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What to do when a client cancels
What to do when a client cancels

Here's what to do in HoneyBook when a client cancels their project

Updated over a week ago

We know that cancellations are a bummer, but we're here to help. (And if your client chooses to reschedule instead, here at the steps you'll want to take).


Step 1: Issue any refunds, if necessary

Depending on the contract you and your client signed, they may be entitled to a partial or full refund. Review your contract language, and if necessary, proceed with the required refunds. 

If any payments have come in outside of HoneyBook that you manually marked as paid in the system, you can also mark those payments as refunded after issuing the refund via the original payment method. This will just help you keep track of all cash in and out in HoneyBook.



Step 2: Send a cancellation amendment

If your client had already signed a contract prior to canceling, you'll likely want to create and send a cancellation amendment. This amendment should terminate all agreed upon obligations between both parties, addressing the project changes as well as what's expected to happen with any fees/retainers that have already been paid or that are outstanding.

Remember, if a client wants to reschedule a project instead, here's what you'll want to do.


Make sure that your amendment covers all the project changes, that way, you should not need to edit, delete, or expire the original contract.


PLEASE NOTE: All businesses, projects, clients, and situations are different. Please always check with a lawyer to confirm the best procedure for the specific situations you encounter.




Step 3: Archive the project

You can delete the project entirely if you'd rather—and if no payments have been made already—but that will remove all traces of the project from your HoneyBook account. To make sure you always have a paper trail, we recommend archiving the project versus deleting entirely.

Archiving simply involves moving the project to the archived pipeline stage, and selecting the reason for archive. Completing the archive will:

  • Stop clients from receiving any HoneyBook's automated messages, payment reminders, or any other communication from your HoneyBook account

  • Stop any automated or recurring payments you'd previously set up 

  • Expire all files within the project (you'll still be able to access them, but no further action can be taken by you or your clients)

  • Remove the project from the active stages of your project pipeline


PLEASE NOTE: No project, file, payment, or client information will be deleted upon archive. Outstanding payment information will be removed from your Bookkeeping section, but any paid payments will still be tracked in both Bookkeeping and Reports. All archived projects can be found in the archived stage of your pipeline, and you can un-archive the project at any time, simply by locating the project and moving it to any active pipeline stage.



Want to learn more?


Still have questions? Feel free to send us a message by clicking the Question Mark icon on any HoneyBook page. Our team is always happy to help!

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