Product tour · Docs · AppThentic

This is what your team sees before they change a rule: the reason, the owner, what would break, and the decision on record. Follow one request through it.

Extending the refund window1 / 6

Step 1
A one-line change, requested on a Monday.
Refunds close at 30 days. Competitors offer 45. It looks like one setting. Before anyone touches it, AppThentic shows what is known about it.
Request · refund window
S. Iyer · Product
Can we move consumer refunds from 30 to 45 days? Competitors offer 45.
AppThentic found
1 rule that sets the window, with an approved reason
5 things that depend on it
1 related rule whose reason has expired
Step 2
The reason, in the owner’s own words.
The exact line of code, why it is 30 days, who decided, and when they approved it. Nobody had to write a doc.
refunds/policy.py · rule card
Rule · Consumer refund windowApproved
```
41def refund_allowed(order, today):
42    window = 30 if order.channel != "b2b" else 60
43    return (today - order.delivered_on).days <= window
```
AppThentic asked Finance
Why 30 days for consumer orders, rather than 60 as for B2B?
R. Mehta · Head of Finance
Our payment partner settles chargebacks within 35 days. Thirty keeps every refund inside that, so we never refund money already lost to a dispute.
Source refunds/policy.py:42Owner FinanceApproved 12 Sep 2026
Step 3
What would break.
Five things rely on this rule. The daily finance reconciliation breaks at 45 days, and nobody on the request knew it existed.
Impact · refund window change
Proposed change
Consumer refund window: ~~30 days~~ → 45 days
Rule refunds/policy.py:42
- finance-daily-reconApproved
  Conflict · Assumes refunds settle inside the 35-day chargeback window. 45 days breaks that.
  Report · Owner: Finance
- payments-apiObserved
  Calls refund_allowed() before every refund.
  Service · Owner: Payments
- support-macrosDocumented
  Tells customers "30 days" in 4 templates.
  Help text · Owner: Support
- loyalty-clawbackInferred
  Removes points when an order is refunded.
  Job · Owner: Growth
- festive-extended-returnsStale
  Overrides the window for festive orders.
  Rule · Owner: Ops
5 dependents1 conflict4 owners to ask1 related rule stale
Step 4
A rule that should already be gone.
A festive-season override is still live, though the promotion it served ended in January. AppThentic flags it before it causes the next surprise.
Rule · festive extended returns
Rule · Festive extended returnsStale
```
18if date(2025,10,1) <= order.placed_on <= date(2026,1,15):
19    window = 60
```
Approved reason · Ops · 22 Sep 2025
"Covers the festive promotion. It ends 31 January 2026."
The reason expired on 31 Jan 2026. The code still applies it, and it overrides the refund window you are changing.
Ask Ops: keep, change or remove?
Step 5
The person who decided answers, not the nearest one.
The engineer who built it points to Finance. AppThentic follows the answer to the person who actually decided.
Questions · refund window
AppThentic → A. Rao, Payments · wrote this code
refunds/policy.py:42 sets 30 days for consumer orders and 60 for B2B. Why 30 rather than 60?
A. Rao · Payments
I implemented it, but Finance chose the number. Ask R. Mehta.
Followed to R. Mehta, Head of Finance
R. Mehta · Finance
Our payment partner settles chargebacks within 35 days. Thirty keeps every refund inside that window.
ApprovedRecorded with source, owner and date. 2 questions, 1 hand-off.
Step 6
A decision on record, before anything shipped.
Who asked, who decided, who was told, and the sources behind it. The next person who asks gets this answer in seconds.
See this on your own system
Decision record
Decision recordApproved
Refund window stays at 30 days until the payment partner extends its chargeback window. Then it moves to 45.
Asked by
S. Iyer · Product
Decided by
R. Mehta · Finance
Also told
Payments, Support, Growth
Follow-up
Festive returns rule sent to Ops to retire
Source refunds/policy.py:42Source finance-daily-reconSource partner contract §7.2

A one-line change, requested on a Monday.

The reason, in the owner’s own words.

What would break.

A rule that should already be gone.

The person who decided answers, not the nearest one.

A decision on record, before anything shipped.