> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.clinikehr.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Record and collect payments

> Record a cash or transfer payment against an invoice, or send a secure payment link so the client can pay online.

export const StillStuck = ({topic}) => <div className="ck-callout ck-callout--note" role="note">
    <p className="ck-callout__body">
      <strong>Still stuck{topic ? ` with ${topic}` : ''}?</strong>{' '}
      Check <a href="/platform/help/troubleshooting">Troubleshooting</a> first —
      it covers the failures we see most often. If that does not resolve it,{' '}
      <a href="/platform/help/contact-support">contact support</a> and include
      your workspace name and the time the problem happened, so we can find the
      matching entry in your audit log.
    </p>
  </div>;

export const TaskHeader = ({before, time, after}) => <div className="ck-task">
    {before ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">Before you start</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{before}</p>
      </div> : null}

    {time ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">Takes about</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{time}</p>
      </div> : null}

    {after ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">When you're done</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{after}</p>
      </div> : null}
  </div>;

export const Path = ({steps = []}) => <span className="ck-path">
    {steps.map((s, i) => <span key={i} className="ck-path__step">
        {i > 0 ? <span className="ck-path__sep" aria-hidden="true">
            ›
          </span> : null}
        {s}
      </span>)}
  </span>;

export const Availability = ({editions = ['all'], plans, roles, note}) => {
  const list = editions.includes('all') ? ['clinic', 'pharmacy', 'lims'] : editions;
  return <div className="ck-avail" role="note" aria-label="Feature availability">
      <span className="ck-avail__label">Available in</span>

      {list.map(e => <span key={e} className={`ck-pill ck-pill--${e}`}>
          {EDITION_LABELS[e] || e}
        </span>)}

      {plans ? <span className="ck-avail__label">Plan</span> : null}
      {plans ? <span className="ck-pill ck-pill--plan">{plans}</span> : null}

      {roles ? <span className="ck-avail__label">Who</span> : null}
      {roles ? <span className="ck-pill ck-pill--role">{roles}</span> : null}

      {note ? <span className="ck-avail__note">{note}</span> : null}
    </div>;
};

<Availability editions={['clinic']} plans="Solo and Team" roles="Anyone permitted to add payments" note="Payment links need a connected payment account" />

Money arrives two ways: somebody hands it over at the desk and you record it, or you send them a link and they pay by card. This page covers both, and how to see what is still outstanding.

<Path steps={['Sidebar', 'Billing', 'Payments']} />

<TaskHeader before="An invoice with a balance due" time="Under a minute" after="A recorded payment and an invoice that reflects it" />

## What you're looking at

**Payments** sits under **Billing** in the sidebar. The page is headed **Payments Management** — "Process and track payments from patients for services, medications, and more" — with **Refresh** and **New Payment** in the header, the latter for a payment that is not tied to an invoice you already have open.

| Tab          | Shows                                           |
| ------------ | ----------------------------------------------- |
| **Overview** | The money picture — what came in, how, and when |
| **Payments** | Every payment recorded, newest first            |
| **Pending**  | What is still owed                              |

A new practice sees all three empty. The **Pending** tab is the one to watch daily: it is your outstanding balance, in your practice's currency, and it should shrink as you work it.

## Record a payment against an invoice

This is the usual route, because it settles a specific balance.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the invoice's actions">
    Find the invoice under **Billing** → **Invoices** and select **Record Payment**. The dialog names what you are settling: "Record a payment for invoice \{number} — balance due \{amount}".
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check the amount">
    **Amount** is prefilled with the balance due. Overtype it for a part payment — the invoice then reads **Partially Paid** and keeps the remainder outstanding.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose the method">
    **Payment Method** defaults to **Cash**; the others are **Card**, **Bank Transfer**, **Mobile Money**, **Insurance** and **Other**. Set it to what actually happened: the **Overview** tab breaks takings down by method, and a bank transfer logged as cash quietly ruins that.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add a reference">
    **Reference (optional)** takes the transfer reference, cheque number or terminal receipt number — "Transaction / receipt reference". It is what makes a payment findable when a client queries it three months later. **Notes (optional)** carries anything else.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Record Payment">
    You get a **Payment recorded** confirmation, and the invoice's balance drops immediately.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  Once a payment is recorded against an invoice, that invoice can no longer be deleted — only cancelled. Record against the right invoice: correcting one afterwards is a deliberate, recorded reversal, not a quiet edit.
</Warning>

## Send a payment link instead

If the client is not standing in front of you, send them a link and let them pay by card.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the client's record and start a payment">
    Choose **Send payment link** — "Collect payment via a secure link sent to contact". The **Send secure payment link** panel opens: "We'll send a Stripe Checkout link to the patient. They can pay using their card without you seeing their details."
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter where it goes">
    **Recipient Email Address** is the address that receives the link. It does not have to be the address on the record.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Send Link">
    A toast confirms it went. The email tells the client the link **expires in 24 hours**, and invites them to reply for a fresh one if it lapses.
  </Step>
</Steps>

The panel states the cost in the same breath: "A 1.9% platform fee will be auto-deducted from this transaction by Stripe."

<Note>
  Payment links need a connected payment account under **Settings** → **Online Payments**. A practice collecting through Paystack cannot use Stripe links — the product says so: "This clinic collects payments via Paystack — Stripe payment links are not available." Send your bank details on the invoice instead, via [Payment details](/practice/settings/payment-details).
</Note>

To charge a card on file automatically after an appointment rather than asking each time, see [Auto Pay](/practice/settings/auto-pay).

## Who can do this

| Action                          | Who by default             | The permission, in the product's words |
| ------------------------------- | -------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| Open **Payments**               | Owner, manager, front desk | Role — no permission of its own        |
| Record a payment                | Front desk, billers        | **Add client payments**                |
| Send a payment link             | Front desk, billers        | **Add client payments**                |
| Record an insurer's payment     | Billers                    | **Add insurance payments**             |
| Reverse or refund a payment     | Owner, manager             | **Refund payments**                    |
| See the figures on **Overview** | Owner, manager             | **View financial dashboard**           |
| Open the payment reports        | Owner, manager, billers    | **View Payment Reports**               |

Adding and reversing are deliberately separate: taking money is a daily job, and putting it back is not.

* **Enforcement is opt-in, per person.** Someone never saved in the permissions sheet is unrestricted; the sheet warns **"Saving starts enforcing"**.
* **A denied action is recorded; an allowed one is not.** Hiding **Payments** from a sidebar tidies the rail; the permission is the boundary.

A figure you may not see renders as a dash, not a zero. See [Staff permissions](/platform/team/permissions).

## Check it worked

* The payment is listed under **Payments** with the method and the reference you entered.
* The invoice shows **Paid**, or **Partially Paid** with the correct remaining balance.
* The **Pending** tab no longer lists that balance.
* For a payment link: the client received the email, and the payment appears once they have paid.

## Common issues

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="The prefilled amount is not what they paid">
    Overtype it. The prefill is the balance due, not a fixed value, and a part payment is a normal thing to record.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I recorded a payment against the wrong invoice">
    Do not try to delete the invoice — you cannot once it has a payment on it. Reverse the payment and record it correctly. Reversing is a separate permission from adding, so you may need an owner or manager.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Send payment link is not offered">
    Either no payment account is connected under **Settings** → **Online Payments**, or your practice collects through Paystack and the link in question is Stripe-only. Connect an account, or send the invoice with your bank details on it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The client says the link no longer works">
    Links expire 24 hours after they are sent. Send a fresh one.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="They paid online but the invoice still says Pending">
    Online payments record themselves, but not always instantly. **Refresh** the **Billing** page before recording it by hand — recording it manually as well double-counts the money.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Figures on the Overview tab show as dashes">
    You may open the screen but not see the financial figures. Viewing the financial dashboard and viewing payment reports are separate permissions — see [Staff permissions](/platform/team/permissions).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can I record a payment with no invoice?">
    Yes — **New Payment** on the **Payments** page. Attach it to an invoice when you can, though; an unattached payment settles no balance and shows up as a reconciliation puzzle later.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does recording a payment send a receipt?">
    Not automatically. Download the invoice PDF, which then shows what has been paid — see [Create and send an invoice](/practice/money/invoices).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why does Collected this month not match my bank?">
    It counts payments recorded in ClinikEHR, not settlements landing in your account. Your provider pays out on its own schedule. See [The executive dashboard](/practice/insights/dashboard).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can a client pay part of a payment link?">
    No. A link settles the invoices it covers in full. For a part payment, take it at the desk and record it against the invoice.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What currency does the link charge in?">
    Your practice's currency, set under **Settings** → **Billing** — see [Currency](/platform/settings/currency).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<StillStuck topic="a payment" />