@Alexandra316 Thanks for clearing this up. I've been confused by choosing to refund in the way you recommend because the amount is more than the payout I would have gotten. And since Airbnb says they'll deduct it from the next payout, I haven't wanted to do it because it seems they'd deduct more than I would have gotten, if that makes sense. So I wait until the payout is processing and then I issue the payout.
The other reason I do this is because I have everything in QuickBooks and don't want to screw up the accounting. When someone cancels, I modify the payout in my system and then create a credit for the same amount, so that when I re-book the dates I can refund.
From what you're saying, I could issue the full refund, then just use the credit in my system to pay the invoice.