refund request as Refunded.
- 20Email Customer - Refund Processedsend email
Emails the customer confirming their refund has been processed.
Fields
Show all 14 fieldsShow fewer fields
FormRefund Request Form
- Customer Name*· Text
- Customer Email*· Email
- Order or Invoice Number*· Text
- Product or Service*· Text
- Refund Reason*· Choice
- Amount Requested*· Number
- Details*· Long text
- Evidence (optional)· File upload
TaskCheck Eligibility Against Refund Policy
- Eligibility Result*· Choice
- Approved Refund Amount· Number
- Agent Notes*· Long text
TaskProcess Refund
- Refund Date*· Text
- Refund Reference*· Text
Other fields
- Refund Status· Choice
- Customer Name*
- Customer Email*
- Order or Invoice Number*
- Product or Service*
- Refund Reason*
- Amount Requested*
Forms
Refund Request Form
8 fields
Data Views
Refund Requests
customer_name, order_number, refund_reason, approved_refund_amount +1 more
Dashboard Widgets
Recommended integrations
Setup the following integrations to extend workflow capability.
Send email in the workflow
AWS SES
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FAQs
What happens if a refund request is found not eligible?
The workflow sets the record status to Declined and emails the customer the customer service agent's notes explaining the decision. Those notes, along with the eligibility result and approved refund amount fields, are saved on the record because the workflow waits for the eligibility check task to complete.
Can this handle refunds of different sizes differently?
Yes. After the eligibility check, the workflow routes refunds of $500 or less to a team manager for approval and routes anything over $500 to finance for approval. The threshold is a step in the workflow editor, so a workspace can adjust the amount to match its own policy.
What if the team manager or finance rejects the refund?
Either rejection sets the record status to Declined and triggers an email telling the customer the refund was not approved. The record's timeline keeps a record of which approval step made that decision.
Who is actually involved in processing a refund, and what do they do?
A customer service agent checks the request against refund policy and records the eligibility result, approved amount, and notes. Depending on the amount, a team manager or finance approves or rejects the request, and finance then processes the approved refund, recording the refund date and reference on the record.
What if we need to customise the eligibility check or add more approval steps?
A workspace can describe the change in plain English or edit the steps directly in the workflow editor, and earlier versions of the workflow are kept. This makes it straightforward to add extra fields to the eligibility task, change who approvals are assigned to, or adjust the amount threshold without a development project.
Does the customer need to create an account to submit a refund request?
No. Customers submit their refund request through a public request form, and the workflow keeps them updated by email at each stage using the address they provide. They never need to log in to check on their request.
What information does the customer need to provide, and can we require evidence?
The request form asks for customer name, email, order or invoice number, product or service, refund reason, amount requested, details, and optional evidence. Because evidence is optional in this version, a workspace that wants to require it can edit the form in the workflow editor.
How do we know where a refund request stands at any given time?
Each request is a record with a reference number, a current status (such as Received, Under Review, Declined, or Refunded), and a timeline showing what happened at each step. Table views and dashboards show all refund records grouped by status, making it easy to see what's still pending.
What gets recorded once a refund is processed?
When finance processes an approved refund, the workflow waits for them to enter the refund date and reference, which are then saved to the record. The status is set to Refunded and the customer receives a confirmation email; each business should confirm what records it needs to retain for its own accounting or compliance purposes.
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