Payment link in Quickbooks Desktop

Let me provide you with the process, CH79.

QuickBooks Desktop is unable to generate a payment link. No worries, though. I will show you how to get around your concern.

First, you'll have to set up an account and item for upfront retainers. It lets you deposit the money without creating an invoice. Next, you can record the deposit by entering a sales receipt. From there, you can let the customer pay through a credit card. Then, create the invoice when ready and apply the retainers as credits.
 

You can check this article for the detailed steps: Manage upfront deposits or retainers.

Once done, you can send the online invoice so your customer can pay the remaining balance. 

Feel free to get back to this thread if you have other questions. We'll be right here to help you out. Take care!

I appreciate your prompt response and I'll look into your suggestion.  I'm a little confused though because I received an email a few weeks ago advertising the new payment link button.  And my Quickbooks desktop shows a new payment link button.  Do you mean that the program will not allow me to send a payment link to a customer?  Or that it will not work for a partial payment?  For several years I've been hoping that Quickbooks would resolve the issue of customer deposit payments with a credit card, and I thought that this new payment link option was somewhat of a resolution.

Yes, that's right, CH79.

You can definitely create and share the payment link with your customer to collect the advance payments. Take note that the payments made through the link will show as credits for the customer. Once you issue the invoice, you can simply apply the credit to reduce the total amount due. When you're ready, here’s how you create the payment link:

1. Go to the Customers menu,.
2. Choose Payment Links.
3. Enter the amount and description 
4. Select an existing customer or add a new customer.
5. Enter the customer email
6. Set the appropriate payment method (credit card or ACH).
7. Click Send Payment Link.

After that, QuickBooks sends an email to your customer containing the requested payment details and a Pay button. You’ll receive also a confirmation email. You may copy the auto-generated link and share it using your preferred messaging channel. To know more about how this feature works, you visit this page: Payment Links for QuickBooks Desktop. 

I've also included an article that will help you in managing customer payments for online invoices and in-person sales: Receive and process payments in QBDT.

I'm just a comment away if you have further assistance in dealing with your other tasks. Have a pleasant day ahead.

Thank you so much for the clarification!  So, after the payment link is sent & processed, I can then create an invoice, apply the partial payment, and I should then have a partially paid invoice with an outstanding balance, correct?  If the customer wants to pay the balance with a credit card as well, can I email the invoice to the customer to pay the balance online?  Or do I need to do another payment link and apply it to the balance?  Or can I go into the Receive payments and process it myself?  How to pay out the balance on the invoice is what I need clarification on. 

Also, can I email the payment link to myself and process it for the customer?

Thanks for coming back. Receiving your payments into your company file is a great way to keep your accounts up to date. I'd be happy to help you with this, CH79.

Yes, you are right. In QuickBooks Desktop, whether it's a partial payment or a complete payment both are done by Receiving payment option. If it's a partial payment you'll just need to do this twice when you receive the second part of the payment. Here's how: 

1. From the QuickBooks Home page or the Customers menu, select Receive Payment.
2. In the Received From the drop-down, select the customer's name.
3. Enter the Amount received.
4. Make sure the date is correct, then choose the Payment method.
5. Select the invoice or invoices you'd like to pay.
6. To add a discount or credit, select Discounts and Credits.
7. Select Save & Close.

If you need to email the invoice to the customer to pay the balance online, you'll need to create an invoice with the amount they need to pay. Just follow the steps and details in the Send online invoices in the QuickBooks Desktop article. Then, go to Step 3: Send an online invoice section. 

You can also create a payment item and add it to the invoice. This will act as a partial payment which reduces the amount due, and this is visible to the invoice before sending it to the customer. Let me show you how:

1. From the Lists menu, choose Item List.
2. Right-click anywhere and select New.
3. In the TYPE drop-down lists, select Payment.
4. Enter the name of the item and select a payment method.
5. Click OK.

On the other hand, the payment link needs to be sent directly to your customer for you to collect payments. See the Payment Links for QuickBooks Desktop article for more details. Feel free to visit our Sales and customers page for more insights about managing your company's income and customers.

You can always update us on the result after performing the steps as I'd like to ensure this is resolved for you. Just leave a comment below and I'll get back to you. Have a great day.