> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Refund Volume, Square > Refund Volume for Square stores. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it. **Metrics type:** [Supporting Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained) • **Category:** [Payment Gateway](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) ## At a glance > Total amount refunded to customers via Square in the period (`/v2/refunds`). Refunds in retail-led Square stores are typically 2, 5% of volume; ecom-led merchants run 5, 12%; subscription / SaaS-via-Square run lower (1, 3%). Spikes signal product issues, fulfilment errors, or a bad ad campaign sending unqualified buyers. | | | | ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **What it counts** | `SUM(amount_money.amount)` over `/v2/refunds WHERE status = COMPLETED`, in each currency. | | **API endpoint** | [`GET /v2/refunds`](https://developer.squareup.com/reference/square/refunds-api/list-payment-refunds). Returns full refund records linked to the original payment. | | **Currency** | Per-currency. | | **Partial refunds** | Counted at the partial amount, not the full original payment. A USD 100 sale partially refunded USD 30 contributes USD 30 here. | | **Refund window** | Square allows refunds up to 1 year from the original payment for cards, 60 days for some wallets. | | **Cash refunds** | Counted if rung up through Square POS as a cash refund. Off-system cash refunds (handed cash without ringing it up) don't appear in any API. | | **Time window** | `30D vsP`. | | **Alert trigger** | `>10% of total volume` for the period. | | **Roles** | owner, finance, operations | ## Calculation Calculated automatically from your Square data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading. ## Worked example 30 days for the Austin bookshop: | Reason | Refund count | Refund amount | | --------------------------------- | ------------ | ------------- | | Customer changed mind (POS) | 28 | USD 612 | | Damaged shipment (Square Online) | 9 | USD 482 | | Wrong item shipped | 3 | USD 156 | | Cancelled subscription / preorder | 2 | USD 590 | | **Total refunds** | **42** | **USD 1,840** | Total volume: USD 129,020. Refund-volume ratio: 1.4%. Reads: 1. **1.4% refund ratio is excellent for a bookshop.** Books are mostly returnable but rarely are; pricing transparency, low-defect-rate physical goods, and walk-in foot traffic (customer can inspect before buying) all suppress refunds. Compare to apparel ecom which runs 15, 30% return rates. 2. **Online refund-rate (USD 482 / USD 21,300 = 2.3%) is materially higher than POS (USD 612 / USD 85,780 = 0.7%).** Universal: ecom returns are 3, 5x retail returns due to absence of pre-purchase inspection. 3. **One USD 590 refund is the cancelled preorder (a multi-volume hardback set).** A single large refund can dominate the absolute number for small merchants. Always slice by amount to see whether refund spikes are spread or concentrated. ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together | Card | Why pair | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [`squ_refund_rate`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/square/refund-rate) | The rate-form of this metric. | | [`squ_total_volume`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/square/total-volume) | The denominator for refund-rate. | | [`squ_dispute_rate`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/square/dispute-rate) | High refund-rate often *prevents* disputes (refunded customers don't escalate). | | [`squ_top_decline_reasons`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/square/top-decline-reasons) | High decline + high refund = bad-traffic signature. | | Stripe [`stripe_refund_volume`](/nerve-centre/stripe/stripe_refund_volume) | Cross-PSP comparison. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in the Square Dashboard:** > **Reports → Refunds** with the same date range. **Common divergences:** | Reason | Direction | | --------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Time zone | Boundary days (refund vs original-sale day) | | Pending refunds | Square's view may include `PENDING`; this card is `COMPLETED` only | | Cash refunds | Cash refunds count here; some Dashboard tiles only show card refunds | **Cross-connector reconciliation:** refund volumes between the commerce platform (Shopify / BigCommerce) and the PSP (Square) should match for the online subset; commerce-platform refunds for non-Square gateways won't appear here. ## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **"What's a healthy refund-volume ratio?"** Industry-dependent. Books / homeware: 1, 3%. Apparel / shoes: 15, 30% (try-on returns). Digital / SaaS: \<1%. Restaurants: \<0.5%. Compare yourself to your peer benchmark, not a generic number. **"Square Refund vs Square Void, difference?"** A void cancels an authorisation that hasn't been captured yet (no money moved). A refund returns money already captured. Voids don't count here; only refunds do. **"Cash refunds, do those count?"** Yes if rung up through Square POS as a cash refund. Pure off-system cash refunds (handed cash without ringing it up) don't appear in any API. **"Same-day refunds, do they net against same-day volume?"** Not in this card. The volume card and refund card are independent. Same-day refunds appear in both. **"Subscription cancellations with prorated refund, how counted?"** Square Subscriptions issues a `/v2/refunds` with the prorated amount. That's the value here. Full original sale stays in the volume card. **"Multi-location, can I see refunds per location?"** Yes; `/v2/refunds` carries `location_id` via the linked payment. Slice in the underlying data. **"Refund processing fees, are they refunded too?"** Square refunds the processing fees on a refund (no fee asymmetry). This card reads only the customer-refunded amount, not the fee component. **"Why do I see a refund for a payment from 5 months ago?"** Square allows refunds up to 1 year from the original payment for cards. Period attribution: refund is counted in the refund period, not the original-sale period. So a Q1 sale refunded in Q3 increases Q3's refund volume. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *Refund Volume* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Square and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. 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