Record payments and chase overdue invoices

When a customer pays you by cash, check, bank transfer or a card machine, you tell Fifi, and the invoice moves from Sent to Partially paid or Paid. This guide covers recording what arrives, undoing a mistake, seeing who owes what, and reminding people who are late. It doesn't cover online card payments (Stripe records those for you), credit notes or recurring invoices (What Fifi doesn't do).

Before you start

• Who can do it: any member can record payments, see Payments and Receivables, and send reminders. Owners and admins can also record refunds and void a payment. Owners and admins turn on automatic reminders.
• Needs: the Invoicing module (Pro or Business) and an invoice that has been sent or marked as sent. See Create and send your first invoice.
• Have ready: the amount, the date and how the customer paid. A check number or a receipt number helps later.

Steps

1. Open Invoices and click the invoice that was paid.
2. In the Payments section, click Record payment.
3. Check Amount ($). It starts at the balance due. Type a smaller amount for a partial payment.
4. Set Date received. It starts at today and can't be in the future.
5. Under How it was paid, choose Cash, Check, Bank transfer (ACH or wire), Card (taken outside Fifi) or Other.
6. Add a Reference (optional), such as a check number or the last 4 digits of a card.
7. Add Notes (optional) if anyone needs to know more later.
8. Click Record payment.

What you'll see: "Payment recorded. Balance due $56.53." or "Paid in full." The status changes to Partially paid or Paid.

Partial payments and deposits

A payment can be less than the balance. Say the pest invoice from the first invoice guide is $156.53 and the customer sends a check for $100.00. Record $100.00. The balance due is $56.53 and the status is Partially paid. When the rest arrives, record $56.53 and the invoice is Paid.

A payment can never be more than the balance due. Fifi says "That's more than the balance due ($240.00). Enter the amount received, or less."

To take a deposit, issue the invoice first, then record the deposit against it. Two people can record at the same moment without paying more than is owed.

Refunds and mistakes

Both are for owners and admins, and neither deletes anything.

• Refund records money you gave back, up to what was paid. It lowers the amount paid and reopens the balance. Click Refund, set Date refunded, How it was refunded and the amount, then click Record refund.
• Void on a payment is for an entry made in error, such as one entered twice or on the wrong invoice. Click Void on its row, give a reason, and click Void. The payment stays on the invoice, struck through, and the balance is reopened.

A refund of a card payment taken online is made in Stripe, not here. A payment brought in from QuickBooks is changed in QuickBooks. Fifi tells you where: "Refund this in Stripe; it shows here automatically." and "This payment came from QuickBooks. Change it there."

To void an invoice that has payments, refund or void the payments first.

Overdue invoices and receivables

An invoice is Overdue once its due date has passed and it isn't paid, shown as "Overdue · 12 days". Overdue is a display, not a status you set; paying the invoice clears it.

• Invoices shows what's Open and Overdue in dollars at the top, with tabs for Open, Overdue and Paid.
• Invoices → Receivables shows what each customer owes on open invoices, grouped by how late: Current (not yet due), 1–30, 31–60, 61–90 and 90+ days past due, as of today in your time zone. The biggest customer is first. Click an amount to see the invoices it adds up. Export CSV downloads it.
• Invoices → Payments lists every payment and refund, newest first. Filter by date received, method, kind and customer. The top of the page shows Received, Refunded and Net for the filter.
• The dashboard's Money card shows what's Open, what's Overdue and what you Received in the last 30 days.

Reminders

A reminder is the invoice emailed again, saying the balance is due. The subject reads like "Reminder: Invoice INV-1042 from Ridgeline Pest Control was due Nov 2, 2026 (12 days ago)".

By hand. Open the invoice and click Send reminder in the Payments section, then confirm. It needs an email address on the customer's contact. You can send one reminder a day for an invoice. After that the button says "A reminder for this invoice already went out today. Try again tomorrow."

Automatically. An owner or admin chooses 3, 7 or 14 days in Settings → Invoicing, under Remind customers about overdue invoices. Fifi then sends a reminder that many days after the due date and every that many days after, up to 3 for one invoice. It stops when the invoice is paid or void. Turning it on also reminds invoices that are already overdue. The full rules are in Reminders.

Fifi sends no reminder while a customer's bank payment is on its way.

What to write in "How to pay"

The How to pay (optional) text in Settings → Invoicing appears on every invoice, so customers who pay by check, cash or transfer know how. Keep it short:

• For checks: who they're payable to, and where to mail them.
• For cash: where and when you take it.
• For transfers: say "ACH or wire details on request" rather than printing an account number on every invoice.

A front desk's end-of-day routine

1. Open Invoices → Payments. Filter Received from to today and compare it with your till and card machine.
2. Record anything that's missing: open the invoice and click Record payment.
3. Open Invoices and choose the Overdue tab. Click Send reminder for any that need a nudge.
4. Glance at Receivables. The 90+ column is the one to call about.

What you'll see

The invoice page shows Paid and Balance due, and each payment in a table with its date, method, reference, who recorded it and the amount. The customer's timeline says "Payment received: $500.00 by check for INV-1042", and "Invoice INV-1042 paid" when it's settled. The customer's link and the printed invoice show payments, with date and amount only.

Check your work

• To do: The payment is on the right invoice, with the right amount and date.
• To do: A card taken on your own machine is recorded as Card (taken outside Fifi), and no card number appears anywhere.
• To do: The invoice status matches what you expect: Partially paid until the balance is zero.
• To do: Invoices → Payments for today matches your till.
• To do: Automatic reminders are on or off on purpose.

Troubleshooting

More in Invoicing troubleshooting.

Related

• Invoices: the full rules for payments, refunds, Payments and Receivables.
• Take card payments with Stripe: payments that record themselves.
• Create and send your first invoice: the step before this one.
• Choose how you'll invoice: by hand, Stripe or both.
• Roles and permissions: who can refund.