---
title: Payments — record, track, reconcile
description: How payments work in Easy Invoice — automatic gateway payments, manual entries, partial payments, refunds, and how Payment records relate to invoices.
---
# Payments
A **Payment** in Easy Invoice is a record of money received against an invoice. Payments can be created two ways:
1. **Automatically** — when a client pays through PayPal, Stripe, Square, etc. The gateway webhook fires, a Payment is recorded, and the invoice is marked Paid.
2. **Manually** — when you receive money outside a gateway (cash, wire transfer, cheque) and record it yourself.
WP Admin → **Easy Invoice → Payments**.
---
## 1. The Payments list
Every payment ever received shows up here, with:
- The associated **Invoice Number**
- **Client name**
- **Payment Method** (PayPal, Stripe, Manual, Bank Transfer, etc.)
- **Amount**
- **Date**
- **Status** (Paid, Pending, Refunded)
- **Transaction ID** (from the gateway)
Filter by status, method, or date range.
---
## 2. Record a manual payment
When a client pays you offline (cash, wire transfer you reconciled in your bank, cheque arrived):
1. WP Admin → **Easy Invoice → Add New Payment**.
2. Fill in:
| Field | Why |
| --- | --- |
| **Invoice** | Which invoice this payment is against (dropdown shows unpaid invoices). |
| **Amount** | The amount received. Can be less than the invoice total for **partial payments**. |
| **Payment Date** | When you actually received it. |
| **Payment Method** | Manual / Cash / Bank Transfer / Cheque / Other. |
| **Transaction Reference** | Optional — the bank reference, cheque number, or any text. |
| **Notes** | Internal notes ("client paid in person", "wire from Acme Bank ref ABC123"). |
3. Click **Save**.
The invoice updates automatically:
- Full payment ⇒ status flips to **Paid**.
- Partial payment ⇒ remaining balance shown; status stays **Unpaid** until full balance is collected.
- The **Payment Received** email goes out to the client (unless you disable it in **Settings → Email → Payment Received**).
---
## 3. Partial payments PRO
If you've enabled **Settings → Invoice → Enable Partial Payments**, Easy Invoice Pro lets the **client** pay in installments via the public invoice page. The flow:
1. Client opens the invoice URL.
2. They pick an amount: a free amount, one of your fixed presets, or a percentage preset (configured in settings).
3. The gateway charges that amount only.
4. Easy Invoice records the partial payment and updates the invoice's **Remaining Balance**.
5. The client can return any time and pay another installment.
See [Settings reference → Pro-only invoice settings](./settings-reference#pro-only-invoice-settings) for the full set of partial-payment configuration fields.
Pro
Partial payments require Easy Invoice Pro. Upgrade →
---
## 4. Refunds and credit notes
Easy Invoice keeps the record; the money moves in your gateway.
**To record a refund of a payment**
1. Open the payment record and change its **Status** to **Refunded**.
2. Refund the money itself in the gateway's own dashboard (Stripe, PayPal, Square…). Easy Invoice does not send refund instructions to gateways.
Marking a payment refunded removes it from the invoice's paid total, so the invoice shows as outstanding again.
**To correct the invoice itself — issue a credit note** *(Easy Invoice 2.4.0+)*
An invoice that has been sent (any status other than Draft) is a tax record: Easy Invoice will not let it be edited or permanently deleted. The lawful way to reduce or cancel it is a **credit note** — a separate numbered document (`CN-000001`, …) that references the invoice and records what was credited and why.
1. **All Invoices** → on the invoice's row, click **Credit note**.
2. Enter the **amount** (leave empty to credit the whole invoice) and a **reason** — it is printed on the document and is what your accountant reads a year later.
3. **Issue credit note.** The PDF is available from the same page; the invoice row now reads **Credited**.
You cannot credit more than the invoice total, and a credit note itself is never deleted. With the **E-Invoicing** addon, credit notes are also available as Factur-X and UBL (type 381). With the **WooCommerce** addon, a WooCommerce refund issues one automatically.
> Deleting an issued invoice by mistake is protected against at the database level too: the `easy_invoice_allow_issued_invoice_deletion` filter is the only way through, and it is meant for migrations.
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## 5. Reports & exports
WP Admin → **Easy Invoice → Reports** for the free dashboard summary (this month's revenue, outstanding total).
With **Pro**, the **Export** tool (under **Easy Invoice → Export**) generates CSV exports for accounting:
- Invoices CSV (date, client, amount, status, gateway)
- Payments CSV (date, invoice, amount, method, transaction ID)
- Clients CSV
CSVs work with QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks, and any spreadsheet.
---
## 6. Common questions
**"My invoice is still Unpaid even though Stripe says paid."**
→ Webhook isn't connecting. Re-check [Stripe webhook setup](./payment-settings#stripe).
**"How do I delete a wrong payment?"**
→ Open the Payment, click **Delete**. The invoice's outstanding balance recalculates automatically.
**"Can I move a payment to a different invoice?"**
→ Yes — delete the payment from the wrong invoice and re-create it against the correct one. Or edit the Payment's Invoice field directly.
**"Why does the invoice show Paid but no Payment record exists?"**
→ Someone manually changed the invoice status without creating a Payment. The financials won't reconcile. Always record a Payment instead of editing status.
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## Next
- [Payment gateway setup](./payment-settings)
- [Email templates (Payment Received)](./email-settings)
- [All Pro features](./features)