Paying several invoices at once
When a customer sends one check or one transfer that covers several invoices, the supplier records it once with Add Payment and Clipp spreads it over the invoices, oldest due date first. Anything left over becomes the customer's store credit automatically. A preview shows exactly how each invoice will change before anything is saved.
Who uses it
- Supplier staff with full invoice access (Admin and Clerk by default). It's for money collected outside Clipp. Restaurants can't pay several invoices online in one go; see Paying online.
How it works
Start from the Invoices list → Add Payment. You pick the customer first. The customer page has an Add Payment button too, which opens the same form with that customer already picked. Its Add Payment (Legacy) button opens the older form.
Step 1: the form (Add Payment)
| Field | What it says | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Customer | Select Customer | Each customer shows "{n} invoice(s) due" and their total balance. Changing customer clears the invoices. |
| Invoices | Please select one or more Invoice. | Lists the customer's invoices that are Ready for delivery or Delivered, Unpaid or Partially paid, and still owe something once any bank payment clearing is taken off, soonest due first. Each shows "Balance due: $X" (what it can still take) and "Due: MM/DD/YYYY". Select all picks them all. With none: No due invoices. At most 100 are listed: "Showing the 100 most-overdue invoices. Settle these first to see older ones." Invoices that are Processing aren't listed. |
| Payment method | as on Recording a payment | Cash, Check, Store Credit, Other ACH, Other Credit Card, Other |
| Reference | Check Number / Transaction ID / Card Last 4 Digits | optional |
| Amount | "{n} Invoice(s) Balance Due: $X" | Pre-filled with the selected invoices' total, and reset whenever the selection changes. The info icon explains: "You may record the full payment amount to clear all outstanding invoices. If a partial payment is entered, it will be applied to the oldest unpaid or partially paid invoices first until they are fully covered, and any remaining amount will then be allocated to newer invoices." |
| Account | Please select the account (Optional). | Hidden for Store Credit. |
| Date | Select the date payment was received. | Required here: "Payment date is required". |
| Notes | as on Recording a payment |
Checks: Amount is required, Amount must be greater than 0 and, for Store Credit, "Amount cannot exceed total balance due ($X) when paying with Store Credit." The server also refuses Store Credit the customer doesn't hold (Insufficient balance or credit not found). There's no limit on cash, check and the other methods: anything over the total becomes store credit.
Yes, Add Payment stays greyed out until at least one invoice is picked. No, Dismiss asks first: "If you continue, your edits will be lost. Go back to save and keep your updates." (Continue Without Saving / Back to Editing).
Step 2: the preview (Confirm Payment)
"This is a preview of how each invoice will update after confirmation." It shows Customer:, Total Payment Amount: and one card per invoice the money reaches, with Order Balance, Applied, Remaining and the status it will have.
- Invoices the money doesn't reach: "{n} invoice(s) selected but not covered by this payment. They will remain unpaid."
- Money left over: "You're about to overpay by $X. The extra amount will be added to Store Credit once confirmed."
- If the preview can't load: "Unable to load payment preview. Please try again."
- If saving fails: a Payment Failed message with the reason, and you stay on the preview to try again.
Step 3: done
"Payment added successfully!" "The amount has been applied to the corresponding invoices." If there was extra: "$X overpaid has been added to Store Credit and can be applied to future invoices." Then Done.
Calculations
Oldest due date first
Each invoice takes as much as it can still take (its balance, less any bank payment clearing), in due-date order (invoices with no due date go last, then the oldest placed), until the money runs out. Everything saves in one go, so if one invoice can't take its share, none is saved.
$100.00 cash across INV-1001 ($40.00, due Oct 1) and INV-1002 ($30.00, due Oct 8):
| Invoice | Owed | Applied | Remaining | Status after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| INV-1001 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $0.00 | Paid |
| INV-1002 | $30.00 | $30.00 | $0.00 | Paid |
| Extra | $30.00 store credit |
What gets written:
| Before | After | |
|---|---|---|
| Payments | none | $40.00 cash on INV-1001; $30.00 cash on INV-1002 |
| Store credit | $0.00 | $30.00, with a Credit Issued row: "Overpayment of $30.00 on a $100.00 payment across 2 invoices, issued as store credit." |
| Bookkeeping | nothing | Order Payment Received $40.00 and $30.00. The $30.00 credit isn't booked. |
| Customer told | — | nothing (see Known limitations) |
$50.00 instead: INV-1001 gets $40.00 (Paid), INV-1002 gets $10.00 (Partially paid, $20.00 remaining). No credit.
$100.00 of Store Credit: refused on the form, "Amount cannot exceed total balance due ($70.00) when paying with Store Credit." At $70.00, the customer's credit drops by $70.00 and both invoices are paid (IMM-024).
A lump sum across several invoices is often a deliberate round number, so the extra is kept as credit and spelled out in the preview. On a single invoice, an overpayment was usually a duplicate entry, so it needs the supplier's say-so. (#2052, #2499)
Where it shows up
Each invoice's status, balance and Records; the customer's Payment History (one Payment row per invoice, plus a Credit Issued row for any extra); Bookkeeping; the customer's store credit.
Permissions
The Add Payment button needs full invoice access: Admin and Clerk by default. The server checks it too, and that the invoices belong to this supplier and the chosen customer.
Decisions
- Oldest due date first, with a preview. The supplier sees where every dollar lands before saving. (#2052)
- A surplus becomes store credit automatically, and the preview says so. (#2052)
- Store credit can't pay more than the selected invoices owe. (#2052, IMM-024)
- No account picked means the method's default account, as for a single invoice. Before this, it went to Unassigned. (#2124)
- Money still clearing is taken off what an invoice can take. Otherwise a bank payment on the way could be paid twice. (#2588)
Specs
MPY-001 to MPY-009 cover the form, preview and success steps. IMM-024 and IMM-025 in invoice-money-movements.feature cover this page. It's embedded on Bookkeeping effects.
# prefix: MPY
Feature: Paying several invoices at once
A supplier records one payment from a customer across several invoices. The money goes to the oldest due
invoice first and anything left over becomes the customer's store credit. A preview shows the result before it is saved.
Background:
Given a supplier user with full invoice access
And a customer with several invoices that went out and still owe money
Rule: The supplier picks the customer, then the invoices
Scenario: MPY-001 the supplier picks a customer and sees only that customer's due invoices
When the supplier chooses Add Payment on the Invoices page
And picks the customer
Then the customer shows how many invoices are due and their total balance
And the invoice list shows each due invoice with its balance due and due date, soonest due first
Scenario: MPY-002 the amount starts at the selected balance due
When the supplier selects invoices
Then the amount is filled with their total balance due
And the supplier is told how many invoices and how much they owe, with how a partial payment is spread
Scenario: MPY-003 Select all picks every listed invoice and a long list says it is capped
Given the customer has more than 100 due invoices
When the supplier chooses Select all
Then the 100 most overdue invoices are selected
And the supplier is told "Showing the 100 most-overdue invoices. Settle these first to see older ones."
Scenario: MPY-004 Store Credit cannot pay more than the invoices owe
Given the supplier chooses Store Credit as the method
When the supplier enters more than the total balance due
Then the form refuses it with "Amount cannot exceed total balance due"
Rule: The supplier reviews the result before it is saved
Scenario: MPY-005 the preview shows how each invoice will change
When the supplier continues to the preview
Then each invoice shows its balance, the amount applied, what remains and the status it will have
And invoices the money does not reach are listed as staying unpaid
And any overpayment is said to go to store credit
Scenario: MPY-006 the success message reports the credit that was actually added
Given the payment is saved
Then the supplier sees "Payment added successfully!"
And the store credit added is the amount the server recorded, not the one the preview showed
Rule: A failed payment is reported and can be retried
Scenario: MPY-007 a failed payment stays on the preview with the reason
Given saving the payment fails
When the supplier confirms
Then the supplier sees a Payment Failed message with the reason
And stays on the preview where they can try again
Scenario: MPY-008 a retry is recorded once and an edited payment is recorded afresh
Given the supplier confirms the same payment twice
Then it is recorded once
When the supplier changes the amount or the invoices and confirms
Then it is recorded as a new payment
Rule: Only staff with full invoice access can add a payment
Scenario: MPY-009 the Add Payment button needs full invoice access
Given a supplier user without full invoice access
When they open the Invoices page
Then there is no Add Payment button
Known limitations
- No receipt is sent. The customer gets no email, text or push for a multi-invoice payment.
- The customer page's Add Payment (Legacy) button opens the older form, which lists only invoices from the previous order system. Use Add Payment.
- The money can only be recorded by hand. There's no way to take a card or bank payment for several invoices at once.
FAQ
I entered $100 for $70 of invoices. Where did the $30 go? To the customer's store credit. The preview and the success message both say so. See Oldest due date first.
Why isn't this invoice in the list? It's not dispatched yet, it's paid, or a bank payment on it is Processing. Only the 100 most overdue show.
Can I choose which invoice gets paid first? No. Pick only the invoices you want to pay. Among those, the oldest due date is paid first.