How to receive a customer payment in AcboBooks

In this lesson you will

Record a payment that pays an invoice in full
Take an early-payment discount
Record a partial payment with Auto Apply
Know what happens to an overpayment

Before you start

Create and send an invoice

Receive Payment for Harbor Dental Group with a $71.60 early-payment discount

A full payment with an early-payment discount

Harbor Dental Group pays invoice 1005 within 10 days, so their 2% 10 Net 30 terms let them take 2% off.

Step 1: Choose the customer and the invoice

Choose Customers → Receive Payment. Pick the customer in Received from: their open invoices appear below. Enter the Amount received and the Check / Ref #. Tick the invoice it pays. Because the payment date is inside the discount window, AcboBooks fills in the Discount and pays the rest.

Received from.
Amount received: what the customer actually paid.
Deposit to: Undeposited Funds holds the check until you take it to the bank.
Discount: suggested from the terms; you can change it.
Discount account: where the discount posts.

Receive Payment with callouts on customer, amount, Deposit to, discount and discount account

Tip: The sample company has no discount account, so AcboBooks suggests the first income account. Add an income account called Discounts Given in the Chart of Accounts and Receive Payment picks it automatically.

Step 2: Save the payment

Check the Applied total along the bottom and click Save Payment. AcboBooks confirms the payment and the discount, and the invoice's balance drops to zero.

A partial payment

Riverside Cafe sends $500 towards invoice 1003, which is overdue.

Step 3: Let Auto Apply spread the money

Pick the customer, type the Amount received and click Auto Apply. AcboBooks applies it to the oldest invoice first. You can also type amounts into the Payment column yourself. Click Save Payment: the invoice stays open for the rest.

Amount received.
Auto Apply: oldest invoice first.
Payment on each invoice.
Save Payment.

Receive Payment applying $500.00 to Riverside Cafe's overdue invoice 1003

Tip: A due date in red means the invoice is overdue.

Overpayments and bounced checks

Step 4: When the customer pays too much

If the amount received is more than you apply, AcboBooks asks before saving and keeps the extra on the customer's account as a credit. Next time you pick that customer, a banner shows their available credits with Apply credits to open invoices. To give the money back instead, refund it from Credit Memos.

Step 5: When a check bounces

Use Bounced Check… at the top of Receive Payment. It reverses the payment, reopens the invoices, expenses your bank's fee and can invoice the customer a returned-check charge in one step.

Canadian edition: In the Canadian edition the button is Bounced Cheque…, and payments by cheque work the same way. For how an early-payment discount affects GST/HST, see how to record an early payment discount.

Recap

Record a payment against one or more invoices.
Take an early-payment discount from the customer's terms.
Record a partial payment with Auto Apply.
Handle overpayments and bounced checks.

Saved in this browser only. No account needed.

Questions

Where does the money go after I save?

Into the Deposit to account. With Undeposited Funds it waits there until you group it on Make Deposit, which keeps your deposits matching the bank statement. See deposit customer payments.

Can I take a discount after the discount date?

AcboBooks only suggests a discount inside the window, but you can type one into the Discount column if you agree to it.

The customer paid two invoices with one check. What do I do?

Enter the full amount once and tick both invoices, or use Auto Apply. One payment can cover any number of invoices.

Screenshots from AcboBooks 0.2.2 with the built-in sample company. Updated October 25, 2026. Your screens may differ slightly with another version or window size.

Receive customer payments