Payments received

A payment received records money a customer pays you. Posting it writes one journal entry. The money goes into the cash, bank, card or Pay by link account you choose. The same amount comes off what the customer owes you. Money not matched to an invoice is kept as a customer advance.

Where: Sales › Payments received › Record payment
Number: ARREC-000001, given only when you post
Posts to: The cash, bank, card machine or Pay by link account that received the money, Accounts Receivable, Customer Deposits
Who: Managers and admins

What it’s for

A customer pays one invoice, part of an invoice, or several invoices in one payment.
A customer pays before you have an invoice. You keep the money as a customer advance and use it later.
You can start from this screen, from Record payment on an invoice, from Record payment on a customer, or from Record customer payment on the Home page.
Payments taken at the till (Collect outstanding) are also listed here.
Deposits taken on Tailoring orders are listed here too, as customer payments. Open one to see its note, “Deposit for Tailoring order ‹number›” (a deposit added later says “Later deposit for Tailoring order ‹number›”). The whole deposit is held as a customer advance until the order is collected. See Tailoring orders.
Cheques are not recorded here. Record them in Banking › Cheques. When a post-dated cheque clears, the payment appears in this list, and you correct it from the cheque.
More › Settlements is the same screen in a stricter mode (see Settlements). The whole amount must be matched to invoices, and nothing can be kept as an advance.

Fields

First you choose the customer. Then you fill in the payment, match it to invoices, and add a note.

Field	What it means	What it changes
Customer	Who sent the money. Search by code or name, or add one with New customer. Archived customers can pay invoices, but cannot receive a new advance	Their balance. The top of the form shows what they owe you and any advance they hold
Receipt date	When you received the money. Defaults to today. It cannot be in the future	The date of the journal entry. It cannot be before the date of an invoice you match it to
Payment type	Cash, Card, Bank transfer, or Pay by link (shown only when a provider is switched on in Settings)	Which account receives the money
Financial account	For Cash and Bank transfer: the cash or bank account that received the money. The screen shows its balance and the account it posts to	The account that grows
Card machine / clearing account	For Card: the machine that took the card. Choose a machine. The shared Card and Payment Clearing choice is last in the list	Card money waits in that machine’s clearing account until the card company pays your bank
Pay by link provider	For Pay by link: the provider that took the payment, such as Tabby or Tamara. With one provider, it is chosen for you	The provider’s own account holds the money until the provider pays you
Amount	The money received	The total that goes into the account. Typing it spreads it over the invoices with the earliest due dates first, until you change a row by hand
Transaction reference	Required for Bank transfer and Card: the bank or card ID. For Cash it is optional and called Reference	Shown on the payment and searchable in the list. No accounting effect
Order number	Required for Pay by link. The provider’s order number	Proves the payment. No accounting effect
Allocate (one row per open invoice)	How much of this payment settles each invoice. Pay full fills the row with what the invoice still owes	That invoice owes less. Accounts Receivable goes down
Keep … as a customer advance	Appears when part of the payment is not matched to an invoice. You must tick it to keep the rest	The unmatched part goes to Customer Deposits
Internal notes	Optional, up to 2,000 characters	Kept with the payment. No accounting effect

When a customer has more than five open invoices, the screen also shows a search box, Auto-allocate oldest and Clear allocations. If you start from an invoice, Receive full balance fills in what that invoice owes.

Buttons

Nothing touches your accounts until Post customer receipt. After that, the buttons change your accounts only as described here.

Button	When you see it	What happens	Accounts
Record payment	The Payments received list	Opens a new payment. You choose a customer first	No change
Review and confirm	New payment	Checks the payment and opens “Post this customer receipt?”	No change
Post customer receipt	The review window	Saves the payment and gives it a number. Pressing it twice does not post twice	Posts
Back to review / Cancel	The review window / new payment	Returns without saving	No change
Print…	Posted payment	Opens a preview of the receipt. The first print is marked ORIGINAL; later prints are marked COPY. The message after saving also offers Print	No change
Apply customer advance	Posted payment that still holds an advance	Matches the advance to open invoices. The list shows Apply advance → for these payments	Posts
Correct application	A later advance application that is still active (admins)	Gives the applied money back to the advance. Asks for a reason	Posts
Edit receipt	Posted payment, when a change is allowed	Change the date, customer, account, amount, reference or note. Update receipt asks for a reason first	Restated on its own date
Delete receipt	Posted payment, when a change is allowed (admins)	Asks for a reason, then removes the payment. The number stays	All effects removed
Correct today	Posted payment (admins)	Cancels the payment and enters the right one, both dated today	Posts
Cancel receipt	Posted payment that cannot be edited or deleted (admins)	Cancels the whole payment with a new entry. Asks for a date and a reason	Posts

Statuses you will see: Posted, Deleted and Cancelled. The Allocation column says Fully allocated, Partially allocated, Unapplied, Partially refunded, Fully refunded, Partly paid back or Fully paid back. Unapplied means the whole payment is still a customer advance.

The list filters by search text, dates, method and allocation. A totals strip shows, for the matching payments, how many there are, how much was received, how much went to invoices and how much is held as advances.

What gets posted

Posting writes one journal entry, dated on the receipt date. A line with a zero amount is left out. VAT, sales and stock are not touched: they were booked when you posted the invoice.

Example 1A bank transfer for two invoices, with an advanceBank transfer · AED 300.00 received

Invoice A owes241.50
Invoice B owes241.50
Bank transfer received300.00
Matched to invoice A150.00
Matched to invoice B100.00
Kept as customer advance50.00

Account	Debit (AED)	Credit (AED)	Why
1020Bank Accounts (the bank account you pick)	300.00		The money arrived
1100Accounts Receivable		250.00	The customer owes 250.00 less
2300Customer Deposits		50.00	You hold 50.00 as the customer’s advance
Total	300.00	300.00	Balanced

Invoice A now owes 91.50 and invoice B owes 141.50, so the customer owes you 233.00 in all. They also hold a 50.00 advance. The bank account receives the whole 300.00.

The payment type decides which account receives the money:

Payment type	Account debited
Cash	The cash account you pick, such as Cash on Hand
Bank transfer	The bank account you pick
Card	The chosen card machine’s clearing account. If you choose no machine, Card and Payment Clearing
Pay by link	The provider’s own account, named “Pay by link - ‹provider›”

Card and Pay by link money stays in its own account until you record the payout from the card company or the provider in Banking. A Pay by link payment must be matched to invoices in full. It can never be kept as an advance.

If part of a payment is not matched and you tick the advance box, the entry also credits Customer Deposits, as in example 1. If all of it is unmatched, the whole amount is credited to Customer Deposits and Accounts Receivable is not touched.

Using an advance later

You can use an advance in three places: Apply customer advance on the payment (this screen), Use customer advance on the customer’s page, and while posting an invoice. Using an advance writes its own entry, dated on the application date. It does not change the original payment.

Example 2Using an advance on two invoicesAdvance of AED 100.00 from a cash payment

Advance held100.00
Applied to invoice A60.00
Applied to invoice B20.00

Account	Debit (AED)	Credit (AED)	Why
2300Customer Deposits	80.00		The customer’s advance is used up
1100Accounts Receivable		80.00	The two invoices owe 80.00 less
Total	80.00	80.00	Balanced

No cash moves, because the money was already received. The payment now shows 80.00 allocated and 20.00 still held as an advance.

Example 3Taking back part of an applied advanceCorrect application · AED 10.00 of the 60.00 on invoice A

Account	Debit (AED)	Credit (AED)	Why
1100Accounts Receivable	10.00		Invoice A owes 10.00 again
2300Customer Deposits		10.00	The advance grows by 10.00
Total	10.00	10.00	Balanced

The original application is never edited or deleted. A new entry reverses part of it. Invoice A now has 50.00 applied, and the payment holds a 30.00 advance again.

Cancelling a payment

Example 4Cancel receiptCash payment of AED 100.00: 80.00 matched to an invoice, 20.00 kept as advance

Account	Debit (AED)	Credit (AED)	Why
1100Accounts Receivable	80.00		The invoice owes 80.00 again
2300Customer Deposits	20.00		The 20.00 advance is removed
1000Cash on Hand		100.00	The cash is taken back out
Total	100.00	100.00	Balanced

Cancelling adds a new numbered entry (ARREV-000001) on the cancellation date. The original payment stays in the list as Cancelled. No money is sent to the customer.

Editing, deleting and correcting today

Edit receipt rewrites the payment’s own entry, on the receipt date, with the same number. It does not add a second entry. The history keeps the before and after. If you move the date, the entry moves with it.
Delete receipt removes the payment’s entry. The money leaves the books, and any invoice it had paid owes that amount again. The number stays and shows Deleted.
Correct today adds a cancellation and a new payment, both dated today, and links them. Example: a 50.00 cash payment in a closed month is corrected to 80.00. Cash goes down 50.00 and up 80.00, both today. The 241.50 invoice then owes 161.50. The closed month is not touched.

Other rules that apply on every payment

Part payments: an invoice can be paid in several payments. Each payment is listed on the invoice.
Numbers: a payment starts with ARREC-, an advance application ARAPP-, a correction of an application ARUNAPP-, a cancellation ARREV- and a pay-back ARPAYB-. A number is never reused.
Cash into an open till drawer: if the cash account is the drawer of a till session that is still open, the payment must be dated today. It is counted in that till’s closing summary, as a customer collection, not as a sale.
No double posting: if the connection drops after you press Post customer receipt, do not enter the payment again. The app saves your request and shows the result when it can.

Where it shows up

Place	What changes
Customer balance and statement	The customer owes less, or holds an advance. The statement lists the payment, any advance application, any correction and any cancellation
The invoice	Shows the payment under its payments. Its status moves to Part paid or Paid
Cash or bank account	Money in, on the receipt date. Card money shows in the card machine’s clearing account
Day book	One entry for the payment. Applying an advance, correcting it and cancelling each add their own entry
Receivables aging	The invoice’s open amount falls by the matched amount
Sales, VAT and stock reports	No change

What the app blocks

The form checks most of these before you post, and the app checks again when you post. A refused payment leaves no half-written records.

Situation	What you see
Amount missing, zero or with more than 4 decimals	Enter a positive receipt amount with no more than 4 decimal places.
Matched to invoices more than the amount received	Increase the receipt amount to at least ‹amount›, or reduce allocations.
A row above what the invoice owes	Enter no more than ‹amount›.
Money left over and the advance box not ticked	Allocate the remaining ‹amount› or explicitly keep it as a customer advance.
Archived customer, and part of the payment is unmatched	Archived customers can settle open invoices, but cannot receive a new customer advance.
Bank transfer or Card without a reference	Enter the bank or card reference.
Pay by link without an order number	Enter the provider’s order number.
Pay by link without a provider	Choose the Pay by link provider (Tabby, Tamara).
Pay by link not matched in full	A Pay by link payment must be fully applied to invoices. It cannot be kept as a customer advance.
Pay by link provider switched off	That Pay by link provider is not switched on for the back office. Switch it on in Settings › Pay by link, or choose another provider.
No cash or bank account chosen	Select the cash or bank account that received this payment.
A card machine that is no longer active	This card terminal is no longer active. Choose an active terminal or Legacy pooled Card Clearing.
Receipt date in the future	Choose today or an earlier date in the company time zone.
Receipt date before an invoice it pays	Receipt date cannot be before an allocated invoice date.
Cash into an open till drawer on another day	Use today’s company date (‹date›) for this open-register cash collection.
Date inside a locked period	The accounting period is locked through ‹date›. Choose a later date, or ask an administrator to reopen the period.
An invoice was paid or changed by someone else while you worked	An invoice balance changed. Review the highlighted allocation before posting. The screen then reloads the balances
The answer was lost after you pressed Post	The receipt outcome is unconfirmed. Its original request is saved for recovery; do not enter this payment again.
Settlement mode with nothing matched	Select at least one open invoice for this settlement.
Anything else goes wrong while posting	The receipt could not be posted safely. No receipt, allocation, or accounting records were created.

When Edit and Delete are not offered

Instead of the buttons, the payment shows the reason:

Situation	What you see
Part of a till sale or a till return	A posted POS return already released part of this receipt. or This receipt is an immutable settlement leg of a POS checkout.
Made by clearing a post-dated cheque	This receipt was created by clearing a post-dated cheque.
An advance from this payment was applied to an invoice, even if it was corrected later	A customer advance application is linked to this receipt.
Opening balance imported when you started	This receipt represents an imported opening customer advance.
Date in a locked period	Locked period — locked through ‹date›.
Bank account already reconciled past the date	The bank account used by this receipt is reconciled through ‹date›. Undo that reconciliation first.
Cash account already counted past the date	The Cash account used by this receipt was counted through ‹date›. Undo that cash count first.
A Pay by link payment	A Pay by link payment cannot be changed here. Delete the payment and enter it again.

A payment collected at the till in a session that has since closed can still be edited, but not deleted. Its date stays as it was. For cash, the change is booked as a balancing entry dated today.

When Cancel receipt is not offered

Cancel receipt appears only for admins, and only when Edit and Delete are not possible. The app does not show the button, and gives no extra message, when:

a till refund was paid out of this payment;
part of the payment’s advance was paid back (cancel the pay-back first);
an advance applied from this payment is still active (use Correct application first, then cancel); or
the payment is a Pay by link payment (delete it and enter it again).

In the cancellation window, the date must not be earlier than the latest date on the payment’s history, and must be today or earlier:

Choose ‹date› or a later date. It is the latest receipt lifecycle date.

Changes that would leave an account below zero

Editing, deleting or cancelling a payment takes money back out of the account that received it. The app refuses if that would leave a bank account or Card and Payment Clearing below zero on any later date. It refuses for a cash account only when your company has switched that rule on.

This would take ‹account› below zero on ‹date› (balance then AED −‹amount›). Record at least AED ‹amount› coming in on or before ‹day› first, then save again.

If a card payout already took the money, reverse the payout on its own date first.

Warnings that do not stop posting

Customer on credit hold. The form notes it, and the payment still posts.

Who can do it

Action	Admin	Manager	Cashier
See Payments received and open a payment	Yes	Yes	No, cashiers take customer payments at the till
Record a payment	Yes	Yes	No
Print a receipt	Yes	Yes	No
Apply a customer advance	Yes	Yes	No
Edit receipt	Yes	Yes	No
Delete receipt	Yes	No	No
Cancel receipt, Correct today	Yes	No	No
Correct application	Yes	No	No
Pay a customer advance back (Customers page)	Yes	Yes	No

Cancelling a payback is for admins only. These are the standard roles. Your administrator can give a custom role each action separately in Settings › Users & access.

Fixing a mistake

Not posted yet. Nothing is saved until you press Post customer receipt. Use Back to review or Cancel.
Posted, with a wrong date, amount, account, reference, customer or note. Use Edit receipt.
- The payment keeps its number. A reason is required, and the history keeps the before and after.
- If you lower the amount below what was matched to invoices, the newest matches come off first. Those invoices owe that money again.
- If you change the customer, every match comes off. The whole amount stays on this payment, and you must tick the advance box to keep it as the new customer’s advance.
- You cannot choose different invoices when you edit. To match other invoices, delete the payment and enter it again, or ask an admin.
The payment should never have been recorded. An admin uses Delete receipt. The money leaves the books and the invoices it paid owe it again. The number stays as Deleted.
The month is closed, the bank is reconciled, or cash was counted. Edit and Delete are not offered. An admin can use Correct today to cancel the payment and enter the right one today. Or an admin can use Cancel receipt, with a date in an open period.
An advance was applied to the wrong invoice. An admin uses Correct application to return it to the advance. Then use Apply customer advance on the right invoice.
The customer wants money back. No button on this screen pays money out.
- A return at the till refunds the customer and shows on the payment as refunded.
- For an advance you hold, use Pay back customer advance on the customer’s page (see Customers). It pays cash or bank money out and can be cancelled later by an admin.
- For goods returned from a paid invoice, make a credit note. See Credit notes.
A Pay by link payment is wrong. An admin deletes it and enters it again. It cannot be edited or cancelled.