Record invoice payments and refunds

A payment records money a customer paid against an issued invoice. Customers can pay by card online, and payments made any other way are recorded by hand. Each one changes what is still owed.

Card payments online

When Stripe is connected and ready on the team's Payments page and Card payments is on in Invoicing settings, an issued invoice's email has a Pay online button, and its Client Portal page has one too. The link opens a page where the customer sees the invoice and its balance, can view the PDF, and pays the balance by card through Stripe. They do not need a Magpie account. The money goes to the team's Stripe account. Magpie takes no fee; Stripe's processing fee applies.

A card payment is recorded on the invoice automatically, with the method Online payment. The invoice page shows the payment link so you can send it another way; anyone with the link can see the invoice and pay it.

A refund made in Stripe is recorded on the invoice automatically. A card payment cannot be removed or have its amount, date or method changed in Magpie, because they follow Stripe; refund it in Stripe instead. Its reference can still be changed. If a customer pays after the balance was already paid another way, the invoice shows that it was overpaid; refund the difference in Stripe.

Record a payment made another way

Open an issued invoice and choose Record payment. The amount starts at the balance due. Change it to record part of the balance. Enter the date the money was received, how it was paid, and an optional reference such as a cheque or transfer number, then choose Record payment.

The amount cannot be more than the balance due, and the date cannot be in the future. If the payment is refused, the form opens again with the reason and what you entered.

After a payment that leaves a balance, the invoice is Partly paid and stays in the Due or Overdue tab. Its page shows the amount received and the balance due. When payments reach the total, the invoice moves to Paid and records the date of the last payment as the date it was paid in full.

The Outstanding and Overdue totals on /invoicing add up balances due, not invoice totals, and the invoice list has a Balance due column.

A payment can also be recorded from a bank transaction in Accounting, under Banking. It is recorded as a bank transfer with the note "Matched to a bank transaction in Accounting." See Keep books with Accounting.

Correct or remove a payment

The Payments section on an invoice lists each payment and refund with its date, method, reference, amount and the person who recorded it. Click a date, amount or reference to change it, or choose a different method. A change that would make payments larger than the invoice total is refused.

Remove takes off a payment recorded by mistake and recalculates the balance. A payment cannot be removed if refunds would then be larger than the payments left; remove or change the refund first.

The invoice Activity section records each payment and refund that was added, changed or removed, and who did it.

Record a refund

Under More actions, choose Record refund to record money returned to the customer. A refund can be up to the amount paid. It reduces the amount paid, so a refunded invoice shows a balance due again. Magpie does not send the refund.

Void an invoice with payments

An invoice with payments cannot be voided, because a void invoice states that nothing is due. Record a refund or remove the payments until the amount paid is zero, then void it.

In the mobile app

Open an issued invoice to see its payments and balance due. Editors can choose Record payment below the payments, choose Record refund from the invoice's action menu, or swipe a payment to remove it.

If a payment is recorded but the balance due is wrong after reloading the invoice, Contact support.