Add a payment to an invoice
Discover how to add a payment against an invoice and allocate payments across multiple invoices for a customer.
Use the search bar to locate the job or invoice number.
Open the job and go to the Invoices tab.
Click View next to the invoice.
Scroll to Payment and allocation history.
Click Add new payment and enter the relevant details.
Commusoft will auto-fill the invoice total. Adjust if needed and fill out the remaining fields.
Select a payment method. If Debit card is selected, you'll need to provide card details.
Set up nominal accounts if required.
Click Add payment to confirm.
Note: The amount is pre-filled with the invoice total. For a part payment, enter only what the customer actually paid, or the invoice closes while money is still owed. To apply one payment across multiple invoices, use a cash allocation (see below).
Cash Allocations
Cash allocations allow you to manage and assign received payments to specific invoices efficiently. This ensures accurate financial records by linking cash entries directly to outstanding invoices.
Use the global search bar to locate the customer.
Open their profile and navigate to the Dashboard.
Click Quick links > Cash allocations.
Fill in all required fields (marked with an asterisk *).
To pay multiple invoices at once, select each invoice on a new row of the spreadsheet interface.
If the customer is paying only part of an invoice, enter the amount being paid in the Amount to allocate column.
Note that only one payment method can be used per cash allocation.
Once all invoice rows are complete, click Add cash allocation in the bottom right to save.
Walkthrough
An invoice that has been paid but never recorded still counts as outstanding. Debt reports overstate what the business is owed, statements chase customers who have already paid, and the accounting sync carries the error into the books.
š Before you start, you need:
An issued invoice that has not been paid yet
Payment methods set up
Nominal accounts set up
By the end you will be able to record a payment against an invoice, in full or in part, so the invoice and the customer's balance show what has actually arrived.
Watch a video
Practise this
Before you open a payment form, write down what you expect it to ask for and what you expect it to fill in already. Then open Add new payment on any invoice in your account and compare, without saving. The gap between what you predicted and what is on screen is the part worth remembering.
Check what you know
A customer has paid an invoice but nobody has recorded the payment. What goes wrong, and who tends to notice first?
A customer has paid an invoice but nobody has recorded the payment. What goes wrong, and who tends to notice first?
Nothing looks wrong on the invoice ā it simply stays outstanding. The debt report overstates what the business is owed, so the figure being chased is wrong. A statement sent to that customer then asks them for money they have already sent, which is usually who notices first, and it is the customer. The accounting sync carries the same error into the books, so the correction has to be made twice.
Dr Spencer pays Ā£400 toward his Ā£648.00 invoice and will settle the rest later. What should Claire enter in the amount field, and what happens to the invoice?
Dr Spencer pays Ā£400 toward his Ā£648.00 invoice and will settle the rest later. What should Claire enter in the amount field, and what happens to the invoice?
She enters Ā£400, the amount that actually arrived, rather than the total already filled in. The invoice stays partly outstanding, showing Ā£248.00 still due, until that remainder is recorded as a second payment against the same invoice. Accepting the pre-filled total would close the invoice and clear his balance while the money was still owed.
Summary
Claire recorded Dr Spencer's payment for the heat pump installation straight from the invoice. She opened Add new payment, checked the pre-filled amount, chose the payment method and nominal account, and added the payment.
š” Key takeaways
Amount: is pre-filled with the invoice total. For a part payment, enter what actually arrived, or the invoice closes while money is still owed.
Payment method and nominal account: both feed your reporting.
Timing: record payments as the money arrives, not in a monthly catch-up, so debt reports stay accurate and statements don't chase people who have paid.
You'll know it's right when the next payment you record leaves the invoice showing exactly what is still outstanding: the full amount closes it, and a part payment leaves the remainder visible.