This article helps you resolve credit balance issues in Playground, including removing balances from inactive accounts, transferring credits between siblings, and understanding why a credit balance is showing.
Understanding Credit Balances
A credit balance appears on a student's account when more has been paid in than is owed, for example, if a family overpaid, a charge was refunded, or a billing plan was cancelled mid-cycle. Credit balances stay on the account indefinitely until you manually resolve them. They will continue to affect your accounts receivable reports until cleared.
Removing a Credit Balance from an Inactive Account
When a student leaves and their account still has a credit, you have two options:
Add a matching debit | Create a debit equal to the credit amount to zero out the account. Use this when the family doesn't need money back, for example, if the credit was an internal accounting adjustment. |
Issue a refund | Process a refund to return the money to the family. Use this when the family genuinely overpaid and the credit represents funds that belong to them. |
Navigate to the student's profile. Use the Status filter in the Students tab to find inactive students if they aren't showing up.
Click the Billing tab, then click Billing actions.
Choose Create debit to zero out the balance, or choose Refund to return the funds to the family.
If you chose to add a debit, you'll see an option to notify the family — this is optional.
💡 You can add debits to inactive accounts without reactivating the student first.
Transferring a Credit to Another Sibling's Account
Credit balances are tied to individual student accounts and can't be automatically moved between siblings. To manually transfer a credit:
On the student who has the credit balance, go to their Billing tab and click Billing actions > Create debit for the credit amount to zero out their account.
Navigate to the sibling's profile and click their Billing tab.
Click Billing actions > Add credit and enter the same amount.
🚨 Adding a debit to zero out an account is an irreversible action. Double-check the credit amount before confirming.
Unexpected Credit Balance Showing on an Account
If a credit balance appears unexpectedly, for example, after a family made a payment or after modifying a billing plan, check the student's full billing ledger to trace where it came from:
Navigate to the student's profile and click the Billing tab.
Review the ledger line by line. Look for a payment that came in after a charge was deleted, a duplicate payment, or a refund that was applied but never matched to a new charge.
Once you've identified the source, either add a debit to offset it or issue a refund to the family.
FAQ
Will a credit balance automatically apply to the next invoice?
Will a credit balance automatically apply to the next invoice?
Yes — when a new debit is posted, Playground will apply any existing credit balance toward it, reducing what's owed. If the credit fully covers the debit, the balance will show $0 and autopay won't run for that charge.
Can I add a debit to an inactive account to clear a credit?
Can I add a debit to an inactive account to clear a credit?
Yes. You can create debits on inactive accounts without reactivating the student. Go to the student's Billing tab and use Billing actions > Create debit to zero out the balance. You'll have the option to notify the family, but this is not required.
Why is a credit balance showing on a student who has already left the school?
Why is a credit balance showing on a student who has already left the school?
Credit balances are not cleared automatically when a student is marked inactive. They stay on the account until you manually add a matching debit to zero it out, or process a refund to return the funds to the family.
How do I find a report that shows all students with credit balances?
How do I find a report that shows all students with credit balances?
Navigate to the Reports section and look for the Accounts Receivable or Balance report. You can filter by credit balances to see which student accounts have outstanding credits.
A family paid under the wrong child's account. How do I fix it?
A family paid under the wrong child's account. How do I fix it?
The payment will have created a credit on the incorrect student's account. Add a debit of the same amount to that student's account to zero it out.
Navigate to the correct student's account and apply a credit for the same amount under Billing actions > Add credit.
If a charge is outstanding on the correct student's account, the credit will automatically offset it.