Match the disputed amount to the payment it concerns

Identify the payment before comparing the numbers

Open the actual case and follow its payment reference. Match that reference to the store order using the provider or gateway record. A similar amount, the same buyer name or an order total is insufficient to establish that two records concern the same charge. If an order has several payment records, keep the one named by the case separate from the others.

Record whether the provider calls the event a formal dispute, an inquiry or an early fraud warning. Stripe distinguishes these events, and their response paths differ. An email subject containing the word dispute does not replace the case's current label. This comparison concerns the amount on that specific record, rather than the net payout for all orders.

Separate the case amount, prior credits and fees

Stripe says it debits the disputed amount plus a dispute fee. The combined effect on the balance is therefore a different figure from the amount the customer disputes. Copy the charge amount, case amount and fee into separate entries. A balance deduction that includes a fee should not be described as the customer's disputed purchase amount.

For every earlier refund, retain its provider reference, amount, currency, date and current status. Keep a refund request separate from a refund the provider records as completed. Compare amounts only on a common currency basis supported by the records; if the records use different currencies, retain both and ask for the documented basis rather than inventing an exchange adjustment.

Original charge less completed refunds can describe the remaining amount in your own comparison when those amounts share a currency. That calculation does not redefine the issuer's case. Put the calculated remainder beside the recorded disputed amount and label each clearly.

A partial refund does not set the maximum case amount

In its card-fraud guidance, Stripe explains that card-network rules allow a partially refunded card payment to be disputed for the full payment amount. An earlier partial credit therefore does not, on its own, prove that a full-amount case is erroneous. Preserve the refund evidence and identify exactly which credit you need the provider to account for.

This card-specific guidance does not establish the reason for a particular amount difference. Do not infer that the issuer ignored a refund, that a customer acted dishonestly or that the case must be corrected. The useful finding is narrower: the charge is matched, these refund records exist, and this is the amount currently recorded in the case.

Resolve the amount question within the existing process

For an open Stripe dispute, Stripe says a refund cannot be issued outside the dispute process. Its card-fraud guidance also warns against returning a card payment through a different method because the original charge can still be disputed. Sending money elsewhere to make the numbers appear to balance risks a second reimbursement without resolving the existing case.

Give the assigned case owner the linked charge, the current case amount, the prior refund references and any separately recorded fee. Ask the provider which prior credits the case takes into account and what its actual instructions require for this discrepancy. If the charge reference itself does not match, resolve that identity problem before choosing evidence or a money movement.

For a Prism checkout-review consultation, summarize the store-to-provider reference mismatch or the unclear refund handoff. Keep the detailed case file in your controlled records. The consultation scope, responsibilities, fees and terms must be agreed; the comparison does not submit a response or decide the issuer's outcome.

Dispute amount comparison

Complete one comparison for the payment named in one case. Use provider references and status words, without card data or customer documents. An unmatched reference or currency is an unresolved comparison; a different amount is not automatically an error or permission to refund.

Worksheet entries are not submitted by Prism’s worksheet and are not saved by the site. Use record types, availability, anonymized observations, or match/mismatch results. Do not enter government identifiers, customer names or addresses, customer messages, receipt-access links, card or bank details, passwords, or keys. Send sensitive documents only through the provider’s verified secure channel.

These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. Worksheet entries are not sent automatically. If you copy notes into the consultation message and submit the form, Prism receives them as part of your request.