Record invoice payments in QuickBooks

Learn how to receive and record invoice payments in QuickBooks Online.

Note: This article is for customers using QuickBooks Online (Advanced, Essentials, Plus, and Simple Start) and Sole Trader.

In QuickBooks Online, you can record sales transactions in two ways. If your customer paid for the product or service at the time of the sale, you can create a sales receipt, which completes the transaction and records it in your books.

But if your customer plans to pay you in the future, you can create and send them an invoice. When the customer makes a payment on the invoice, you need to record the payment in QuickBooks. This connects the payment transaction to the original invoice so your accounts stay balanced. Here's how to record invoice payments.

Record invoice payments

After you process a payment from a customer, you need to record it in QuickBooks so the invoice is marked as paid. Otherwise, the invoice stays open and remains unpaid on your reports. You can record the full or partial payment on an invoice. Here’s how:

Record payments in QuickBooks Sole Trader

1. Go to Get paid and select Invoices (Take me there).
2. Find the unpaid invoice and select Record payment.
3. From the Deposited to dropdown, select the account you put the payment into.
4. In the Amount field, enter the amount your customer paid. This can be the full or partial payment.
5. In the Payment date field, select the date your customer paid you.
6. Select Save.

Record payment for a single invoice

1. Select + New.
2. Select Receive payment.
3. From the Customer dropdown, select the name of the customer.
4. From the Payment method dropdown, select the payment method.
5. From the Deposit to dropdown, select the account you put the payment into. Tip: You can put the money directly into an account, like your current account, or select Undeposited Funds if you need to group the payment with others. 
6. In the Outstanding Transactions section, select the checkbox for the invoice you're recording the payment on.
7. Enter the Reference no. and Memo if needed. This is optional.
8. When you're done, select Save and close.

Note: There are several options for saving and sharing the payment receipt. If you would like to send a payment receipt to your customer, select ▼ Save and send. It is not possible to customise your payment receipt.

Record partial payment for an invoice

Record payments even if you were only paid part of what's owed. QuickBooks keeps track of the remaining invoice balance:

1. Select + New.
2. Select Receive payment.
3. From the Customer dropdown, select the name of the customer.
4. From the Payment method dropdown, select the payment method.
5. From the Deposit to dropdown, select the account you put the payment into. Tip: You can put the money directly into an account, like your current account, or select Undeposited Funds if you need to group the payment with others.
6. In the Amount received field, enter the amount your customer paid.
7. In the Outstanding Transactions section, select the checkbox for the invoice you're recording the payment on.
8. Enter the Reference no. and Memo if needed. This is optional.
9. When you're done, select Save and close.

To see the remaining balance for the customer:

1. Go to Reports (Take me there).
2. Find and open the Customer Balance Summary report.
3. Select Run report.
4. Review the customer's open balance in the Total column.

Note: When you record partial payments, QuickBooks applies the payment to the invoice line items in order. Additional payments apply to the next line items until the payment is complete.

Group multiple payments together into a single deposit

If you make a bank deposit with several cheques in a single deposit, use the Undeposited Funds account to record the payments in QuickBooks. This lets you group multiple payments into one deposit transaction in QuickBooks. Only do this if your bank recorded multiple payments as a single deposit.

We're here to help
If you have questions about invoices or need help creating, customising or importing them, let us know. Sign in to QuickBooks start a discussion with a qualified QuickBooks expert in our community.