Recording Payments

Overview

When customers pay you by check, cash, Venmo, or bank transfer, use the Receive Payment page to record those payments in BlueClerk. You can apply a single payment across multiple unpaid invoices from the same customer, saving time and keeping your books accurate. Payments automatically sync to QuickBooks, Xero, or FreshBooks if you have accounting integrations enabled.

NEW: Automatic Payment Receipts - When you record a payment, BlueClerk automatically sends a professional payment receipt email to your customer showing the amount paid, payment method, date, and invoice details. Receipts include a "View Invoice & Receipt" button that takes customers to a portal page where they can see all their invoices, payment history, and download receipt PDFs for their records.

IMPORTANT: Draft Invoice Auto-Promotion - Recording a payment on a DRAFT invoice automatically changes its status to SENT. This ensures the invoice and payment are both visible in your accounting software. Without this, DRAFT invoices never sync to QuickBooks/Xero/FreshBooks, leaving payments orphaned in BlueClerk with no corresponding invoice in your books.

How It Works

Accessing Receive Payment

1. Click "Finance" in the sidebar
2. Select "Receive Payment" from the flyout menu
3. You'll see all unpaid invoices across your customers

Recording a Batch Payment

1. Select a customer from the dropdown
2. Choose payment method (Check, Cash, Venmo, Bank Transfer, Credit Card)
3. Enter payment amount
4. Check the invoices to apply payment to
5. Add reference number (check number, transaction ID, etc.) - optional
6. Click "Record Payment"

What Happens Next

• Payment is recorded in BlueClerk
• Invoice balances update automatically
• Customer receives receipt email with payment details and portal link
• Payment syncs to QuickBooks/Xero/FreshBooks if connected
• Receipt is logged in the invoice's email history panel
• Invoice status updates to Paid or Partially Paid

Customer Receipt Portal

What Customers See

When customers click "View Invoice & Receipt" in their receipt email:

• All invoices from your company with amounts and status
• Payment history for each invoice including date, amount, method
• Download receipt button for each payment
• Invoice totals showing paid vs. outstanding amounts
• Your company branding including logo and contact info

This gives customers a complete record of their billing and payment history without needing to log into BlueClerk.

Payment Allocation

How BlueClerk Applies Payments

When you record a payment:

1. You select which invoices to apply the payment to
2. Payment is split proportionally if amount doesn't cover all invoices
3. Overpayments create credit that can be applied to future invoices
4. Partial payments update invoice status to "Partially Paid"

Example

Customer owes $500 on Invoice A and $300 on Invoice B. They pay $600:

• You select both invoices
• $500 applied to Invoice A (marked Paid)
• $100 applied to Invoice B (marked Partially Paid, $200 remaining)

Payment Methods

Check

• Add check number in the reference field
• Record date received, not check date
• Note any holds or processing delays

Cash

• No reference needed unless you use internal tracking codes
• Record immediately when received

Venmo

• Add Venmo transaction ID in reference field
• Confirm receipt in your Venmo account before recording
• Note: Venmo auto-confirm - If a customer marks an invoice as paid via Venmo and you don't confirm or dispute within 48 hours, the payment is auto-confirmed

Bank Transfer / ACH

• Add transaction or confirmation number in reference field
• Wait for funds to clear before recording

Credit Card (Manual Entry)

• Use for offline card transactions or phone payments
• Add last 4 digits in reference field
• Note: Online card payments via Stripe/Square are recorded automatically

Accounting Sync

QuickBooks

• Payment creates a Receive Payment transaction in QuickBooks
• Applied to the same invoices you selected in BlueClerk
• Uses your default deposit account configured in integration settings

Xero

• Payment creates a Payment record in Xero
• Applied to matching invoices by invoice number
• Uses your default bank account from integration settings

FreshBooks

• Payment creates a Payment entry in FreshBooks
• Links to invoices by invoice number
• Uses your default payment method mapping

Tips

Best Practices

• Record payments same day - Don't wait until month-end
• Always add a reference - Makes it easier to track down issues later
• Verify amounts - Double-check totals before clicking Record
• Reconcile regularly - Compare BlueClerk to your bank statements weekly

Troubleshooting

Payment not syncing to QuickBooks?

• Check your integration connection in Settings > Integrations
• Verify the customer exists in QuickBooks
• Make sure the invoice was synced before recording payment

Customer didn't receive receipt email?

• Check their email address is correct in their customer profile
• Look in the invoice's email history panel to confirm send status
• Check their spam folder

Applied to wrong invoice?

• Delete the payment and record a new one
• Or contact support to help you reallocate

Questions

Q: Can I record a payment for multiple customers at once? A: No, each payment must be for a single customer. If you receive one check covering multiple customers, deposit it and record separate payments for each customer.

Q: What if the customer overpays? A: The overpayment creates a credit on their account that you can apply to future invoices manually. BlueClerk doesn't automatically apply credits yet.

Q: Do receipt emails cost AI credits? A: No, payment receipt emails are free and don't consume any AI credits from your monthly allocation.

Q: Can customers reply to receipt emails? A: Yes, receipt emails are sent from a reply-trackable address. Replies thread back to the invoice conversation in BlueClerk.

Q: What if I need to void or refund a payment? A: Delete the payment in BlueClerk, then handle the refund through your bank/processor. Deleted payments will remove the corresponding transaction in your accounting software on the next sync.