How do I record bank charges on a customer payment?

Type the fee in Bank charges in the Record payment dialog, and keep Amount received at what the customer paid.

The customer paid a few cents short. What do I do?

Tick the balance under Small balances left and choose Rounding or Short payment. It is written off and the invoice reads Paid.

How do I record an early payment discount?

Tick the balance and choose Prompt-payment discount. A credit note for it is issued and applied to the invoice.

Why can't I write off the balance?

It is over the Small write-off limit per invoice, your role lacks Write off small payment differences, or the limit is set to 0. Take it as a discount or raise a credit note.

Does a write-off change the GST on the invoice?

No. Only a discount or a credit note changes it.

How do I undo a write-off?

Select Undo on it in the receipt and give a reason. The invoice owes the amount again.

Where do I see all bank charges for a month?

Export Payment differences (CSV) from the Invoices list's ··· menu for that period.

Record payment differences

Copy for AI

When the money that arrives is not exactly what the invoice asked for, settle the difference on the same receipt, under Payment differences.

Before you start

Bank charges: anyone who can record the payment.
Small write-offs: Invoice Edit set to All records, and the Write off small payment differences permission in your role.
Prompt-payment discount: Credit Note Add and Edit, because it issues a credit note.

Your administrator sets the Bank charges limit per receipt and the Small write-off limit per invoice under System settings → Receipts & write-offs; a limit of 0 turns that difference off.

Steps

In the Record payment dialog, enter the payment and tick the invoices it pays.
If the bank deducted a fee, type it in Bank charges. Keep Amount received at what the customer paid; Net banked shows what reached your bank.
If the payment leaves a balance on an invoice, it appears under Small balances left. Tick it and choose Rounding, Short payment or Prompt-payment discount.
For a discount, check the credit note the row shows, such as “Credit note 20.00 + tax 1.80 = 21.80”.
Select Record payment.

What happens next

Bank charges leave the invoice settled by the full amount received; the receipt shows the charges and the Net banked figure.
A write-off clears the balance without a document. The invoice reads Paid, its totals show a Written off line, and the customer’s statement shows an adjustment.
A prompt-payment discount issues a credit note for the balance, split across the invoice’s tax rates so the GST falls with it, and applies it to the invoice.

The receipt lists each difference under Payment differences, with who recorded it.

Undo a difference

A write-off: select Undo on it in the receipt, with a reason. The invoice owes it again.
A discount: cancel its credit note on the invoice’s page. Until then, the receipt cannot be voided or its payment removed.
Bank charges: void the receipt if the payment was recorded in error.

Export the differences

On the Invoices list, open the ··· menu and select Payment differences (CSV) under Export. Choose the Period and select Download CSV: every bank charge, write-off and discount in the period, with its receipt, invoice, credit note, who recorded it and any undo. It needs Invoice View set to All records.

Rules to know

A write-off never changes the GST charged; a discount or a credit note does.
The write-off limit counts every write-off on the invoice together. A balance above it can still be taken as a prompt-payment discount.
A difference over its limit is refused, not sent for approval.
Bank charges must be less than the amount received. On a foreign-currency receipt, the amount in your base currency is what reached the bank after the charges, and it is required.

Why it works this way

The customer paid the full amount, even if your bank kept some. When the bank takes a fee, the customer has still sent what the invoice asked. Recording the fee as bank charges settles their invoice in full and shows your real cost, instead of leaving them owing a balance they never caused.

A write-off is not a price cut. Rounding and small short payments are written off without a document, so the GST you charged stays as it was and the customer’s tax invoice still holds. A discount the customer earned does lower the price, so it is a credit note that reduces the GST with it.

Limits keep small things small. A write-off needs no approval and issues no document, so it is capped per invoice. Anything above the limit has to be a credit note or collected, which keeps real price changes visible to the customer and to your accountant.

Every difference has a name on it. The receipt and the CSV show who recorded each bank charge, write-off and discount, and any undo. At month end you can reconcile your bank charges account and review write-offs without asking around.

Work faster

Let the dialog do the arithmetic. Type the fee in Bank charges; Net banked shows the figure to match against your bank statement.
Clear cents in the same step. A few cents left by rounding appear under Small balances left; tick and choose Rounding before you save.
Check the discount before you save. The row previews the credit note’s net, tax and total, so the GST is right the first time.
Set the limits once. Your administrator sets both limits under System settings → Receipts & write-offs. See Settings.
Export for your accountant. Payment differences (CSV) lists every difference in a period, ready for your bank charges and write-off accounts.

Examples

Lim & Co’s invoice INV-10000050 to Harbour Café is SGD 1,000.00 plus GST of SGD 90.00: SGD 1,090.00. The limits are at their defaults, SGD 50.00 per receipt and SGD 5.00 per invoice.

The café pays	What Mei Tan records	Result
SGD 1,090.00, bank takes SGD 15.00	Bank charges 15.00; Net banked 1,075.00	Paid; nothing written off
SGD 1,089.97	Tick the SGD 0.03 left, Rounding	Paid; Written off SGD 0.03
SGD 1,068.20, taking a 2% discount	Tick the SGD 21.80 left, Prompt-payment discount	Credit note 20.00 + GST 1.80 = 21.80; Paid

SGD 21.80 is over the SGD 5.00 write-off limit, so the row offers only the discount. The credit note takes the discount off both the price and the GST: 21.80 × 100 ÷ 109 = 20.00, and 21.80 × 9 ÷ 109 = 1.80.

Two invoices, one short payment. Harbour Café owes SGD 545.00 on INV-10000056 and SGD 327.00 on INV-10000057, SGD 872.00 in all, and transfers SGD 868.00. Mei records SGD 868.00 against both. INV-10000056 is due first, so the dialog gives it SGD 545.00 and SGD 868.00 − SGD 545.00 = SGD 323.00 to INV-10000057, leaving SGD 4.00 on it. That is under the SGD 5.00 limit, so she ticks it as Short payment. Both invoices read Paid, and the CSV for October lists one write-off of SGD 4.00.

Common questions

How do I record bank charges on a customer payment? Type the fee in Bank charges in the Record payment dialog, and keep Amount received at what the customer paid.
The customer paid a few cents short. What do I do? Tick the balance under Small balances left and choose Rounding or Short payment. It is written off and the invoice reads Paid.
How do I record an early payment discount? Tick the balance and choose Prompt-payment discount. A credit note for it is issued and applied to the invoice.
Why can’t I write off the balance? It is over the Small write-off limit per invoice, your role lacks Write off small payment differences, or the limit is set to 0. Take it as a discount or raise a credit note.
Does a write-off change the GST on the invoice? No. Only a discount or a credit note changes it.
How do I undo a write-off? Select Undo on it in the receipt and give a reason. The invoice owes the amount again.
Where do I see all bank charges for a month? Export Payment differences (CSV) from the Invoices list’s ··· menu for that period.