Record a payment in the credit book

When a customer pays towards what they owe, you can record it on their credit book account. The balance goes down at once, the credit book and statements update, and you can give the customer a slip showing the new balance.

Before you start

• You need the Credit: who owes, record payments right.
• Record each payment in one place only: in the credit book, on a Collections case or in Books (see the credit book and Collections).

Steps

From the customer's account (with a slip)

1. Open Collections → Credit book and select the customer.
2. Go to Take a payment. The Amount is filled in with the whole balance; change it if the customer paid part.
3. In Paid by, choose Cash or Card.
4. Optional: type a Note, such as a transfer reference.
5. Select Record the payment.
6. The slip appears at the top of the page with the payment and the new balance. Select Print it, or Send it on WhatsApp to open WhatsApp with the slip's text.

From the list of who owes

1. Open Collections → Who owes us.
2. Select Record a payment on the customer's row, or at the top of the page.
3. Pick the Customer if needed. The Amount defaults to the whole balance.
4. Optional: type a Note.
5. Select Record a payment. The customer's Statement opens with the payment and the new balance.

Good to know

• With Books on, it is a Books receipt. The payment becomes one Books receipt that pays the customer's open Books invoices, oldest due first; anything left stays as the customer's credit. The invoices close in Books and the Collections case updates too. If Books refuses the receipt (for example the period is closed), the payment is not recorded and the page says why.
• Without Books, the payment lowers the balance on the customer's account only.
• Paying a particular invoice? Record the payment on the Collections case and tick the invoice, or in Books (see record a payment on a case).
• Payments pay the oldest amounts first in the credit book. That is how the ageing and the open items on the statement are worked out.
• No double entries. If the page is sent twice (a double click, a slow connection), the payment is recorded once.
• Who took it. The credit book report shows payments by the person who recorded them; see the credit book report.
• A kept promise. If the customer had promised to pay, the payment counts towards that promise; see note a promise to pay.
• Every payment is written to the audit log.