Invoice payments

Record what a customer has paid against an invoice, in full or in parts. Record a refund when a correction leaves the customer with an overpayment. Send a reminder to a customer who has not paid on time.

Where to find it: Finance → Invoicing — open an issued invoice. Mark paid or Record refund is in the status card.

When you'll use it

• A transfer for an invoice has arrived and you want the invoice to show as paid.
• A customer paid part of the amount.
• A payment was recorded with the wrong amount or date.
• A correction lowered a paid invoice and you paid the difference back.
• An invoice is past its due date and you want to send a reminder.

Key concepts

• Payments add up. Each payment you record is added to the invoice's list of payments. The invoice is Paid when the payments reach the amount due.
• The amount due includes corrections. An invoice and its corrections are settled together. When a correction raises or lowers the total, the amount due changes with it. The Summary card then shows the Amount after corrections.
• Status follows the money:

Recorded so far	Status
Nothing	Issued, or Overdue once the due date has passed
Some, but less than the amount due	Partially paid
The full amount due	Paid

• No overpayment by mistake. A single payment cannot be larger than what is left to pay.
• Overdue needs no action from you. Complaia checks the due dates every night. A partially paid invoice past its due date still shows Partially paid, and its status card adds the line Overdue since and the date.
• Refund — when a correction lowers an invoice that was already paid, the customer has paid too much. The status card then offers Record refund instead of Mark paid.
• Payments from orders are carried over once. When an invoice is created from orders, the payments already recorded on those orders appear in its payment list as prepayments. After that, the invoice has its own list. Payments you record on the invoice are not written back to the order.
• Pro formas do not take payments, and no reminders are sent for them. Convert the pro forma into an invoice first.
• A document with a total of zero is Paid from the moment it is issued.
• A correction with nothing to pay has no due date of its own. Its payments and reminders are handled on the corrected invoice.

The screen

📷 Screenshot to add: an issued, partially paid invoice — the status card with Mark paid, and the Summary card listing the payments

The status card at the top of the invoice page shows:

• the status;
• the amount;
• Paid and Left to pay, once something is paid;
• one line with a date: Due:, Overdue since, or the date of the final payment;
• Mark paid until the invoice is paid, or Record refund when there is an overpayment.

The Summary card lists every payment with its date and amount: payments, prepayments carried from orders and refunds. Each entry has a pencil (Edit) and a bin (Delete). Below the list are Paid and Left to pay, or the amount to refund to the buyer.

The Payment card shows the Issue date, the Sale date, the Payment method and, on a paid invoice, Paid on.

In the page header, Send reminder appears once the due date has passed and something is still left to pay.

Common tasks

Record a payment

1. Open the invoice and click Mark paid. The Record payment dialog shows the amount remaining to pay and fills Payment amount with it.
2. For a part payment, type the amount received. Remaining puts the full remaining amount back.
3. Set the Payment date. It cannot be later than today.
4. Click Save payment.

If the invoice already has payments, the dialog lists them under Payments so far with the Total paid.

If nothing is left to pay, for example because prepayments from the orders cover the whole amount, Mark paid marks the invoice as Paid without adding a payment.

Correct or remove a payment

1. On the invoice page, find the payment in the Summary card.
2. To change it, click the pencil. Adjust the amount or the date in Edit payment and click Save payment.
3. To remove it, click the bin and confirm Delete payment?

The status is worked out again after each change. Removing all payments from a paid invoice returns it to Issued or Overdue. Payments on a cancelled invoice cannot be changed.

Record a refund

Use this after a correction lowered an invoice that was already paid, once you have returned the money.

1. Open the invoice and click Record refund. The dialog shows how much is to be refunded to the buyer.
2. Type the Refund amount. It cannot be more than the overpayment.
3. Set the Refund date and, if you like, a Note, for example the transfer reference.
4. Click Save refund.

The refund appears in the payment history and reduces the payments of the invoice and its corrections. To remove a refund recorded by mistake, click its bin and confirm.

Send a payment reminder

1. Open an invoice whose due date has passed and that is not fully paid. Click Send reminder.
2. Check the Recipient email address. If the buyer has no address saved, type one. It is saved on the invoice.
3. Click Send reminder.

The customer receives a message in the seller's name with the amount still due and the invoice PDF attached. After a reminder, the button counts down and becomes available again after 24 hours. The dialog shows Last sent: with the time of the previous reminder.

Free an invoice for reverting or deleting

An invoice with a recorded payment cannot be reverted to draft, cancelled or deleted. If the payment was recorded by mistake:

1. Delete the payment. See Correct or remove a payment.
2. Revert, cancel or delete the invoice.

When it doesn't work

What you see	Why	What to do
Mark paid is missing	The document is a draft, a pro forma, cancelled or already Paid, or you lack the Finance: mark as paid permission.	Issue the draft, or convert the pro forma.
The amount exceeds the outstanding balance (…). Overpayments are not supported.	The amount is larger than what is left to pay. Save payment stays disabled.	Type the remaining amount or less.
A message that the payment exceeds the amount still due	Someone recorded another payment in the meantime.	Refresh the invoice and check the payments.
Convert the proforma to an invoice first.	Payments cannot be recorded on a pro forma.	Convert it, then record the payment on the invoice.
Send reminder is missing	The invoice is paid, cancelled, a draft or a pro forma, or its due date has not passed yet.	Wait for the due date. No reminder is sent for the other documents.
A message that the correction does not add an amount to pay	You tried to send a reminder from a correction.	Send the reminder from the corrected invoice named in the message.
Send reminder is greyed out with a countdown	A reminder was sent within the last 24 hours.	Wait for the countdown to end.
A message that the refund exceeds the overpayment	The refund amount is larger than what is to be refunded.	Type a smaller amount.
The invoice has a recorded payment. Delete the payment first.	You tried to revert or delete an invoice that has a payment.	Delete the payment in the Summary card first.
A message that it is not known whether the reminder arrived	The mail server did not confirm the send.	Check with the customer, or send again after the countdown.

Permissions

To do this	You need
See payments on an invoice	Finance: View
Record, edit and delete payments and refunds	Finance: mark as paid
Send reminders	Finance: send email

Related

• Invoicing — the list, issuing and sending invoices
• The invoice & money — the amount due and how it is calculated
• Corrections & cancellation — changing an invoice after it is issued
• Payments on orders — the payment status of the order itself