Recording payments

What this does

Records money received against an invoice and updates its balance. The invoice's status is derived from the money, never set by hand: Sent with nothing paid, Partial with some paid, Paid at zero balance, Overdue when past terms with a balance.

Before you start

payment.create is held by Owner, General Manager, Office Manager, and Service Writer. Service Managers and Accountants cannot record customer payments.

Steps

1. Open the invoice and choose Record Payment.
2. Method: Cash, Check, Credit Card, Debit Card, ACH / Bank Transfer, or Other.
3. Amount. Partial amounts are fine; the balance updates and the invoice stays open.
4. Payment Date if not today, a reference (check number, transaction ID), and optional notes.
5. Save. The payment appears in Payment History on the invoice.

To remove a payment entered in error, delete it from Payment History. The balance and status re-derive from what's left, and the payment's ledger entry is reversed automatically. A delete is refused if the payment is already on a deposit slip (remove it from the deposit first) or falls in a locked accounting period.

What happens in the books

Each payment credits Accounts Receivable and debits Undeposited Funds (the default) or the bank account directly if Undeposited first is off under Accounting → Settings. The three writes (payment row, invoice balance, journal entry) succeed or fail together; a failed posting leaves the invoice exactly as it was. Cash reaches the bank in the ledger when the payment is included in a deposit under Accounting → Money In → Deposits.

Deleting a payment posts a reversing entry (Cr Undeposited Funds or bank / Dr Accounts Receivable) so the ledger returns to where it was before the payment. The deleted payment no longer appears as money available to deposit.

If the invoice was still a draft, recording the payment issues it first (posting revenue) and then applies the money.

Common problems

The status won't change to Paid. It changes only when the balance is zero. Check Payment History against the total; a rounding difference of a cent keeps it Partial.

"Can't be set manually — it's derived from payments." You tried to set Paid or Partial from a status control. Record the payment instead.

"This payment is on deposit slip …" The payment was already included in a deposit. Open the deposit under Accounting → Money In → Deposits, remove the payment from it, then delete.

Card payments taken online don't appear. Online card payments made through the share link are recorded automatically when the payment completes, and only that way. Never enter one by hand; see Share links and online payment.