How to record both money in (customer payments) and money out (bill payments and expenses), including allocation, partial payments, and over-payments.
Money in — customer payment
When a customer pays an invoice you've sent.
- Go to Payments → Make Payment (or open the invoice and click Record a payment — the invoice is pre-selected).
- Pick the Customer. Their open invoices appear.
- Set the Payment Date — when the money actually landed.
- Pick the account the money was received into and the method: Cash, Cheque, or Bank Transfer.
- Enter the amount received.
- Allocate against invoices: tick each invoice being paid, and edit the applied amount for partial payments. Any leftover shows as unallocated.
- Save Draft to keep working, or Post to commit.
How the journal looks:
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Bank | 100.00 | |
| Accounts Receivable | 100.00 |
Paying by cheque
When the method is Cheque on an outgoing payment (a bill payment or expense), two extra fields appear: pick the Cheque Book and the Cheque No. from its available leaves. Company cheque books cover outgoing payments only — never customer receipts. Set up your books under Accounts → Cheque Books; see Cheques.
Partial payments
- Customer pays part of one invoice. Tick the invoice and type the partial amount. The invoice stays Partially Paid with the balance open.
- Customer pays with money left over. Allocate the invoice in full; the remainder stays as an unallocated credit on the customer. Apply it to a future invoice with Apply Credit on the next payment, or use Refund unapplied balance.
Over-payments
When the amount received is more than all open invoices combined:
- Allocate all open invoices in full.
- The leftover sits as customer credit (unallocated).
- Either refund it (AR (Sales) → Refund Receipts) or apply it to the next invoice.
Money out — bill payment
When you pay a supplier (formerly called a vendor).
- Go to Payments → Bill Payments and start a new payment (or open the bill and record a payment from there).
- Pick the Supplier, the Payment Date, and the account the money came from. For cheques, pick the Cheque Book and Cheque No..
- Allocate against bills the same way as customer payments.
- Post.
How the journal looks:
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Accounts Payable | 100.00 | |
| Bank | 100.00 |
Direct expense (one-step bill + payment)
For small purchases that don't need a bill — fuel paid by company card, for example:
- Go to AP (Purchases) → Expenses and click New Expense.
- Pick the expense account, the paying account, the date, and the amount.
- Save Draft, then Post.
This posts expense against bank directly — no supplier balance is created.
Foreign-currency payments
If the invoice or bill is in another currency, the payment needs a dated exchange rate; the allocation screen shows "Estimated FX Gain:" or "Estimated FX Loss:" where the rate has moved. See Multi-currency.
Reversing a payment
If you posted a payment by mistake, open it and reverse it — the system writes a contra entry and the allocated invoices or bills reopen. You cannot delete a posted payment; reversal keeps the audit trail intact. If the option is unavailable, ask your workspace administrator.
Common errors
| Error | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Payment can't be saved | No open invoices, inactive account, or zero amount | Check the customer's invoices; pick an active account; enter a non-zero amount |
| Period locked | Payment date is on or before the lock date | Use a date in an open period |
| Currency mismatch | The account's currency differs from the payment currency | Use an account in the same currency, or add the exchange rate (multi-currency plans) |