An exhibitor cancels: refund or credit for next show
When an exhibitor cancels a paid booth, how an organiser decides between a refund, a credit note and credit carried to the next show, and records each one.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Events businesses in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya
Six weeks before the trade show, an exhibitor e-mails: their budget has been cut, their product launch has slipped, or their sales manager has resigned, and they will not be taking the booth they booked and paid for. They ask for their money back. Or they ask whether the payment can be moved to next year's show.
The organiser's answer depends first on the contract and only then on the books. This article covers both: how to decide what the exhibitor is owed, and how to record a refund, a credit note or a credit carried forward in Achekam so the books and the exhibitor's statement agree.
What your exhibitor terms say
Start with the agreement the exhibitor signed. It should say:
- how much notice the exhibitor must give to cancel;
- what portion of the booth fee you keep at each notice period;
- whether you may offer a credit instead of a refund;
- whether you can resell the booth, and whether that changes what you keep.
If the agreement is clear, apply it as written, and tell the exhibitor which clause you are applying. If it is unclear, or silent, you have a commercial decision to make, and goodwill with a returning exhibitor may matter more than the fee.
In South Africa, where the Consumer Protection Act applies to the booking, section 17 on cancelling an advance reservation, booking or order sets out when a supplier may take a reasonable deposit and what cancellation charge it may keep if the customer cancels. Whether the Act reaches a particular business exhibitor depends on that exhibitor's size, so take advice before relying on it either way. Organisers in Nigeria and Kenya should check their own consumer and contract law with a lawyer.
A credit note in full or for chosen lines
Whatever you decide, the booth invoice usually needs correcting first. In Achekam, a credit note is issued from the invoice it corrects, either in full or for chosen lines, and posted to the ledger. It can be downloaded as a PDF or e-mailed to the exhibitor. There is no credit note without an invoice to correct.
Typical cases:
- Full refund under the terms. Credit note for the whole invoice.
- Partial refund, keeping a cancellation charge. Credit note for the lines you are not keeping. If the booth fee is a single line and you keep a portion of it, ask your accountant how they want the retained charge shown, for example as its own line on a new invoice.
- Extras not yet delivered. If the invoice includes furniture hire, power or extra badges, credit those lines even where the booth fee itself is kept.
Building booth invoices with separate lines for the booth and each extra makes these corrections far simpler.
Leftover credit held for the exhibitor
When a paid invoice is credited, the money the exhibitor paid does not vanish: any credit left over after the credit note is held for the customer. The same happens if an exhibitor overpays. A receipt can also be re-allocated to another invoice later.
That gives you the "credit for next show" option without any special arrangement. Leave the credit on the exhibitor's account, and when you invoice them for next year's booth, allocate the held credit to the new invoice. Put the arrangement in writing: how much is carried, which event it is for, and what happens if they do not book. An open-ended credit has a way of turning into an argument two years later.
The exhibitor's statement of account, produced by the server as a PDF that can be e-mailed, will show the original invoice, the credit note and the credit balance, which is the clearest confirmation you can send them.
Refunds through the gateway dashboard
If the exhibitor wants their money back and the agreement allows it, the refund itself is made outside Achekam's invoices. A refund of an online invoice payment is not sent through the gateway by Achekam: it is made in the gateway's own dashboard and then recorded by a person. A bank transfer is refunded from your bank. Administrators can refund or reverse a receipt in Achekam to record what happened.
Order matters:
- Issue the credit note, so the invoice shows what is no longer owed.
- Make the refund in the gateway's dashboard or from the bank.
- Record the refund against the exhibitor's account.
- Send the exhibitor the credit note and an updated statement.
If an organiser has to cancel the whole show, the same tools apply to every exhibitor and ticket buyer at once, with the extra complication of till sales; that case is covered in refunds when an event is cancelled.
Voiding only an unpaid invoice
Voiding is a different tool. An administrator can void an issued invoice that has no payments or credits, which reverses its journal. It is meant for an invoice that should never have been issued, such as a booth invoiced to the wrong company.
For a cancellation, voiding is usually the wrong choice even when the exhibitor has not paid. A credit note keeps the history: the booth was booked, invoiced and then cancelled under the terms. A void erases the sale as if it never happened, which makes your cancellation rate invisible. Keep voids for mistakes.
A cancellation routine
- Read the exhibitor agreement and decide what is owed.
- Reply in writing, citing the clause.
- Credit the booth invoice in full or by line.
- Refund, or hold the credit for the next show.
- Send the credit note and a statement.
- Resell the booth if you can.
Exhibitors who also run up charges for extras at the show office are covered in exhibitor extras on account. Before next season's bookings open, check that your exhibitor terms answer the four questions at the top of this article.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
