# Record a Payment

Recording a payment from the invoice is the quick path: the allocation is filled in for you and the invoice closes itself.

It is the right route whenever one payment settles one invoice, which is most of the time.

![The Associated Documents panel on an invoice, with a Payments tab showing one payment: dated 03/09/2026, numbered PAY-00019, mode Cheque, reference RCPT-20148, amount 17,176.08 pounds.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/invoices/invoice-payments-section.png)

*Payments recorded against an invoice are listed here, each linking to the payment record itself.*

## From the invoice

- **Open the invoice and choose Record Payment**

  The amount defaults to the outstanding balance and the allocation is filled in against this invoice.
- **Set the date money arrived**

  Not the date you are typing it in. Cash-basis reporting and your bank reconciliation both use this date.
- **Choose the deposit account**

  Which bank or cash account the money landed in. This is what your reconciliation will match against.
- **Adjust the amount if it was partial**

  The balance stays open and the invoice stays unpaid until it is settled in full.
- **Save**

  An invoice that reaches a zero balance moves to Paid automatically.

> **Tip:**
>
> **One payment across several invoices**
>
> If the customer paid a lump sum covering more than this invoice, do not split it into several payments. Record one payment from Customer Payments and allocate it across all of them, which keeps your bank reconciliation matching a single line.

## Partial payments

Partial payments are normal and need no special handling. The invoice keeps its due date, keeps ageing on the remaining balance, and shows both figures on the list. Record each part as it arrives.

| They paid | Invoice status after | What ages |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The full amount | Paid | Nothing |
| Part of it | Sent, or Overdue if past due | The remaining balance only |
| More than the amount | Paid | Nothing. The excess becomes unapplied credit. |
| Nothing yet | Sent, or Overdue | The whole amount |

## Applying a credit instead

If the customer has an unapplied credit note or an advance balance, apply that rather than recording a payment. No money moved, so recording one would overstate your cash. The invoice offers whatever is available on the customer when you open it.

- **Credit note** reduces what they owe because value was reversed.
- **Advance** reduces what they owe because they already paid you.
- **Payment** is for money arriving now.
- All three can be combined on one invoice until the balance reaches zero.