ShopController offers a flexible financial system that allows for the management of deposits and payments separate from the invoicing process.
Collecting Payments Before Invoicing
For jobs where you need to collect a deposit or payment in advance:
- Go to the job detail view and find the 'Payments' tab.
- To add a payment without creating an invoice, leave the invoice field empty.
- Select the payment type and enter the amount received to record the payment.
This feature is particularly useful when you need to secure funds before any service work starts, ensuring that you have the necessary cash flow.
Applying Payments to Customer Accounts
To allocate funds to a customer’s account:
- From the main menu, navigate to 'Contacts' and locate the customer, such as Melissa Johnson.
- Within the customer's record, switch to the 'Payments' tab.
- Click 'Add New Payment', choose the payment type, and enter the amount received.
This method is convenient when dealing with advance payments or when updating the customer's balance with a new transaction.
Visualizing Payments and Balances
To see how payments affect a customer’s account:
- Access the job or financial view for the customer to check their payment history and balance.
- Payments made will not show in the job view unless linked to an invoice but will be reflected in the customer's overall account balance.
Invoicing and Applying Payments
When it's time to invoice the customer for services rendered:
- Create an invoice for the job, such as adding an oil change service and marking it as completed.
- Once the invoice is saved, you can apply existing payments to it.
- Click 'Apply Payments' and select 'Apply Existing' to offset the invoice with the customer's pre-paid balance.
By following these steps, you can apply the $2,000 payment previously added to Melissa Johnson's account to her new oil change invoice, completing the payment process.