Help Center / Invoicing and payments /
Recording a manual payment
When a client pays outside of your connected payment processor (by bank transfer, check, cash, or any other method), you can record that payment manually on the invoice. This updates the invoice status, creates a transaction record, and optionally sends a receipt.
How to record a manual payment
- Open the invoice you want to mark as paid.
- Click Record payment in the toolbar.
- Fill in the payment details:
- Amount: the amount received. It defaults to the remaining balance. You can enter a smaller amount for a partial payment.
- Payment method (optional): select how the client paid. Options are Check, Cash, Debit, Credit, Wire transfer, PayPal, Stripe, Square, and Bank.
- Payment date: when the payment was received. Defaults to today. You can pick any date between the invoice issue date and today.
- Note (optional): a short description of the payment, like a reference number or additional context.
- Send receipt: toggle this on to email the client a receipt for this payment.
- Click Record payment to confirm.
What happens when you record a payment
- A transaction is created automatically and linked to the invoice. You'll see it on the Transactions page.
- A receipt is generated for this payment. The receipt number follows the format R-[invoice number]-[payment number] (for example, R-INV-001-1 for the first payment).
- If the amount covers the full remaining balance, the invoice status changes to Paid.
- If the amount is less than the remaining balance, it's recorded as a partial payment. The invoice stays at its current status (or moves to Pending if it was in Draft).
- If you toggled Send receipt on, the client receives a receipt email.
Partial payments
You can record multiple payments on a single invoice. Each payment creates its own transaction and receipt. The invoice tracks the total amount paid and shows a breakdown of all payments.
For example, on a $1,000 invoice:
- Record a $500 payment. The invoice shows $500 paid, $500 remaining.
- Record another $500 payment. The invoice moves to Paid.
The amount field won't let you enter more than the remaining balance.
When you can record a payment
You can record a payment on any invoice that isn't already fully paid, cancelled, or refunded. The Record payment button appears in the toolbar for invoices with the following statuses: Draft, Pending, and Overdue.
You'll need the Edit permission on invoices to record payments.
