Manual Receipt
Record a customer payment in real time. Apply it to one or more invoices, or hold it on account. Every receipt posts a journal: DR Bank, CR AR.
A manual receipt is created when you know a payment has been received and want to record it immediately — without waiting for a bank statement import. This is the most common way to record customer payments in businesses that use bank transfers, cash, cheques, or card terminals.
Navigate to: Sales → Payment receipts → New
Form Fields
| Field | Required | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Customer | Yes | Searchable dropdown. Selecting a customer loads their outstanding invoices for allocation. |
| Center/Location | When center filtering is on | The branch the receipt belongs to. |
| Date | Yes | The date the payment was received. Defaults to today. This date is used for the journal entry. |
| Payment Method | Yes | Bank Transfer (default), Cash, Check, Card and Wire Transfer, plus whatever your business has configured as its preferred methods — those are listed first. Recorded for reference; it does not change the journal entry. |
| Receipt Source | Yes | Labelled Receipt Source on this form. Cashflow Account posts directly to a bank or cash account. Uncategorized ties the receipt to a bank line already imported under Finance → Banking. |
| Receipt Account / Select Transaction | Yes | Labelled Receipt Account. With Cashflow Account: your bank and cash accounts. With Uncategorized: the imported bank line; the amount is then fixed from the bank. |
| Amount | Yes | Total amount received in this payment. If the customer paid multiple invoices in one transfer, enter the full transfer amount here and allocate below. |
| Details/Memo | No | Payment reference, bank transaction ID, cheque number, or a brief description. Appears on the journal entry and in the ledger. |
| Attachments | No | Remittance advice or proof of payment. |
Payment Type
Once a customer and an amount are set, choose how to apply the receipt.
Apply to Invoice
The Apply to Invoices table lists the customer's open invoices, statements and opening balances. The toolbar shows Payment, Allocated and what remains, and an Apply oldest first button fills the rows automatically.
| Column | Details |
|---|---|
| Document | The invoice number, with its Outstanding balance beneath and a Pay in full shortcut. |
| Amount | Editable. How much of this receipt to allocate to this document. |
| Tax · Discount | Withholding tax and cash discount taken on this settlement, if any. |
| Gross | Amount + Tax + Discount — what is cleared from the invoice. |
The form validates as you type: an amount above the invoice's outstanding balance is refused ("Amount cannot exceed outstanding balance"), and the allocations can never exceed the receipt amount.
Payment on Account
The full receipt amount is credited to the customer's AR balance without being linked to any specific invoice. The customer's balance decreases, but individual invoices keep their status until the cash is applied.
Use this when:
- The customer paid a round-number amount without specifying which invoice
- The payment is an advance before any invoice exists
- You want cash application to allocate it for you
A receipt posted on account reads Unmatched. Cash application applies it automatically — opening balances first, then the oldest invoice by invoice date — but a receipt that cannot be applied (no open invoice, a different currency, a different center) stays Unmatched, and its invoices keep showing as unpaid. Before period close, check the customer page: Unapplied payments names the amount, and the Collections table lists every Unmatched or Partly matched receipt. Open one and click Match Invoices to allocate it yourself.
Saving the Receipt
Click Save to write the journal entry and update invoice statuses. Save as Draft, in the Save menu, saves without posting.
| Account | Debit | Credit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank Account | 8,500 | — | Payment received — deposited to operating account |
| Accounts Receivable | — | 8,500 | Customer AR balance reduced — invoice closed or partly paid |
After saving:
- Invoices with full allocation move to Paid
- Invoices with partial allocation move to Partly paid
- The receipt reads Matched, Partly matched or Unmatched according to how much of it names an invoice
- The customer statement immediately reflects the payment
When the customer withheld tax
If the customer deducted withholding tax before paying, enter the withheld amount in the allocation row's Tax column. The invoice is then cleared for the gross figure it was raised for, even though less cash arrived — which is correct, because the withheld portion is a tax credit rather than a shortfall.
| Account | Debit | Credit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank Account | 9,500 | — | The cash that actually arrived |
| Withholding Tax Receivable | 500 | — | The tax the customer remitted on your behalf |
| Accounts Receivable | — | 10,000 | The invoice is cleared in full — nothing is left owing |
When you gave an early-settlement discount
A Discount on the allocation row is a concession for paying early. Unlike a discount on an invoice line, it does reach your profit and loss:
| Account | Debit | Credit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank Account | 9,800 | — | The cash received |
| Discount Allowed | 200 | — | The cost of the early-settlement concession |
| Accounts Receivable | — | 10,000 | The invoice is cleared in full |
Invoices is a pill, not a permanent section. You can save a receipt with nothing allocated — it posts the same journal and waits as Unmatched until it is applied, by you or by the automatic matcher.
Related
- Deciding what the receipt pays: Matching a receipt to invoices and Receipt matching rules.
- Starting from the bank statement instead: Bank-led receipt.
- What the receipt page shows once posted: The document page.
- Finding receipts that are still unapplied: Tracking sales documents.