Recording and Tracking
Payments
Learn how to accurately record customer payments, manage credits and refunds, and track the flow of money into your business.
Duration
20 minutes
Category
Billing & Finance
Part 1: Closing the Loop: From Invoice to Paid
In the last module, you learned how to generate and send invoices. The final step in the billing cycle is recording the payment. Accurate payment tracking is essential for maintaining correct customer balances, understanding your cash flow, and ensuring your financial reports are reliable.
📊 Central Payment Management
Upbuoy provides a central place to manage all incoming payments on the Billing > Payments tab.
Part 2: Recording a Manual Payment
Many customers still pay by check or cash. Upbuoy makes it easy to record these offline payments.
📍 Navigate to Record a Payment
You can do this in two ways:
From the Main Payments Page:
Go to Billing > Payments and click the "Record Payment" button.
From a Customer's Profile:
On a customer's Service Rate tab, click the "Record New Payment" button. This will pre-select the customer for you.
📝 The "Record Payment" Form
When you click the "Record Payment" button, a form will appear with the following fields:
👤 Select Customer
If not already selected, choose the customer who made the payment.
📄 Select Invoice (Optional but Recommended)
The dropdown will show all unpaid invoices for that customer.
If you select an invoice:
The payment amount will auto-fill with the invoice's balance due.
If you leave it blank:
The payment will be recorded as a general credit on the customer's account. This is useful for customers who pre-pay for services.
💰 Payment Amount
Enter the exact amount received.
📅 Payment Date
The date the payment was received.
💳 Payment Method
Choose from "Cash," "Check," or "Other."
📝 Reference / Memo
For checks, enter the check number here. For other payments, you can add a note (e.g., "Zelle transfer," "Venmo payment").
✅ Click "Record Payment"
The payment is now logged in the system.
If applied to an invoice:
The invoice's balance is reduced. If the payment covers the full balance, the invoice status automatically changes to "Paid".
If not applied to an invoice:
The amount is added to the customer's Available Credit balance.
Part 3: Managing Online Payments (Stripe)
When you connect your Stripe account (as covered in Module 16), payments become even easier.
🌐 Customer Portal Payments
When a customer pays an invoice online through their portal, the payment is automatically recorded in Upbuoy.You don't have to do anything. The invoice status updates to "Paid," and the payment appears in your transaction list.
🤖 AutoPay
For customers on AutoPay, the system will automatically charge their saved payment method on the invoice due date. The payment is recorded, and the invoice is marked as paid automatically.
🔗 Stripe Integration
via Stripe's webhook system
Upbuoy uses Stripe webhooks to listen for events. When a payment succeeds (or fails) in Stripe, Stripe sends a notification to Upbuoy, which then updates the payment and invoice status in your account. This ensures your records are always in sync.
Part 4: Managing Customer Credit
Sometimes a customer might overpay or you might issue a credit as a courtesy. You can manage this from the customer's profile.
📍 Accessing Credit Management
Navigate to the customer's profile and go to the "Service Rate" tab.
Find the "Available Credit" card and click "Manage Credit".
This opens the credit management interface.
⚙️ Credit Management Options
➕ Add Credit
Manually add an amount to their credit balance (e.g., for a referral bonus).
➖ Deduct Credit
Use their available credit to pay down an outstanding balance or for any other reason.
📝 Reason
It's crucial to add a reason for every adjustment to maintain a clear audit trail.
💡 How Credit is Used
When you generate a new invoice for a customer with available credit, you will have the option to apply that credit to the invoice, reducing the amount they owe.
Part 5: Handling Refunds
Refunds are processed directly from the payment's detail page.
🔄 Refund Process
Navigate to Billing > Payments.
Find and click on the payment you need to refund. This takes you to its detail page (/billing/payments/[id]).
Click the "Refund" button.
A dialog will appear where you can enter:
Refund Amount:
You can issue a full or partial refund.
Reason:
A reason is required for your records.
Process Refund:
For Stripe payments:
This action will trigger a refund directly through the Stripe API.
For manual payments:
This will create a record of the refund and adjust the customer's credit balance accordingly.
Key Takeaways
Recording all payments, whether online or offline, is crucial for accurate bookkeeping.
Always apply payments to a specific invoice when possible to keep your accounts receivable clean.
Use the Customer Credit feature for pre-payments, overpayments, or courtesy credits.
Stripe integration automates the payment recording process, saving you significant time and reducing manual errors.
Next Steps
You have now mastered the core financial workflow of Upbuoy, from quoting to getting paid. Next, we'll explore the powerful communication tools that help you keep your customers informed and happy.
Ready to learn about communication?
Proceed to Module 20: Sending Email Broadcasts