Two ways to record a payment
From the invoice
Fastest when you know which invoice the money is for.1
Open the invoice
From Sales → Invoices.
2
Choose Record payment
The amount defaults to the full outstanding balance.
3
Enter the details
4
Submit
The invoice status updates automatically to Partially paid or Paid.
From the Payments section
Better when one payment covers several invoices, or you are working through a bank statement.1
Open Payments and choose New payment
From the Invoicing sidebar.
2
Select the customer or vendor
Their outstanding documents are listed.
3
Enter the payment details
Amount, method, date, reference.
4
Allocate it
Tick the invoices this payment settles. You can split one payment across several, in full or
in part.
5
Save
Every allocated invoice updates its status.
Always record the reference
Part payments
1
Record what actually arrived
Not the invoice total. Record K3,000 against a K10,000 invoice if that is what came in.
2
The invoice becomes Partially paid
The remaining balance stays outstanding and continues to age.
3
Record subsequent payments the same way
Each one reduces the balance further.
4
It becomes Paid when the balance reaches zero
Automatically.
Overpayments
If a customer pays more than the invoice:
Do not simply record the invoice as paid and ignore the difference. The money is real and will be
asked about.
Payments to vendors
The same process in reverse. Record what you paid, against which vendor bill, with the reference. This is what makes your vendor statements and your cash position accurate — and if the payment is subject to withholding tax, recording it properly is what puts it on your monthly return.Voiding a payment
If you recorded a payment in error — wrong amount, wrong invoice, wrong customer:1
Open the payment
From Payments.
2
Choose Void
Give a reason.
3
The allocation reverses
Affected invoices return to their previous status.
4
Record it correctly
The voided payment stays visible in the audit trail. It is not deleted.
Reconciling against your bank
A weekly discipline worth keeping:1
Open your bank statement and your payments list
For the same period.
2
Match by reference
Each receipt on the statement should have a matching payment recorded.
3
Investigate anything on the statement but not in Bumara
Usually a payment nobody recorded. Find which invoice it belongs to.
4
Investigate anything in Bumara but not on the statement
Usually a cheque that has not cleared, or a payment recorded optimistically.
5
Fix the differences
Record what is missing; void what should not be there.
Cheques
Record a cheque as a payment when you receive it, but be aware it is not money until it clears. If a cheque bounces, void the payment — the invoice returns to outstanding, which is the truth.Practical habits
- Record daily. Not weekly, and certainly not at month end.
- Reference every payment. Without exception.
- Use the date the money arrived. Not the date you are entering it.
- Allocate immediately. An unallocated payment helps nobody.
- Reconcile weekly. Small differences found early are easy; three months of them are not.
Related: Reports and statements for the aging report and
chasing what is overdue.