Overview
Sometimes an event can't go ahead: bad weather, a venue falling through, or too few entries. Horsify gives you two different actions for that. They sit side by side in the Cancel or delete this event panel at the foot of the event's edit page, and they do very different things:
- Cancel event and tell entrants keeps the event on Horsify marked as Cancelled, takes it off the public listings, stops entries and payments, and tells everyone who has entered by email and in-app notification. This is the right choice for any event people have entered.
- Delete event removes the event, and every entry, payment record and document attached to it, and tells nobody. Use it for a draft nobody has seen, or a duplicate. Horsify won't delete an event that people are entered in, or one that still holds an entry payment: see Deleting an Event Instead.
The most important thing to know: neither action refunds anyone. If people have paid, you refund them yourself, one payment at a time. The cancellation email tells anyone who has paid that you will arrange their refund, so do it promptly. After you cancel, the edit page shows how many entries still hold a payment. This guide walks through cancelling and the steps around it.
For help deciding whether to cancel at all, or postpone the event by editing its date instead, see the Event Cancellation Guide.
Who Can Cancel or Delete an Event
- Admins of the organisation that owns the event.
- Horsify admins: any event.
Staff and event team members can edit an event but can't cancel or delete it. Ask one of your admins (see Staff Access). Events that came into Horsify as external listings (a club calendar feed, the flyer scanner, or Import from another event platform) can only be cancelled or deleted by Horsify support.
Before You Cancel: Refund and Check Your Entrant List
Horsify tells your entrants the event is off, but it does not move any money, so plan these two steps yourself:
- Refund paid entrants. There is no bulk "refund everyone" action tied to cancelling. Refund each payment from Payment Management (see Issuing Refunds). Do it before you cancel, or straight after: the email tells a rider who has paid that you will arrange their refund, and gives your organisation's email address and phone number.
- Check who will hear. The cancellation email goes to everyone whose entry is still live: confirmed, awaiting your approval, awaiting payment, or with a cancellation request pending. Each email address gets one email, so a parent with three children entered gets one that names all three. The in-app notification goes to every entrant with a Horsify account. Riders on the event's waitlist, anyone who has only watched the event, and riders you entered by hand without an email address hear nothing by email, so contact them yourself.
The event, its entries and its payment records all stay after you cancel, so you can still see who paid what.
How to Cancel an Event
- Sign in and open the event's page, then choose Edit event (or open the event from your Organiser Dashboard).
- Scroll to the foot of the edit page, to the Cancel or delete this event panel. It offers Cancel event and tell entrants on a published event, and on any other event people are still entered in (one you took back to draft after it had taken entries, for example). A draft nobody has entered offers Delete event alone.
- Choose Cancel event and tell entrants.
- A Cancel this event? dialog says the event will be marked as cancelled, how many entries are live and how many have been paid for, that everyone who has entered will be emailed and notified, that card payment pages still open for unpaid entries are closed, and that refunds are not automatic. Choose Cancel the event to go ahead, or Keep the event to back out.
Once you confirm, the banner at the top of the edit page turns amber and reads Cancelled, a confirmation says entrants have been told, and the emails and notifications go out in the background. Under the banner, a panel says what is left to do: how many entries still hold a payment and how much, with an Open Payment Management button, or Nothing to refund when no entry holds one.
What Cancelling Does and Doesn't Do
It does:
- Mark the event Cancelled, take it off the public event listings and club-site pages, and stop new entries. Anyone who opens an old link to the event page sees that it has been cancelled by the organiser.
- Email everyone with a live entry, once per email address. The message is headed Event cancelled with your event's name and names who is entered. A rider who has paid is told that your organisation will arrange their refund and how to contact you. A rider who has paid nothing is told that nothing is owing and not to make a payment.
- Stop new payments. A card payment page still open for an unpaid entry is closed, and nobody can start a payment or be sent a payment link for the event's entries afterwards. A rider who tries is told the event has been cancelled.
- Send an in-app notification to every entrant with a Horsify account.
- Keep the event on your dashboard and edit page, with its entries and payment records, for your records and for processing refunds.
It does not:
- Refund anyone. All refunds are manual, per payment. Horsify never refunds a payment for you.
- Change your entries. Each entry keeps its status, so you can still see who was entered and refund against it.
- Tell riders who are only watching the event or on its waitlist, or entrants whose entry has no email address.
- Delete anything.
If a rider was part-way through paying at the moment you cancelled, their payment can still come through before the payment page closes. Horsify records it like any other payment and does not refund it; it is counted in the entries still hold payments panel on the edit page, for you to refund.
Deleting an Event Instead
Delete event is for events that should never have existed: a duplicate, a test, a draft you have abandoned. The Delete this event? dialog names the event and warns that every entry, payment record and document attached to it will be removed and that nobody is notified. On a published event it adds a warning to cancel instead, so entrants are told and can be refunded first. Choose Keep event to back out or Delete event to go ahead; afterwards you are returned to your Organiser Dashboard.
Deleting cannot be undone from within Horsify.
When Horsify won't delete an event
Deleting tells nobody and takes every entry with it, so Horsify refuses in two cases. The dialog stays open and says which one applies:
- An entry has been paid for. Any payment that has not been refunded in full counts: card, bank transfer, cash you recorded, or club credit, including a payment on an entry that has since been cancelled. Refund each payment from Payment Management first (see Issuing Refunds); once nothing paid is still held, the event can be deleted. If the event is still to run, cancel it so your entrants are told.
- People are entered and the event is still to run. Use Cancel event and tell entrants, which the dialog offers beside the reason, so everyone who has entered is emailed and notified. A cancelled event with nothing paid can then be deleted.
An event nobody has entered, or whose only entries were cancelled or never paid for, deletes as before. So does an event that has already run, as long as it took no payments. Deleting never refunds anyone.
Issuing Refunds
Refunds are made one payment at a time, from Payment Management (Finances > Transactions in the organiser menu). You need to be an admin, or staff with Finances at Manage.
- Open the entrant's payment and choose Reverse Payment.
- Enter the refund amount (the whole payment or part of it), how it was refunded, and a reason. Original payment method reverses a card payment through Stripe automatically; Club credit adds the amount to the rider's club credit; Bank transfer, Cash, Cheque or Other records a refund you pay yourself. If part of the payment has already been refunded, the form says how much is left and you can refund up to that amount.
- Choose Confirm Refund, then repeat for each paid entrant.
Card refunds go back to the card the entrant used and typically take a few business days to appear on their statement.
When you refund everything an entry has paid, the entry shows as unpaid again. Part of a payment refunded leaves it showing as paid. On a cancelled event, the entries still hold payments figure on the edit page drops as you refund, and the event can be deleted once it reaches zero.
Cancelling the event doesn't change each entry's status, so the Refund button on the Registrations page (which appears only on cancelled entries) won't show for these entrants. Use Payment Management instead.
After You've Cancelled
- Follow up with anyone Horsify couldn't reach: watchers, riders on the waitlist, and entrants with no email on their entry, so everyone knows the event is off and their refund is on the way.
- Send your own message through Communications if you want to explain why, or what happens next. Horsify's email says the event is cancelled and where each rider stands on payment; it gives no reason.
- Update your own channels: remove the event from social media and any external listings, and let sponsors know if relevant.
- Keep your records. Your payment and refund history remains available for your accounting.
Choosing a Refund Amount
Cancelling doesn't set a refund policy for you: you decide how much to return and process it manually. As a guide:
- Full refund is the norm when you cancel an event for reasons outside your entrants' control (weather, venue, too few entries, an organiser emergency).
- Partial refund may be appropriate where your terms and conditions allow you to retain costs already incurred, but be clear and fair.
Under Australian Consumer Law, if you cancel an event that entrants paid for, they are generally entitled to a refund. Make sure your event's terms and conditions set out your cancellation and refund policy up front, and keep records of the refunds you issue (including any GST component) for your accounting.
Common Issues
I don't see the Cancel event button
- It appears on a published event, and on any other event people are still entered in. A draft nobody has entered offers Delete event alone, as does an event that has already run.
- Only admins of the organisation that owns the event can cancel or delete it. If you're staff or on the event team, ask one of your admins.
An entrant says they haven't received their refund
- Refunds are processed by you, one payment at a time. Check the entrant's payment in Payment Management shows as refunded.
- Once issued, refunds can take a few business days to reach the entrant's account. Ask them to check with their bank if it's been longer.
A rider paid after I cancelled
- A card payment page that was open when you cancelled can still be paid in the moment before it closes. Horsify records the payment and never refunds it for you. It is counted in the panel under the Cancelled banner on the edit page; refund it from Payment Management like any other.
- A rider can't start a new payment for a cancelled event, and you can't send them a payment link for one.
I cancelled by mistake
- The edit page still offers Publish event on a cancelled event. Publishing makes it live again and sends every confirmed entrant a notice to check the date, venue and details.
- Cancelling does not remove entries, so riders you have already refunded will still be on the entry list. Sort that out with them directly, or contact support.
Related Features
- Event Cancellation Guide: cancel, delete or postpone, and what happens to your data
- Edit Events: change the date or details instead of cancelling
- View Registrations: see who's entered
- Payment Dashboard: track payments and refunds
Support
Need help with a cancellation? Email support@horsify.com.au or use the Help button in the bottom-right corner of the app. For an urgent, same-day cancellation, get in touch with support so they can help.\n\n---\n\nSource: wiki/features/CANCEL_EVENTS.md \nLast synced: 2026-10-21 13:11:25 UTC