10. Payments — Recording What Customers Pay

When a customer hands you cash, scans your UPI QR, or transfers to your bank — you record it here. The bill auto-updates and (if WhatsApp is enabled) the customer gets a receipt with the new balance.

Before you start

1. 09-billing.md — at least one bill exists to receive payment against
2. Optional: 11-whatsapp.md — for auto WhatsApp receipts

Where payments live

Three places, all wired to the same record:

There's no separate "Payments" main menu — payments live where the bills do.

Recording a payment

1. Open the bill (or tap Pay on the row).
2. Quick Collect opens with the balance amount pre-filled.
3. Adjust if the customer is paying less:
   • Amount — ₹ the customer is handing over
   • Method — Cash · UPI · Bank Transfer · Cheque · Online
   • Reference number — UPI ref, cheque number (optional)
   • Date — defaults to today
   • Notes — anything you want to remember
4. Tap Save.

What happens next:

• Bill amount_paid increases.
• balance_due recomputes.
• Status flips: Generated → Partial (or → Paid if balance hits 0).
• A WhatsApp payment receipt is auto-sent if the customer has WhatsApp opt-in.

Payment methods

Quick collect from the billing list

The fastest path:

1. Open Billing screen.
2. Find the customer (filter by Overdue / Partial works well).
3. On their row, tap Pay · ₹X (the amount is the standalone bill due).
4. Inline cash field appears — type the amount, tap ✓.
5. Done. Status updates, receipt fires.

No drawer, no extra screens. ~3 seconds per customer when you're walking around collecting cash.

Partial payments

A customer hands you ₹500 of a ₹2,000 bill?

1. Tap Pay.
2. Type 500.
3. Save.

Bill becomes:

• amount_paid = 500
• balance_due = 1500
• status = partial

You can record more payments later — one bill can have many payment rows.

Overpayment — going to advance balance

What if the customer hands you ₹2,500 for a ₹2,000 bill?

The system caps payment input at the bill's standalone due to prevent accidental overpay. So you can only enter up to ₹2,000 against this specific bill.

For the extra ₹500:

• Record it as a separate general payment without a bill_id (no bill_id = goes straight to customers.advance_balance)
• Or apply it to another unpaid bill of theirs

Auto-overpay handling: if you cancel/edit a delivery on an already-paid bill and the bill amount drops below what was paid, the excess automatically moves to the customer's advance_balance. The bill clamps to clean, and the credit is parked for next month.

Viewing payments per customer

Open any customer → View Khata or the Khata tab. You'll see:

• Every bill (month-wise)
• Payments under each bill — date, method, amount, reference
• Running totals: this month, year-to-date, lifetime
• Advance balance (if any credit is parked)

This is the customer's full financial relationship with you, on one screen.

Deleting a payment

If you recorded the wrong amount or wrong customer:

1. Open the bill drawer.
2. Find the payment in the Payments section.
3. Tap the delete icon.
4. Confirm.

The bill recomputes:

• amount_paid decreases
• balance_due increases
• Status flips back if needed

This is a real delete — the row goes from the database. Use it sparingly; for legitimate refunds, prefer recording a new payment with a negative note instead.

WhatsApp payment receipt

(Auto-fires when Payment received owner toggle is on. See 11-whatsapp.md.)

The customer receives a payment_received message with:

• Business name + customer name
• Billing month + period range
• Amount paid
• Payment method line (e.g. "UPI · Ref 123456 · paid on 30 Apr 2026")
• This month's bill · Previous pending · Remaining balance
• Multi-line summary: products bought + deliveries completed + counter purchases

This is the closest thing customers get to a "till receipt" for their dairy account.

Bulk reminder for overdue payments

When you want to nudge everyone who's behind on payment:

1. Billing screen → Send All Reminders (amber button, top-right).
2. Modal lists all unpaid bills (across months) with WhatsApp opt-in customers.
3. Filter by month / minimum due if you want.
4. Select rows.
5. Tap Send N Reminders.
6. Each customer gets a payment_overdue_reminder template with:
   • Bill number
   • Days overdue
   • Pending amount
   • "View Bill" button (deep link to their bill PDF)

Useful at month-end or when a few customers are 10+ days late.

Tips

• Record payments the moment they happen. Walking around collecting and recording later = you'll forget who paid.
• Always capture the UPI ref for digital payments. Saves time when reconciling with bank statements.
• Use Quick Collect when on the move; Bill drawer when you want to review first.
• Check Advance Balance regularly. Customers who overpay often forget they have credit.

Common mistakes

What's next?

• 11-whatsapp.md — auto-receipts and overdue reminders
• 13-reports.md — collection rate, who pays on time
• 16-faq.md — answers to "where do payments go?", "what if customer overpays?", etc.

Related upstream

• 09-billing.md — bills you record payments against
• 05-customers.md — who pays you