Set the forfeiture rules for cancellations

A cancellation rule says what a booking cancellation forfeits by default: a percentage of the agreed total (excluding GST) or of the amount received, with or without GST, plus any standard charges such as an administrative fee. The organization's rule applies to every project; a project can have its own rule that overrides it. Rules are dated, so when your policy changes you add a new row rather than editing the old one, and each cancellation uses the rule in force on its date.

Before you start

• You need the Edit permission on Organization Settings (the Administrator in the default roles). With only the View permission you see the rules but not the buttons.
• To give a project its own rule you need the View permission on Projects, which fills the Scope list.
• Every organization starts with one rule: 10% of the agreed total, no GST, effective from 1 January 2000.

Steps

1. Open Settings and choose the Organization tab. Scroll to the Booking cancellation rules card ("What a cancellation forfeits by default and which extra charges it suggests. The organization rule applies everywhere, a project rule overrides it, and the cancellation wizard can override both for one booking."). It lists the rules with Scope, Effective from, Forfeiture ("10% of agreed total"), GST ("18%" or "none") and Default charges; the rule in use today for each scope carries an In force badge, and future ones Upcoming. See Organization.
2. Click Add rule. The dialog "New cancellation rule" opens with Scope, Effective from, Forfeiture, Percent of, Charge GST on the forfeiture, GST rate, Default charges and Notes.
3. Leave Scope at "Organization (every project)", or pick a project to give it its own rule. Set Effective from (today by default): the rule applies to cancellations dated on or after that day.
4. Enter Forfeiture as a percentage (10 by default) and choose Percent of: "Agreed total (excluding GST)" or "Amount received". If you charge GST on the forfeiture, tick Charge GST on the forfeiture and check GST rate (18 by default).
5. For each standard charge, click Add under Default charges and fill Charge name, either Amount or or % (a percentage of the agreed total), and tick GST if it attracts GST. With no charges the dialog reads "None. A charge is a fixed amount or a percentage of the agreed total, with or without GST; the wizard suggests it and the user can change it."
6. Add any Notes (for example "Board resolution of March 2026") and click Save. You see "<Organization | project name> rule from <date> saved." and the row appears in the card, marked In force or Upcoming.

What happens next

• The wizard suggests it. When someone cancels a booking, the wizard takes the project's rule in force on the cancellation date, or the organization's when the project has none, and shows it as a badge ("<Project> rule: 10% of agreed total" or "Organization rule: …"). On Forfeiture & charges it suggests "<x>% of the <base> (<amount>) = <forfeiture>", ticks the GST box when the rule charges GST, and fills Other charges from the default charges. The user can change every figure for that one booking (Cancel a booking).
• Nothing billed or received, nothing forfeited. A booking with no demands and no receipts is cancelled with no forfeiture, whatever the rule says.
• Cancellations already recorded keep their figures. Changing or deleting a rule doesn't touch them.
• To change a rule, use the pencil (Edit rule) on its row; to remove one, the bin (Delete rule): "Cancellations already recorded keep the figures they were posted with. The last organization-level rule cannot be deleted; set its percentage to 0 instead." You see "Cancellation rule deleted."

Example

With 10% of the agreed total and an agreed total of ₹1,00,00,000 excluding GST, the wizard suggests a forfeiture of ₹10,00,000; with Charge GST on the forfeiture at 18% it adds ₹1,80,000 of GST.

If something goes wrong

• "A rule for this scope already starts on that date." or "Keep at least one organization-level rule; set its percentage to 0 to forfeit nothing.": pick another Effective from, edit the existing row, or set the last organization rule to 0% rather than deleting it. See Escrow, TDS or cancellation rule refused (trouble.admin.effective-dated-rule-conflicts).
• "Please correct the highlighted fields." with nothing highlighted: the dialog could not save a value; check the percentages are between 0 and 100, the date is filled in and the notes are at most 255 characters.
• Add rule isn't shown, or the page reads "You do not have permission to view organization settings. Ask your administrator.": see No access or no permission (trouble.admin.no-access).

Things to know

• A project's rule is set here, on the organization's settings, by choosing the project as Scope. There is no cancellation setting on the project's own Edit project page.
• The dialog does not check the figures: an empty percentage is saved as 0, and a default charge without a name is dropped.
• A default charge given as a percentage (and no amount) is worked out on the agreed total excluding GST. A charge ticked GST takes the rule's GST rate.

Related

• Organization
• Cancel booking
• Cancel a booking