Single payment for multiple invoices
I have customers that process a single payment for multiple invoices. If I put the single payment against one invoice obviously it creates an overpayment. Is there a way of saying this single payment must go against multiple invoices instead?
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Replies
Hi Grant
From your bank rec screen, find the payment that you are working with. Click on match, and then select the invoices that make up the payment. Once you have done this, you should get "green for go", and you can reconcile https://help.xero.com/au/#BankAccounts_Details_Reconciliation$BK_BankRec_Match
From your bank rec screen, find the payment that you are working with. Click on match, and then select the invoices that make up the payment. Once you have done this, you should get "green for go", and you can reconcile https://help.xero.com/au/#BankAccounts_Details_Reconciliation$BK_BankRec_Match
What if the payments are not matching with the invoices? They're partial payments of all invoices. How do you do it?
Hi, I have a new customer for Xero who receives payments for multiple sales invoices in one amount. This could be a BACS payment or by cheque.
I understand that doing this from the bank rec "Match" option is the best way to identify which invoices make up the total amount received. But you can only see 4 or 5 lines at any one time and if this is a cheque you have to wait for this to appear on the bank statement which is not strictly correct.
Am I right in thinking that the only way around this is to go into individual invoices and mark as paid? This could take forever, surely there should be an option to receive one amount and allocate against multiple invoices for a particular customer?
I understand that doing this from the bank rec "Match" option is the best way to identify which invoices make up the total amount received. But you can only see 4 or 5 lines at any one time and if this is a cheque you have to wait for this to appear on the bank statement which is not strictly correct.
Am I right in thinking that the only way around this is to go into individual invoices and mark as paid? This could take forever, surely there should be an option to receive one amount and allocate against multiple invoices for a particular customer?
So the solution i found was to set up an "accounts payable - xx" account (current liability) and check the box that allows it to receive payments. All partial payments will go to that account. After that, go to the purchase invoices you're paying off, and do a batch payment. Make the payment to the "account payable - xx" account.
You can do the same thing with A/R.
You can do the same thing with A/R.
Wow, such complicated ways of doing something that should be so simple. I'm an old MYOB user and making a payment against multiple invoices was so simple. This happens often in my business and I got Xero to simplify my life. I'm sure it must be a common problem for lots of people. Come on Xero, let's make this process simpler please
Hi Irish D, can you explain how to do what you said in your last post with Accounts Receivable? I can't see any batch payment option there.
AR needs batch payments functionality that is in AP
+1 on this. My customers will pay something like 30 invoices on a single check. Entering this info in on each and every invoice is time consuming as all heck.
i agree entirely Grant, MYOB allowed payment of multiple invoices whereas I am struggling with the process in Xero
This is major time drain and the only accounting program I have used that lacked this feature. Please make this feature available. I also have customers that pay 10-40 invoices at a time.
In case you all haven't seen the latest update on Batch Receipts, have a look here!
Very early work has started in developing this :)
Very early work has started in developing this :)
Unfortunately Xero is not for accountants. A lot of features are not available for review and analysis. It doesn't provide single receipt and payment against multiple bills and invoices.
Even more, it is not feasible to operate multiple bank accounts. If business operates more than one bank accounts and accidentally input any transaction in wrong bank account, there is no way to change the bank account unless the transaction is to be deleted and create from the correct bank account. QuickBooks provide the feature of just selecting the correct bank account and no need to delete and re-input such transaction.
Journal entries in Xero also doesn't allow to select A/R, A/P and any cash or bank account which is also proof of this great lacking in Xero.
Even more, it is not feasible to operate multiple bank accounts. If business operates more than one bank accounts and accidentally input any transaction in wrong bank account, there is no way to change the bank account unless the transaction is to be deleted and create from the correct bank account. QuickBooks provide the feature of just selecting the correct bank account and no need to delete and re-input such transaction.
Journal entries in Xero also doesn't allow to select A/R, A/P and any cash or bank account which is also proof of this great lacking in Xero.
Wow! Just started using Xero and shocked that it doesn't already have this feature. Xero has been out for years, this is a basic feature, why has this not been addressed sooner? So disappointing.
I agree with Monique - a very basic feature
Very very frustrated with this. I have a client whose customer part pays/overpays/short pays. It takes me hours to allocate this way. Their remittance may have three items which need totalling to make up part payment of one invoice and i can't even calculate in the split field to see what it adds up to. This could happen 40 times within one remittance. I have to add it from their remittance first, then click split then enter it then search for the next one because there are hundreds of invoices. so so inefficient...
There are a lot of things Xero doesn't do... very basic things.
This is totally ridiculous. A basic option of being able to select multiple invoices and hit pay and enter date and amount would suffice for most of us, i realise for others with part payments more tricky, but this really is a fundamental of any accounts programme.
I regret the day i ever chose Xero!
This is totally ridiculous. A basic option of being able to select multiple invoices and hit pay and enter date and amount would suffice for most of us, i realise for others with part payments more tricky, but this really is a fundamental of any accounts programme.
I regret the day i ever chose Xero!
I have the same frustrations to especially for reconciling amex payments...it takes me forever as i have to enter every individual amex payment to a single invoice...its really shocking how elementary Xero is.
Appreciate the frustration, but we're working on a solution to this at the moment!
This may not solve everyone’s problem here, but the new batch deposit functionality allows you to pay multiple invoices at once. It also allows you to part pay many invoices (not the ability to overpay though). You can read up more on this in our Help Centre.
I got really excited that this is now a possibility! However, our PayPal account is not an option on the bank accounts you can deposit to in batch deposits. Is that a bug, or is there a reason it only shows true bank accounts (not paypal accounts)?
@Eight Ounce Accounts, it’s definitely something we want to include - but right now you can only choose Bank Accounts for Batch Deposits. Check out the Feature Request here and watch this space!
Hi, new to Xero and wondering if this has a solution yet. I just received a client's check that covers 2 invoices. Seems pretty basic as far as accounting to be able to receive the payment, enter the check number, and apply it to the correct invoices. Please let me know if I'm missing something. Thanks!
Hi, as per Bradys comment above, has there been any progress with this, I'm new to xero & am surprised that this feature isn't a standard. Thanks
@Brady & Julie, you can already apply a payment to multiple Invoices using Batch Deposits. You can also do this during Bank Reconciliation once the statement line has been imported, using Find & Match. Does this help?
@Eight Ounce Accounts, as you might've seen on the Feature Request, you can now create Batch Deposits to any accounts with payments enabled.
@Eight Ounce Accounts, as you might've seen on the Feature Request, you can now create Batch Deposits to any accounts with payments enabled.
@Matt O - Batch Deposits don't work unless payments are in the default currency.
http://i.imgur.com/YQ1QsxM.png
Why is this the case? If all the invoices are in the same currency, why should that matter? This is pretty annoying. For something as simple as "please apply this payment to these invoices" it's pretty dire that it's not currently possible.
http://i.imgur.com/YQ1QsxM.png
Why is this the case? If all the invoices are in the same currency, why should that matter? This is pretty annoying. For something as simple as "please apply this payment to these invoices" it's pretty dire that it's not currently possible.
Hey Oliver, there's reasons why Batch Deposits can't be made using a currency that isn't your base currency. These are outlined by Mark on this similar Batch Payments thread. Right now, there's no plans to add multi-currency Batch Deposits.
But how can customers pay for multiple invoices with their credit cards?
It seems like they have to pay for each one individually, which sucks.
It seems like they have to pay for each one individually, which sucks.
If your customers are paying by credit card using Payment Services they can only pay one at a time Seth. There's this request asking for the ability to pay Statements online (so multiple Invoices), or you're welcome to start a new request specifically for paying selected Invoices owing.
I understand the batch deposit process. However, if my "Awaiting Payments" screen has multiple invoices on two different web pages, then there does not appear to be a way to link the invoices to a single deposit. Any help on this issue? To be clear, I am showing 200 transactions per page, and I want to do a batch deposit for 2 invoices on page 1 and one invoice on page 2 of my "Awaiting Payments" screen.
I have the same problem with a customer who paid multiple invoices by wire transfer.
How to I apply this payment against multiple invoices?
I tried the batch deposit but I get a message saying that "You can only bulk pay invoices in your default currency. You need to pay multi-currency invoices indivdually."
Which I don't understand because my default currency is EURO, the payment has been made in EURO and the banck account is in EURO. I don't see multi-currency here or is it just me???
How to I apply this payment against multiple invoices?
I tried the batch deposit but I get a message saying that "You can only bulk pay invoices in your default currency. You need to pay multi-currency invoices indivdually."
Which I don't understand because my default currency is EURO, the payment has been made in EURO and the banck account is in EURO. I don't see multi-currency here or is it just me???
Our company received a single bank transfer payment from a customer covering over 250 invoices and credit notes. Using Find and Match from the Bank Rec can be cumbersome when searching among approx 1000 open invoices for the customer. I thought I would try the Deposit function to click on each invoice according to the remittance advice. This might be useful for smaller accounts, but, with so many invoices and limited to 200 items in view, I was stunned to see that when I paged to the next screen of items, I lost all the prior selections!
Can you please remove the limit in view, or increase it significantly, say to 1000?
In the end I went back to Find & Match, (having first credited the Credit notes in the payment batch), and select invoice by number, but leaving off the last digit: this gives 10 similar numbers in the window at a time, and makes ticking through them quite easy, especially if you re-sort the selected items on the Reference Number. It helps too if your remittance advice is in invoice number order, or can be sorted as desired.
Another approach would be to create a function to Import a customer Remittance advice, matching the invoice numbers and line item amounts within an overall control total. Come on Xero, what do you say?
Can you please remove the limit in view, or increase it significantly, say to 1000?
In the end I went back to Find & Match, (having first credited the Credit notes in the payment batch), and select invoice by number, but leaving off the last digit: this gives 10 similar numbers in the window at a time, and makes ticking through them quite easy, especially if you re-sort the selected items on the Reference Number. It helps too if your remittance advice is in invoice number order, or can be sorted as desired.
Another approach would be to create a function to Import a customer Remittance advice, matching the invoice numbers and line item amounts within an overall control total. Come on Xero, what do you say?
Hi I have a problem where I have received a Forward payment for a repeating invoice. The Invoice is for £50/mth but the client has paid 6 months in advance - how can I reconcile this please
This isn't the same problem as I posted, but I have a suggestion.
If you have £300 to allocate, use FInd and Match from bank rec to find the first invoice for £50, and select it. Then go to New Transaction and choose Receive Money, and transaction type Overpayment. Create an Overpayment against that customer account for £250 and Reconcile.
In future months, as you create invoices, you can allocate each one against the available credit.
If you have £300 to allocate, use FInd and Match from bank rec to find the first invoice for £50, and select it. Then go to New Transaction and choose Receive Money, and transaction type Overpayment. Create an Overpayment against that customer account for £250 and Reconcile.
In future months, as you create invoices, you can allocate each one against the available credit.
Brilliant - looks like this will do the job thanks
Not being able to select invoices on multiple pages in the batch deposit is a significant limitation. I agree with Martin Carr increasing the view to 1000 invoices will solve my client's problem too.
I am a Xero partner/Chartered Accountant and a tax agent and quite disappointed that Xero didn't attend to this issue just yet.
I am a Xero partner/Chartered Accountant and a tax agent and quite disappointed that Xero didn't attend to this issue just yet.
I don't understand why with som many requests from custoemrs that Xero does not place this features on the top of the priority new features list?
Xero team - what is a realistic ETA to see this implemented?
Xero team - what is a realistic ETA to see this implemented?
Hi
I'm new to Xero, approx 3 months, previous MYOB for 20 years, and a major issue for my business is the one payment for multiple invoices. A few of my customers have been a little heated that they can't see the one payment being visible against multiple invoices, which I tend to agree with. They think that it hasn't been applied, so I have to explain and help them understand they need to add up all the payments Xero has applied, and it will come to the amount that was paid. I think this should be changed, because it is repeatedly rising. I have noticed that even the government departments display the actual figure paid, when paying an account. Come on Xero, help us with this. Thank you
I'm new to Xero, approx 3 months, previous MYOB for 20 years, and a major issue for my business is the one payment for multiple invoices. A few of my customers have been a little heated that they can't see the one payment being visible against multiple invoices, which I tend to agree with. They think that it hasn't been applied, so I have to explain and help them understand they need to add up all the payments Xero has applied, and it will come to the amount that was paid. I think this should be changed, because it is repeatedly rising. I have noticed that even the government departments display the actual figure paid, when paying an account. Come on Xero, help us with this. Thank you
I don't want to allocate payments when doing a bank rec, I want to allocate payments when they arrive. Get it done and dusted, and just the one figure to tick off as agreeing to the bank statement.
You have this batch payment functionality in accounts payable, why not in accounts receivable? Its a basic requirement of a basic accounting system, surely? I'm lucky to not have too many multiple payments at the moment, but when things pick up, I can imagine this is going to be a chore
You have this batch payment functionality in accounts payable, why not in accounts receivable? Its a basic requirement of a basic accounting system, surely? I'm lucky to not have too many multiple payments at the moment, but when things pick up, I can imagine this is going to be a chore
I'm following your directions for a Batch Deposit. Do you realize that within Accounts/Awaiting Payment, you can't search for a customer and then check the invoices you want to apply to the batch? There are no check boxes once you've searched in there. You have to manually hunt through the entire Awaiting Payment section, line by line, in order to find the invoices you want to apply to the Batch Deposit. This is stupid. Please fix this, and make this already clunky process easier.
I don't think Fritz is correct in his comments about lack of search facility. I use batch deposit frequently and always search by customer first. Go to Accounts/Sales/Awaiting payment. Then click the search button on the right of the screen to open the criteria boxes. Enter part of the customer name and search. You can then sort the results by date or invoice number. Select individual items by the check-box on its left. When the total agrees, then make the deposit. Be aware of the limitation to 50 items, and do not scroll to a new page or you will lose your selection. This last part is the problem that should be fixed.
Oddly enough, yesterday when I used the search within Awaiting Payment, the results showed up without check boxes. Today they showed up with check boxes. Weird.
Fritz - if you search in "ALL" accounts, the check boxes don't appear because you literally get "ALL" accounts including paid ones. If you search in "Awaiting Payment" the check boxes show up so that you can select the accounts you want to pay. Hope this info helps you.
Merged: Our customers seem to have issues with paying via xero invoices
for instance, when people click on the link to pay an invoice it only shows you the invoice value and doesn't allow people to select multiple invoices in the same transaction. Is there a way to make this simpler or is it being done wrong? Thanks
for instance, when people click on the link to pay an invoice it only shows you the invoice value and doesn't allow people to select multiple invoices in the same transaction. Is there a way to make this simpler or is it being done wrong? Thanks
Hi Julie
Most of the credit card add-ons only let you pay on a per invoice basis so that they can then reconcile the invoices easily.
I believe that Invoice Sherpa (www.invoicesherpa.com) allows customers to pay multiple invoices at once. It is probably worth a look
Kind regards, David
Most of the credit card add-ons only let you pay on a per invoice basis so that they can then reconcile the invoices easily.
I believe that Invoice Sherpa (www.invoicesherpa.com) allows customers to pay multiple invoices at once. It is probably worth a look
Kind regards, David
Shocking that this isn't available in Xero – I thought I must be searching the wrong phrases when I couldn't find an obvious answer. Of the five major systems I've used in 25+ years, I think Xero is the first to not allow for easy application of a customer payment against multiple invoices.
That said, the suggestion to enter the check as an overpayment, then go to Sales > Awaiting Payment and apply the overpayment, does work.
That said, the suggestion to enter the check as an overpayment, then go to Sales > Awaiting Payment and apply the overpayment, does work.
Wow what a fail, just spent a long time doing a 'batch deposit' apparently 50 is the maximum!!!
Katie, I've come up against this limitation too. See my post of 23 Aug 2016. I get round it by having the remittance advice in Excel and pre-sorting it by invoice number. I then insert subtotals every 50 lines and check they add up to the remittance total. Go to Sales/Awaiting payment, search on the customer, and sort in ascending invoice number. Click on items making the first sub-total deposit. Then create separate batch deposits for each subtotal, referencing them ABC1, ABC2 etc. When all done, go to Bank Rec and locate the cash received. Find and Match on ABC, (or whatever reference used), and the set of deposits will reconcile with the receipt. I frequently post 350 or more items this way. There is the advantage of having control totals to check progress every 50 items.
Thank you.
I am very new to Xero, having used SAGE for the last 20 years and am finding it a little strange!
I am very new to Xero, having used SAGE for the last 20 years and am finding it a little strange!
Hi Julie - You can include an Outstanding Bills link so your customer can 'Pay Balance' of all their outstanding bills, at once. Just let Support know if you have any questions on how to do this. :)
I'm just going to merge to this thread already discussing this topic, to keep the conversation together.
I'm just going to merge to this thread already discussing this topic, to keep the conversation together.
I am new to Xero too and just received my first cheque for 20 invoices, Reading all these posts it looks like its easier to lodge the cheque and wait till it appears on the statement. Cant believe I cant just tick off all the invoices that have just been paid
John, You can. In Sales/Awaiting Payment, search on customer, and simply check off the items paid. Then scroll back up to the top to Create Batch Deposit. Be sure to enter a reference, probably Customer name, and choose your bank. Beware of the pitfalls though. Do not try to change page or your selections will be lost, and do not try to select more than 50 items. Best to maximise the paging to 200 items. When the cheque(s) clear and appear on your bank feed, you need to match them to your deposit(s).
Thanks for that Martin,
How do you record single payment in cash against more than one invoice? Can't see any other option bu to create an overpayment and than allocate it to the invoices. Is there a simpler way of doing this? Thanks
Hi Sergey, What I would do is make a Batch Deposit from Sales invoices/ Awaiting Payment. Add a reference, and choose Petty Cash account as the Bank. You have first to have enabled payments to/from the Petty Cash account in Chart of Accounts. This only works if the cash exactly matches the whole sum of invoices. If there is surplus cash, I'm not sure what to do. I'd try adding a dummy invoice to the customer account.
I thought I was alone complaining! Xero is not so beautiful as they claim!
Nice suggestion, Martin. :)
@Sergey - We have a Help article that has more on setting up a Petty cash account, or just let Support know if you need more help with this.
@Asrar - I see you've previously been in touch with our team about applying payments to multiple transactions. When you use Batch Payment/Deposit for more than one supplier, this'll appear as 'Multiple items' when searching for the payment in the bank.
As another option (instead of a 'batch') you could just use Find & match when performing bank rec to select all relevant transactions.
@Sergey - We have a Help article that has more on setting up a Petty cash account, or just let Support know if you need more help with this.
@Asrar - I see you've previously been in touch with our team about applying payments to multiple transactions. When you use Batch Payment/Deposit for more than one supplier, this'll appear as 'Multiple items' when searching for the payment in the bank.
As another option (instead of a 'batch') you could just use Find & match when performing bank rec to select all relevant transactions.
C'MON Xero!!!!
Seriously!
I am thinking of going back to good old MYOB where you CAN EASILY apply a payment to multiple invoices, and you CAN search by address!!!
Seriously!
I am thinking of going back to good old MYOB where you CAN EASILY apply a payment to multiple invoices, and you CAN search by address!!!
Hi Katrina - Can you give a bit of detail about the scenario you're trying to reconcile for, in Xero? You can already apply one payment to multiple invoices; using Find & Match to select relevant transactions when reconciling, or through the use of a batch payment/deposits.
I have just received a cheque to pay 9x invoices for a single customer. It covers all of their invoices owing but also includes $48.75 over payment. I am not sure why the client has written the cheque for this amount, but that aside it is very time consuming to record.
I tried batch payment but it would not allow an over payment. I have had to apply payment to each invoice, adding the over payment to the final one, resulting in credit to the client. A very laborious process :-(
I tried batch payment but it would not allow an over payment. I have had to apply payment to each invoice, adding the over payment to the final one, resulting in credit to the client. A very laborious process :-(
Aaah yes, I see what you're saying - Thanks Katrina.
It sounds like you've found a way to solve in this case, but just on the chance you run into this again - rather than applying individual payment to each invoice, you could use the Find & Match option above, and for the remianing amount enter a +New Transaction in section 2, where you'll be able to create an Overpayment for the extra amount.
It sounds like you've found a way to solve in this case, but just on the chance you run into this again - rather than applying individual payment to each invoice, you could use the Find & Match option above, and for the remianing amount enter a +New Transaction in section 2, where you'll be able to create an Overpayment for the extra amount.
Merged: Associating multiple invoices with one payment
Is it possible in Xero to have one payment but multiple invoices reconciled against it?
Thanks.
Is it possible in Xero to have one payment but multiple invoices reconciled against it?
Thanks.
Sure is, Arif! - We have some help on this in our Help Centre. I'm just going to merge to this existing thread where there's similar discussion of this. :)
Actually I am talking about account receivables not bank statement reconcile. just as in bills we have batch payments is there anything we can do with sales invoices. can we associate multiple invoice with one payment without bank statements.
You can create Batch Deposits would this be what you're after, Arif? Otherwise, might be best to reach out to Support to get a closer look and a bit more help.
Since this is the first thing to come up when you Google for paying multiple sales invoices, let me post the answer here. Xero has released this functionality, and here is how you do it:
- Get to the list of invoices awaiting payment, from the Dashboard or with *Accounts *Sales *Invoices *SeeAll *AwaitingPayment.
- Select the invoices you want to pay, in full or partial, by checking the check boxes on the far left
- Click the blue Deposit button above the list. It will take you to the batch deposit page
- By default all selected invoices will be paid in full. Change the amount paid as needed for partial payments.
- Get to the list of invoices awaiting payment, from the Dashboard or with *Accounts *Sales *Invoices *SeeAll *AwaitingPayment.
- Select the invoices you want to pay, in full or partial, by checking the check boxes on the far left
- Click the blue Deposit button above the list. It will take you to the batch deposit page
- By default all selected invoices will be paid in full. Change the amount paid as needed for partial payments.
Hi
Love all your answers , and they have helped me, but I keep coming across this one hurdle from customers which is - ' If they pay you a lump sum in form of a cheque or EFT, XERO will show individual payments as per the invoice amount on the statement, where customers want to see the total amount as per their payment. They don't want to add all the payments up to see if comes to the same amount. With a MYOB statement, customers know that the one amount paid is shown on the statement, why can't XERO do it?
Love all your answers , and they have helped me, but I keep coming across this one hurdle from customers which is - ' If they pay you a lump sum in form of a cheque or EFT, XERO will show individual payments as per the invoice amount on the statement, where customers want to see the total amount as per their payment. They don't want to add all the payments up to see if comes to the same amount. With a MYOB statement, customers know that the one amount paid is shown on the statement, why can't XERO do it?
I am a MYOB bookkeeper can you tell me why Xero won't make a change for a lump sum payment to appear on a statement or be able to apply one payment simply to multiple invoices without having to match through the bank feed. Unfortunately it appears stuck in the mindset that everyone works through bank feeds. I'm spending longer on my clients accounts in Xero.
Whenever Xero gets around to taking this issue seriously (and please do!), please offer a way to send a payment receipt to the payer. Today, whether relying on the bank feed (which only works about once a week for us) or by entering payment information on individual invoices, there's no way to send a receipt for the total check amount that our customer actually wrote. Sending receipts associated with each individual invoice would be confusing, because the stated check amounts won't match up with anything on their side.
Batch deposits appear to be for bank account deposits only.
I need a way to simply say "these invoices were paid using value from this account". Doesn't have to be a bank account. In my case it is an agency holdings account. Why is Xero making my life difficult with pointless constraints?
I need a way to simply say "these invoices were paid using value from this account". Doesn't have to be a bank account. In my case it is an agency holdings account. Why is Xero making my life difficult with pointless constraints?
It says you must choose a bank account, but you can also choose an Account to pay from. Just make sure that from within your Chart of Account Settings that 'Enable Payments to this account has been selected. I've created this quick example for you here.
Adding my voice to requests for batch deposits to be available in non-default currencies. Our default currency is GBP but 95% of our invoices are in USD and so I cannot apply a single payment to multiple invoices until I reconcile the bank account at the end of each month. I have paid invoices showing as unpaid for up to four weeks because of this. The problem is magnified by the fact there is no bank feed available for our currency account so there is no way around this issue.