> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bumara.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Recording payments

> Logging money received and paid, allocating it to invoices, and dealing with part payments and overpayments.

Recording payments is what keeps your outstanding figure honest. An invoice paid but not recorded
shows as overdue, and you chase a customer who has already paid — which costs you more than the
five minutes recording it would have taken.

## Two ways to record a payment

### From the invoice

Fastest when you know which invoice the money is for.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the invoice">
    From Sales → Invoices.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose Record payment">
    The amount defaults to the full outstanding balance.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter the details">
    | Field         | Notes                                                                |
    | ------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
    | **Amount**    | Change it if this is a part payment                                  |
    | **Method**    | Cash, bank transfer, mobile money, cheque or card                    |
    | **Date**      | When the money arrived, not when you are recording it                |
    | **Reference** | The bank reference, mobile money ID, cheque number or receipt number |
  </Step>

  <Step title="Submit">
    The invoice status updates automatically to Partially paid or Paid.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### From the Payments section

Better when one payment covers several invoices, or you are working through a bank statement.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Payments and choose New payment">
    From the Invoicing sidebar.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select the customer or vendor">
    Their outstanding documents are listed.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter the payment details">
    Amount, method, date, reference.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Allocate it">
    Tick the invoices this payment settles. You can split one payment across several, in full or
    in part.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Every allocated invoice updates its status.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Always record the reference

| Method        | Reference to record                      |
| ------------- | ---------------------------------------- |
| Bank transfer | The bank's transaction reference         |
| Mobile money  | The transaction ID from the confirmation |
| Cheque        | The cheque number                        |
| Cash          | Your receipt number                      |
| Card          | The authorisation reference              |

<Warning>
  A payment recorded without a reference cannot be traced back to your bank statement. When
  reconciling — or when a customer disputes whether they paid — the reference is the only thing
  that settles it. Record it every time.
</Warning>

## Part payments

<Steps>
  <Step title="Record what actually arrived">
    Not the invoice total. Record K3,000 against a K10,000 invoice if that is what came in.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The invoice becomes Partially paid">
    The remaining balance stays outstanding and continues to age.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Record subsequent payments the same way">
    Each one reduces the balance further.
  </Step>

  <Step title="It becomes Paid when the balance reaches zero">
    Automatically.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Note what the customer promised for the remainder. A part payment usually comes with a commitment
about the rest — record it so whoever chases next knows.

## Overpayments

If a customer pays more than the invoice:

| Option                                             | When                                   |
| -------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| Allocate the excess to another outstanding invoice | They have other bills with you         |
| Leave it as a credit on their account              | They will have future invoices         |
| Refund it                                          | They have no further business with you |

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](/regulators/zra/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:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the payment">
    From Payments.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose Void">
    Give a reason.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The allocation reverses">
    Affected invoices return to their previous status.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Record it correctly">
    The voided payment stays visible in the audit trail. It is not deleted.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  Voiding is not deleting. The original payment record remains, marked void, with the reason. This
  is deliberate — a payment record that could simply vanish would be worthless as evidence.
</Warning>

## Reconciling against your bank

A weekly discipline worth keeping:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open your bank statement and your payments list">
    For the same period.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Match by reference">
    Each receipt on the statement should have a matching payment recorded.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Investigate anything on the statement but not in Bumara">
    Usually a payment nobody recorded. Find which invoice it belongs to.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Investigate anything in Bumara but not on the statement">
    Usually a cheque that has not cleared, or a payment recorded optimistically.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Fix the differences">
    Record what is missing; void what should not be there.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## 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.

<Note>
  Related: [Reports and statements](/invoicing/reports-and-statements) for the aging report and
  chasing what is overdue.
</Note>