Record a payment on an invoice
To record a payment you collected outside the app (for example a check or cash), open the invoice and choose Record Payment from the ... menu. This is available while the invoice is in Draft, Unpaid, Overdue, or Partially Paid, and only when there are no unsaved changes.
Payment methods refresh each time you open the window. Wait for them to load before recording a payment so you use the business’s current choices and required fields. If they cannot load, choose Retry payment methods.
In the Record Payment window, enter the amount to record, set the payment date, pick a Payment method from your business’s configured choices, fill in its reference field if shown, optionally add Attachments and Internal Notes, then confirm. Recording the full remaining balance moves the invoice to Paid; recording less than the remaining balance leaves it partially paid, or Overdue if the invoice is past due. If an automatic late fee has been added, the remaining balance includes it, and payments settle the original invoice amount first and the fee last (see Automatic late fees on overdue invoices). The mobile app always records the full remaining balance — there's no way to enter a partial amount from a phone; use the web app for a partial payment.
If the selected payment method has multiple mapped GL accounts, choose the required GL account that received the money. If it has one mapped account, that account is shown and used automatically. The selected account is saved with the payment and is not changed by later settings edits. GL account details are internal and do not appear on customer receipts. These choices also apply in the current technician app.
To enter several manual payments in one go — for example when a single check covers multiple invoices — select the invoices on the Invoices page and use Bulk Actions instead. See Bulk actions on invoices.
Admins can customize manual payment methods, including requiring a field such as Check #. Required fields show an asterisk and must be filled in before saving. The invoice’s payment details retain the method name and reference after it is recorded. The reference also appears in Invoice payments and Payment speed reports, their CSV exports, and built-in receipts.
Internal Notes stay in staff payment history, internal reports, and accounting memos. They are not shown on customer receipts or invoices, including custom templates. Enter a check number or other customer-visible reference in the payment method's field instead.
Setting the payment date
The payment date is the day the money actually reached you — the date on the check deposit or the bank statement, not the day you got around to entering it. It defaults to today, and you can back-date it to any past day. Future dates aren't accepted. The payment date may be earlier than the invoice date — for example, a check handed over on site for an invoice you wrote up the next day; the window points this out under the date so you can double-check it, and the payment is recorded on the day you picked. A draft that has no invoice date yet takes the payment date as its invoice date.
Use it whenever you're catching up on payments received earlier in the week or month. The payment card on the invoice shows the date you chose. If you have QuickBooks connected, that date is the date Essential books the payment on in QuickBooks, so a back-dated payment lands on the day your bank shows it instead of the day you recorded it. Payments recorded from the mobile app are dated the day they're recorded.
Journal entries that have already posted to QuickBooks aren't changed if you later notice the date was wrong — correct those in QuickBooks directly.
Where to find it: On the open invoice, the ... menu, Record Payment
The saved payment reference (such as Check #: 1042) and payment notes are included in the payment journal-entry memos sent to QuickBooks. Very long memos are shortened to fit QuickBooks’ field limits; the full reference and notes remain in Essential.
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