Receive a payment from a customer

Use this screen when a customer pays part or all of what they owe and you do not need to tie the money to one specific invoice. The payment reduces the customer's balance, and the system posts a balanced journal entry in the same step. To settle one invoice by its number, use Settle a sales invoice in full instead.

Before you start

• The customer must exist and belong to your company.

• For cash receipts, your user needs a cash box. An administrator links it in the Cash box account field of your user record. Cash you collect here goes into that cash box.

• For bank transfer, card or mobile wallet, the method must be linked to an account for your branch. See Set up payment methods.

• The current year's fiscal year must be open and active for your branch, because the receipt is dated today. See Fiscal years.

Steps

1. Open Accounting › Receipts › Receive from Customer.

2. In Customer, search for and select the customer.

3. Enter the Amount received.

4. Optional: enter a Discount if you grant the customer a settlement discount on top of the payment.

5. Choose the Payment method:

   • Cash: the money goes to your own cash box.

   • Cheque: three more fields appear. Enter the Cheque serial no., choose the Bank account that will hold the cheque until it clears, and set the cheque's Due date.

   • Any other method: the line under the field shows Posts to: and the account linked to that method for your branch.

6. Optional: add a Note.

7. Select Submit.

A message confirms the posting and shows the batch number of the journal entry. The form then clears for the next receipt.

What happens next

• The books: the system credits the customer's receivable account with the amount and debits the money account: your cash box, the cheque's bank account, or the account linked to the method.

• Discount: when you enter a discount, the system also credits the customer's account with the discount and debits the allowed-discount account set for your branch.

• Customer balance: the customer's balance falls by the amount plus the discount. The receipt appears on the customer statement and in the aging report.

• Cheque: a received cheque is added to the cheques register with the status Not collected. Collect it when the bank clears it. See Collect or bounce a cheque.

• Voucher: you can find the entry by its batch number in Accounting › Transactions › Transactions. See Transactions and vouchers.

Common questions

The form says the payment method has no account linked for your branch. The method you chose posts to a linked account, and your branch has none yet. Select Link an account on the payment methods screen, or ask an administrator to link one.

I get "No account was found to post this payment to." For cash, your user has no cash box. Ask an administrator to set the cash box on your user record.

Can I back-date a receipt? No. The receipt takes today's date. To record an older payment, post a manual journal entry with the correct date.

How do I correct a wrong receipt? Posted entries are not edited. Post a reversing journal entry and then record the receipt again.