Recording Deferred Sales Invoice Payments After Customer Transfer: Receipt Vouchers or Manual Entries and When to Use Each

If the customer asks how to convert an approved deferred sales invoice to “Paid” after receiving the amount from the customer (bank transfer, cash, or any other method), clarify to them that there are two main methods:

Method 1: Customer Receipt Voucher (Easiest and Fastest)

This method is best for recording payment of a single invoice or a few invoices.

Steps:

1. Go to Sales > Sales Invoices

2. Find the deferred invoice you want to record as paid

3. Click on “Pay Against Invoice” from the options next to the invoice

4. Select “Create New Voucher”

5. Select:

   • Collection Account (the bank or cash account where you received the payment)

   • Voucher Date

   • Amount (full or partial)

6. Click Save

Result:

• The invoice status changes to “Paid” (or “Partially Paid” if partial payment)

• The accounting entry is created automatically

• The voucher appears in Sales > Customer Vouchers

Alternative Method: You can also create the voucher directly from Sales > Customer Vouchers > Create New Voucher, then allocate it to the invoice by clicking “Pay Against Voucher”.

Method 2: Manual Entry (Customer Payment)

This method is suitable when you need to record more complex accounting operations.

Steps:

1. Go to Accounting > Manual Accounting Entries > Create Manual Entry

2. From Account Type select: Customer Payment

3. Select the Receivables account and specify the customer name in the “Party/Tax/Employee” field.

4. Click the Invoice icon on the same line and select the deferred invoice

5. Enter the transfer amount (full or partial)

6. Save the entry

Result:

• The invoice status changes to “Paid” and displays “Paid via manual entry”

• The outstanding amount decreases if the payment is partial

Practical explanatory video for the manual entry method: https://app.storylane.io/share/gj6hpmgjpubg

When to Use Each Method?

• Customer Receipt Voucher: For quickly recording payment of one or a few invoices; the simplest method and recommended for regular cases

• Manual Entry (Customer Payment): When you need customized accounting operations or recording special adjustments

Important Notes

• If the bank account doesn’t appear when creating the voucher, make sure it has the “Payment and Collection Allowed” option enabled and that the user has permission for it

• You can pay an invoice using multiple methods (part cash and part bank) by creating separate vouchers

Common Questions:

• I created a deferred invoice and the customer transferred payment, how do I mark it as paid?

• How do I convert an invoice from deferred to paid?

• The customer paid the invoice, how do I record it?

• How do I record a customer payment on a sales invoice?

• What’s the difference between a receipt voucher and a manual entry for recording invoice payment?

• How do I link a customer transfer to the deferred invoice?

• The invoice didn’t change to paid after the customer transferred payment, what should I do?

• I want to record that the customer paid the invoice