💳 What is the Payments Module?
The Payments module in Billing is used to record partial or full payments received against an invoice. It helps you track outstanding dues, manage transaction fees, and maintain a clean audit trail for every client payment. Multiple partial payments per invoice are fully supported.
Once a payment is saved:
- The invoice’s payment status is recalculated automatically (Unpaid → Partial → Paid).
- Client and Project Statements are updated.
- If Payment Mode is Cash, the Petty Cash Statement is updated.
- If Transaction Fees are borne by We (Company), a Bank Charges expense entry is auto-created.
🧾 Real-World Use
Your company raised an invoice of ₹50,000 for a client. The client pays ₹20,000 today via bank transfer. The bank deducts ₹200 as a transaction fee. You log this payment — specifying whether the ₹200 is borne by the client or by your company — and the remaining ₹30,000 outstanding is tracked automatically. You repeat the process when the next payment arrives.
🛠️ Where to Open the Module
📍 Screen: Billing → Payments → click Add (top-right). The Add Payment aside opens on the right.
🗂️ Payment Form — Sections & Fields
The form is divided into four sections — fill them top to bottom.
📄 Invoice Summary
These fields identify which invoice this payment is being applied to. Most are auto-filled once you select the invoice.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Invoice Number (required) | Select the invoice against which payment is being received. Only invoices with an outstanding balance are listed. |
| Invoice Date | Auto-filled from the selected invoice. For reference only; cannot be edited. |
| Client Name | Auto-filled based on the selected invoice. |
| Project Name | Auto-filled based on the selected invoice. Blank for Client Invoices not linked to a project. |
| Total / Invoice Amount | Auto-filled. The total amount billed in the invoice. |
| Unpaid Invoice Amount | Auto-filled. The remaining outstanding balance on this invoice after all prior payments and credit notes. |
💰 Payment Details
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Current Payment (required) | The amount being received in this payment transaction. |
| Transaction Fees (required) | Any processing fee charged by the payment gateway or bank for this transaction. Enter 0 if none applies. |
| Transaction Fees Borne by? (required) | A radio button: select Client or We (your company). This determines how the fee is accounted for — see the “Borne by” explanation below. |
🏦 Recipient Bank Details
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Received Date (required) | The actual date on which the money was received. Cannot be a future date. |
| Rate In INR (foreign currency invoices only) | The conversion rate to ₹ applicable on the date of receipt. Appears only when the invoice is in a foreign currency. Use the official CBIC exchange rate portal to find the applicable rate. |
| Credit In INR (foreign currency invoices only) | Auto-calculated in ₹ based on the Current Payment and Rate In INR. Read-only — the system fills this for you. |
| Receiving Bank Charges (required) | Any charges levied by your receiving bank (in ₹). Enter 0 if none. These are auto-posted as a Bank Charges expense entry. |
| Receiving Bank GST (required) | GST applicable on the receiving bank charges (in ₹). Enter 0 if none. |
| Payment Mode | The channel used to receive payment — for example, Bank Transfer, UPI, Cash, Cheque. The available options are configured in Settings → Dropdown Settings. |
| Payment Reference Number (required) | UTR number, transaction ID, or cheque number that uniquely identifies this payment. |
📝 Notes & Attachments
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Notes | Internal remarks or clarifications about this payment (optional). |
| Attachments | Upload payment proof such as bank advice, UPI screenshot, or cheque image (JPG, PNG, PDF accepted; optional). |
💱 “Transaction Fees Borne by” — What Changes
This field controls how the transaction fee is treated in your books. The label can feel counter-intuitive — read the table carefully.
| Borne by | Credit applied to invoice | What happens to the fee |
|---|---|---|
| Client | Current Payment minus Transaction Fees (fee reduces the credit applied) | No additional entry — the client effectively absorbs the fee |
| We (Company) | Current Payment in full (no deduction) | A Bank Charges expense entry equal to the fee is created automatically |
💡 Example
- Invoice outstanding: ₹10,000. Current Payment: ₹10,000. Transaction Fees: ₹200.
- Client bears fee: ₹9,800 is credited to the invoice. ₹200 balance remains outstanding.
- We bear fee: ₹10,000 is credited (invoice fully settled). A Bank Charges expense of ₹200 is auto-created in your books.
🌐 Multi-Currency Payments
If the invoice is in a foreign currency (for example, USD or EUR), two additional fields appear in the Recipient Bank Details section:
- Rate In INR — enter the exchange rate applicable on the date of receipt. Refer to the official CBIC exchange rate portal for the correct rate.
- Credit In INR — auto-calculated ₹ equivalent; this is the value that flows into your INR accounts and reports.
📌 Important: The INR conversion is calculated at the time of saving the payment and is frozen. Reports never re-convert historical payments at a later rate. This keeps your accounting compliant with Ind AS 21 / AS-11 requirements.
Forex Gain / Loss arising from the difference between the invoice rate and the payment rate is realized and recorded automatically when you save the payment. It appears on the PnL Report — Forex Gain on the income side, Forex Loss on the expense side.
✅ How to Add a Payment
- Go to Billing → Payments and click Add (top-right).
- Select the Invoice Number — the summary fields auto-fill.
- Enter the Current Payment amount and Transaction Fees.
- Choose who bears the fee: Client or We.
- Set the Received Date, Payment Mode, and Payment Reference Number.
- If applicable, fill in Rate In INR (foreign currency invoices) and Receiving Bank Charges / GST.
- Optionally add Notes and attach proof documents.
- Click Save — the payment is recorded and the invoice balance updates instantly.
💡 Tips
- Always check the Unpaid Invoice Amount field before entering Current Payment to avoid exceeding the outstanding balance.
- Attach proof using the Attachments field (UPI screenshot, bank advice) for a clean audit trail.
- For partial payments, repeat this process every time a new payment arrives against the same invoice.
- Payment Mode options are managed in Settings → Dropdown Settings — ask your administrator to add modes if you need new ones.
📂 Tabs Inside a Payment Record
📍 Screen: Open any payment from Billing → Payments. Across the top of the aside panel you will see tabs — click a tab to switch the view.
- Details — view or edit all payment fields and the financial summary.
- Attachments — files uploaded against this payment record.
- Logs — the complete change history showing every edit, who made it, and when (in
dd-MMM-yyyy HH:mmformat).
✏️ Edit a Payment
📍 Screen: Billing → Payments → click on the payment row to open it → click Edit (top-right of the aside header).
- Open the payment record you want to edit.
- Click Edit — the form becomes editable.
- Update the relevant fields.
- Click Update to save changes.
⚠️ Edit restrictions: When editing an existing payment, the Invoice Number, Current Payment, Transaction Fees, and Transaction Fees Borne by fields are locked. Only bank details, date, payment mode, reference, notes, and attachments can be changed after save.
Changes are reflected in the invoice balance, Client and Project Statements, and Petty Cash (if Payment Mode is Cash).
🗑️ Delete a Payment
📍 Screen: Open the payment record → scroll to the footer of the Details tab → click Delete.
- Open the payment record you want to remove.
- Click the Delete button in the form footer — a confirmation pop-up appears.
- Confirm deletion. The payment is removed and the invoice balance adjusts automatically.
⚠️ Key Notes on Deletion
- Deleted payments are permanent and cannot be recovered.
- Always double-check the reference number and amount before deleting.
- If a Bank Charges expense was auto-created when this payment was saved (because fees were borne by We), that expense entry will remain in your books — remove it separately from Billing → Expenses if needed.
📌 Behaviour After Saving a Payment
- Invoice payment status recalculates: Unpaid → Partial → Paid.
- Client Statement and Project Statement are updated.
- Petty Cash Statement updates if Payment Mode is Cash.
- If “Borne by” = We, a Bank Charges expense entry is auto-created in your books.
- For foreign-currency invoices, the INR credit is frozen at the rate entered — it will not change if rates fluctuate later.
- Forex Gain or Forex Loss (if any) is realized and posted to the PnL Report.
📌 Key Points to Remember
- Partial payments are fully supported — log each payment as it arrives; the system tracks cumulative totals.
- Multiple payments per invoice — there is no limit to the number of payment records against one invoice.
- Transaction Fees and “Borne by” are both mandatory — enter 0 for fees if no fee was charged.
- Payment Mode options are configured by your administrator in Settings → Dropdown Settings, so they reflect your company’s actual payment channels.
- Cancel Instead of Delete: Payments do not have a cancel option; deletion is permanent. If you need to reverse a payment, delete it and re-enter the correct one.
💡 Tips
- Always double-check the Payment Reference Number before saving — it is used for audit reconciliation.
- Use the Attachments field to upload UPI screenshots or bank advice for every payment — this is invaluable during audits.
- For foreign-currency invoices, look up the correct rate on the CBIC exchange rate portal before entering the Rate In INR.
- For the full invoice life-cycle, see the Invoice Guide.
- To issue a credit adjustment instead of recording a cash payment, see the Credit Note Guide.