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Record an Advance Payment

Take or log money from a customer before you've raised an invoice for it. ChargeOn holds it as a credit memo until there's something to apply it to.

Not seeing advance payments?

If the option is not available in your org, your Cyntexa account executive or support can confirm what is switched on for you.

The example records a $2,125 advance, 25% of the $8,500 Q4 expansion, for Emily Ross at Summit Technologies. The confirmation and credit memo show that same advance.

Before You Start

  • Credit Memo enabled for this object. See the note above.
  • The Record Advance Payment action added to the Account or Contact page layout, the same way as the Charge action. See Part 6 of the quick start guide.
  • You need the ChargeOn permission to record advance payments (part of the ChargeOn Admin or ChargeOn Credit Memo Manager permission set).
  • To charge a saved card or bank account rather than record money you already received, the customer needs an existing saved payment method.

Steps

  1. Open the customer's Account or Contact record.
  2. Click Record Advance Payment.

  3. If more than one payment object has Credit Memo enabled, choose one from Payment object and click Next.

  4. Enter the Amount.

  5. Tick Auto-apply on recurring invoices if this credit should apply itself automatically to this customer's future installment plan or subscription invoices as they're generated. It's unticked by default, for a one-off.

  6. Choose how the customer is paying: Manual (Cash / Cheque / Wire) or Charge via gateway (Saved Payment Methods).

  7. If a Contact picker appears, select who is paying.

    Emily Ross's $2,125 advance, 25 percent of Summit Technologies' $8,500 Q4 expansion, with Manual selected and Auto-apply on recurring invoices checked

  8. Click Next.

If the Customer Already Paid You Directly

  1. Choose Received via: Wire Transfer, Check, or Cash.
  2. For Wire Transfer or Check, enter the Reference.

  3. Add a Note, if it's useful.

    The completed details for Emily Ross's $2,125 Q4 expansion advance received by wire transfer, with its reference and note

  4. Click Charge to save the payment you already received. This records the advance without taking another payment.

If You're Charging a Saved Payment Method Instead

  1. Choose the Gateway.

  2. Choose the Stored payment method.

  3. Click Charge.

What You Should See

A confirmation screen showing the amount recorded and the Credit Memo it created, at status Open. Optionally enter an address under Email receipt to and click Send receipt. Click View Credit Memo to open it, or Done to close.

Confirmation of Emily Ross's $2,125 Q4 expansion advance and its Open credit memo, with View Credit Memo and receipt controls

Choose how to apply advance credit

Apply the credit to the invoice you want to settle. For an installment plan or subscription, enable Auto-apply on recurring invoices to apply the advance automatically to that plan’s future cycle invoices as they are generated. See Advance payments for the full rule.

If It Does Not Work

Symptom Likely cause What to do
Record Advance Payment doesn't appear The action hasn't been added to the page layout, or Credit Memo isn't enabled for any object See Before you start
"Credit Memo feature is disabled. Contact your administrator." The credit memo option is switched off for this object Ask your administrator to enable it, or check with your Cyntexa account executive or support. See the note at the top of this page
"Credit Memo isn't configured for this object." This payer's object isn't mapped as a payer on any payment object with Credit Memo enabled An administrator maps it under Global Settings → Object and Rules
"Credit Memo is not enabled for this object." on the object picker The payment object you chose has Credit Memo turned off Pick a different object, or ask an administrator to enable it
No stored payment methods listed on the gateway step This customer has no saved card or bank account with this gateway yet Save a payment method for the customer first. Choose Manual (Cash / Cheque / Wire) when recording money already received
The Reference field shows an error Wire Transfer and Check both require a reference, and it accepts only letters, numbers and dashes Fill it in using that pattern
The credit isn't applying to a new invoice automatically It only applies itself to an installment plan's or subscription's own future cycles, and only when Auto-apply on recurring invoices was ticked when you recorded it Apply the credit to the invoice you want to settle