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Cannot Modify Invoice Payments

When a customer pays an invoice via direct deposit, you open the invoice and add payment 'other' (on my laptop / web browser).

The system gives you no option to:

- modify the actual payment amount,

- add a note to show on the receipt or the item,

- add two or more payment options (direct deposit, part cash, or only part payment for example), or

- add a discount for early payment

The program automatically adds the total amount paid and sends a receipt even if the customer has only part paid.!

In this example the total was $810.10. The customer paid $600 via direct debit, and $150 in cash. I wanted to discount the rest of the invoice for early payment.

So now, I have to reverse the payment in square, cancel the invoice in square, open a 3rd party invoice software program, create another invoice, send it to the customer, add in part payment only and the discount, and add the notes I need to send, and then email it. Then I have no record of this in my Square profile.

However, now the customer has two invoices, one showing full payment amount (which is incorrect) and one showing all of the information I need so they can take it to their private health insurance.

Not good Square. Not good at all.

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Hey @HOPandSNC,

 

Thanks for reaching out and sorry to hear you're having trouble with Square Invoices!

 

It looks like you're after a number of features here that are presently not available with Square Invoices - address each one and let you know where we have potential solutions or workarounds you could try.

 

  • modify the actual payment amount - Once the payment amount has been entered it's unfortunately not editable. If you can provide a little more context about situations you'd be wanting to edit this I'd be happy to pass this feedback on to our Invoices product team!
     
  • add a note to show on the receipt or the item - It's correct that you won't be able to add a note the receipt once an invoice has been paid - though you can add it to the invoice itself before sending via the "Messages" section, or you can add item descriptions to your items that will appear on the receipt. Were you specifically looking to add custom notes to receipts once the invoice has been paid.
     
  • add two or more payment options (direct deposit, part cash, or only part payment for example) - This should actually be doable. I tested the system and was able to record two non-card payments to an invoice under "cash" and "other" (for a direct deposit):


     
  • add a discount for early payment - This one is not available unfortunately - I don't know if it's in the works or not, but I'll pass this and the rest of your feedback to our Invoices team.

 

Overall it does look like you are after a few features that are not currently available within Square Invoices - what I can do here is pass this feedback on for consideration as we continue to develop the product and add new feature in the future. You can view some more information about feature requests here - much of what we add as new features is driven by seller feedback, but at the same time we can't make any guarantees on if or when new features may appear in our various products.

 

Hope some of this helps, or at least gives you some further context into what you can or can't do with Square Invoices.

 

 

Seamus
Square, Australia
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Square Community Moderator

Best Answer

Hi @really1,

 

Thank you for writing in and welcome to the Seller Community!

 

While there isn't an option to pay via a direct deposit in the invoices you send out, you can edit the invoice message to include your bank details.

Add a message in your Invoice Settings under Invoice customisation > Basic customisation > Message 

 

Screenshot 2021-05-07 12.11.38.png

When you receive the payment from your customer, select the invoice and click Add Payment. > Record Payment. 

 

From here, you'll also be able to choose the payment type.  

 

Screenshot 2021-05-07 12.18.14.png

I hope this helps! 

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Admin

Best Answer

Hey @HOPandSNC,

 

Thanks for reaching out and sorry to hear you're having trouble with Square Invoices!

 

It looks like you're after a number of features here that are presently not available with Square Invoices - address each one and let you know where we have potential solutions or workarounds you could try.

 

  • modify the actual payment amount - Once the payment amount has been entered it's unfortunately not editable. If you can provide a little more context about situations you'd be wanting to edit this I'd be happy to pass this feedback on to our Invoices product team!
     
  • add a note to show on the receipt or the item - It's correct that you won't be able to add a note the receipt once an invoice has been paid - though you can add it to the invoice itself before sending via the "Messages" section, or you can add item descriptions to your items that will appear on the receipt. Were you specifically looking to add custom notes to receipts once the invoice has been paid.
     
  • add two or more payment options (direct deposit, part cash, or only part payment for example) - This should actually be doable. I tested the system and was able to record two non-card payments to an invoice under "cash" and "other" (for a direct deposit):


     
  • add a discount for early payment - This one is not available unfortunately - I don't know if it's in the works or not, but I'll pass this and the rest of your feedback to our Invoices team.

 

Overall it does look like you are after a few features that are not currently available within Square Invoices - what I can do here is pass this feedback on for consideration as we continue to develop the product and add new feature in the future. You can view some more information about feature requests here - much of what we add as new features is driven by seller feedback, but at the same time we can't make any guarantees on if or when new features may appear in our various products.

 

Hope some of this helps, or at least gives you some further context into what you can or can't do with Square Invoices.

 

 

Seamus
Square, Australia
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Thank you for your extended reply Seamus.
That is correct that Invoices currently do not allow anything other than payments to be added from Cash, Credit Card, or Other.

Currently I now have a growing number of Invoices that have been paid but have outstanding amounts because I have discounted the total for early payments. It is a great business method for managing outstanding accounts. That is for example:

 

Invoice #001 - Total Payment Due $550. If paid before XX/2021 Payment due is $500.

I then receive payment for the $500, but Invoices has no facility for me to discount the $50 or make the outstanding amount $0.! And I cannot add a payment of Other for the $50 because it then shows in my earnings as money I have been paid when I haven't.

 

So the receipt cannot be sent to the client because it shows an outstanding balance of $50, so Health Funds will not accept it either showing a remaining balance.

 

Furthermore, for health insurance claims, you have to add a note to one of the Services in the Invoice the date of service, the clients name, and your provider number. This cannot be added to the original invoice before it is paid.

 

The only current work around is if a customer pays early or I need to modify the total amount of the invoice to reflect the amount paid, I have to delete the original invoice, and then create another invoice for the new amount and then add the payment this way. Really not ideal and is very simply fixed with the below.

 

Solution:

1. If selecting "Other" payment type, have an ability for managers to type in a description of what that Other actually is (discount, gift card, write off, direct deposit, etc)

2. Have a "Discount" payment type that allows the total amount outstanding to be reduced to zero and a custom descriptor to be added (discount for early payment, etc)

3. Any discounts or write-offs to the initial amount is not included in the total payment reports

4. Allow receipts to be modified, or notes added to items and services BEFORE being emailed to customers.

 

Regards

Tony

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Admin

Thanks for the feedback and detailed potential solutions @HOPandSNC.

 

While I can't give you a timeframe on if or when these features may make it into Square Invoices, I'll pass your comments on to the product team managing invoices - I can see that they would be very handy in the examples and use case you've provided!

Seamus
Square, Australia
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This issue seems to have been going on a lot longer than it should have been.  I have trouble with similar issues.  I would also like to be able to enter the date invoice was paid on the receipt, (as well as leave notes and make adjustments post initial invoicing) as the payment date and account administration dates can differ.  The invoice and receipt is very counter intuitive and inflexible.  

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Square Community Moderator

Hi @AnnaKristina 

 

Thank you for sharing this feedback with us. Are your customers usually paying invoices via card, or are you recording invoices as paid manually? 

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I have just had the same issue!  Seriously this really needs to be an important feature in invoicing.
To fix a mistake of payment amount where it has finalised the invoice already is ridiculous!
This needs to be resolved quickly!

 

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Seamus when I go to generate an invoice I cannot find the other options to offer direct deposit or cash, despite having my bank details set up and verified?

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Square Community Moderator

Best Answer

Hi @really1,

 

Thank you for writing in and welcome to the Seller Community!

 

While there isn't an option to pay via a direct deposit in the invoices you send out, you can edit the invoice message to include your bank details.

Add a message in your Invoice Settings under Invoice customisation > Basic customisation > Message 

 

Screenshot 2021-05-07 12.11.38.png

When you receive the payment from your customer, select the invoice and click Add Payment. > Record Payment. 

 

From here, you'll also be able to choose the payment type.  

 

Screenshot 2021-05-07 12.18.14.png

I hope this helps! 

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Hello Arie.

 

I do not believe you answered really1's question sorry. You have reported on adding a payment AFTER the invoice has been created.

 

However, we are asking about when you initially create a new invoice, under "Payment Methods" the only options possible are 'Credit Card' and 'Gift Card' check boxes.

 

We (I and really1) want to have options that include Direct Deposit and Cash as payment methods. 

 

Currently you cannot NOT have one of the Credit Card or the Gift Card boxes unchecked as a payment method, as you cannot create and then save the invoice at all. And as mentioned there are no other payment options to select such as cash or direct deposit. Also there is no method of amending any outstanding amounts on an invoice you wish to discount, remove, or vary once a payment is received. 

 

This leads to my previous comments to Seamus is that the only work around, is to send an invoice and then when it is paid by cash or direct deposit and / or I want to offer a discount off the invoice for early payment or remove the credit card surcharge, I have to:

 

1. delete that initial invoice,

2. create a new invoice for the lesser amount minus the credit card surcharge fee (if paid by cash or direct deposit) and resend it, then list the payment in full so a receipt is issued, or

3. Use a third party program to send a tax invoice/receipt showing paid in full, or

4. Just do not use Square invoices and use a third party program.

 

This creates a whole host of issues with tracking payments, income, and outstanding amounts and cannot be fixed until changes are made to the Invoices programming in Square.

 

Regards

Tony

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Admin

Hey @HOPandSNC,

 

I think what you're looking for here is the ability to send an invoice without having credit card or gift card as a payment option?

 

Having card payments available as a payment option is at the core of all Square's products - it's part of our business model. Without this we wouldn't actually be able to provide free business tools for you to use such as Square Invoices or Point of Sale. While we do offer the ability for you to mark your invoices as paid via other methods (such as cash or cheque), and provide a space for you to add your bank details on invoices for payments made via transfer, we don't currently have any plans to remove card payments as an option for customers payment via Square invoices.

 

With that in mind it might be worth weighing up whether Square Invoices is going to be the right invoicing tool for your business in the long term. It's possible that we'll see features in the future that may help with some of the issues you're seeing using our platform. Surcharges / service charges is one we receive a lot of feedback on that I hope we are able to build in the future.  Likewise it's always possible we'll integrate an early payment discount system, though this is a feature I've not heard a lot of feedback about in the past. What I don't want to do is create the impression that these features are necessarily on the way or are supposed to be there in the first place!

 

I do appreciate your feedback and the detailed use case you've provided here! It helps to be able to provide specific example when passing feedback on to our product development teams, and the more feedback we have about a given feature request, the more likely it is that we'll build it in the future - though feedback / demand is just one of the things we take into account when prioritising new features.

 

 

 

 

 

Seamus
Square, Australia
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Thanks Seamus.

Some months ago, I gave up using Square appointments, invoices, and receipts. The Square programs are just not fit for purpose for health clinics. It just doesn't work for health practices.

The receipts not being able to be printed and are sent as webpage links only is another issue for many clients when they attempt to claim health insurance rebates. Many insurers reject their claims as the receipts do not print well, and details such as item numbers, date of service, etc cannot be included without me having to add additional notes prior to sending. So I would then have to type up a separate invoice / receipt in a word doc, save as a pdf, then email this. Obviously that is such a waste of time.

The other BIG issue I have had with Square, is that ALL communication sent through the system, such as emails, receipts, etc, all type is centered... Nothing is justified, or text to the left so it makes communication look absolutely stupid and very unprofessional. It is ok for a cafe, coffee shop, or similar I suppose, but certainly not ok for a professional business.

 

Then invoices was the only other option to send decent receipts as PDFs, but as mentioned above, not being able to provide people the full suite of payment options is not useful at all. Whilst I understand Square receives income from card payments, you can't imprison customers and clients to only one form of payment. And not every business has 'gift cards'. What use is that to a health practice or other professional business?

 

Then the other issue of having to subscribe to invoices separately, then subscribe to appointments separately, and then to have to do it again for the two locations I work at, made it financially silly to persist with a system that was not fit for purpose and there are far superior programs out there much more suited to health practices that can incorporate ALL payment types and facilities, allow full customisation of receipts.

 

So now, I no longer use any of the Square program and only use the Square card reader when I have to, or when people want to pay by card.  I encourage most people to pay by direct debit or cash payments to save the Square card fees where I can.

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