Invoices, payments, and credits

Open Money → Invoices to find a bill. Every staff role can see the list. Search by invoice number or household name, and narrow by Status, Kind and Due from / Due through dates. Links from a household page or from Renewals open the list already narrowed to one household or one season, with a line above the table that says so and a link to Show every household or Show every season.

The list shows each invoice's Total and its Balance. Total is the bill after adjustments and applied credits. Balance is what the household still owes after the payments that have cleared, so a part-paid bill shows the rest, a paid bill shows $0.00 (even if part of it was refunded later), and a draft, voided or written-off bill shows a dash because there is nothing to collect. A payment that has not cleared yet (a check you have recorded but not marked cleared, or a bank payment still on its way) does not lower the balance; it shows under the balance as an amount processing. Connected AI tools and API keys see the same balance for an open, processing or paid bill; a voided bill shows $0.00 there.

Open a household's Invoices or Billing area to review balances, payments, credits, and history. An invoice shows its balance, status, line items, due date, and payment history.

An invoice's heading says what it is for in plain words, such as annual dues, initiation, or camp. A dues invoice links to its renewal year (when the Renewals page can show that year), and an initiation invoice (from an accepted waitlist offer) links to the waitlist if your role can open it. In the Invoices list, a household's name opens that household.

On each settled payment, Download receipt (PDF) gives you the receipt for that payment. It is not offered for payments that were carried over from your old system.

A check you record is received, not yet cleared: it shows on the invoice as Received with its date, and counts as paid only once you mark it cleared. Mark a whole deposit cleared under Money → Invoices → Checks to clear, or one check from its invoice; mark a bounced check returned, and the household is emailed unless you untick the box. See Recording and clearing checks.

A payment can be processing while a bank transfer clears. Do not mark an online payment paid by hand; the status updates when the processor confirms it. A bank transfer can't hold an invoice in processing for ever: if nothing arrives, or only part of it does, the invoice opens again on its own after a while and reminders and late fees resume. When only part arrived you also get a task. An invoice for something the household had already canceled (a caregiver pass, a rental or a program registration) doesn't open again: it is canceled automatically, what was paid stays paid, and the treasurer gets a note. See Refunding a payment.

If a household starts a bank transfer and nothing arrives, the invoice opens again and bank transfer is then turned off for that invoice, so the household can't keep an invoice in processing by starting transfers they never send. This happens however the transfer ends (it timed out, you or the household cancelled it, or it was cancelled in Stripe), as long as it held the invoice in processing for more than a day and nothing arrived. A household that picks bank transfer and switches to another method right away is not affected. They can still pay by whatever other methods your club offers for that invoice; if there are none, the page tells them to contact the office. A banner at the top of the invoice says so. Once you have talked with the household and they plan to send it, a treasurer or admin can choose Allow bank transfer again in that banner (other roles see the banner without the button). Each time you do, it is recorded in the audit log. A transfer that partly arrived doesn't turn bank transfer off, and transfers that ended before this was introduced were not counted.

To charge a household for something one-off, such as a guest fee, use New ad-hoc invoice on their page; see Ad-hoc invoices and collecting them for how a club can have these collected from a saved bank account.

Use a credit or adjustment to reduce a balance. Use a payment refund only when the invoice type allows it. Dues corrections are generally account credit, while bond refunds are paid by check. See Refunding a payment.

When you add an adjustment, type the amount with a minus sign to take money off. For a reduction, Which charge is this for? lets you pick the one charge it is for, such as one guest's fee; it is shown only once the amount has a minus sign. Picking a charge also sets the GL category to that charge's own when an adjustment can use it; you can still change it. Leave the choice on Whole invoice if it isn't for one charge. A late fee is not in the list: take a late fee off with Waive late fee on the Renewals page (see Renewals and dues), because that page would otherwise show the fee as waived while part of it was still owed. A reduction tied to a charge can't be more than that charge still asks (the charge less anything already tied to it): the page says the most that can come off, for example "At most $5.00 can be taken off it." Tying it matters when a guest's visit is later voided, because the void then doesn't take the same money off again; see Guest log. Only a reduction can be tied to a charge, never an added charge. After you add an adjustment the form is blank again, so the same reduction is not sent twice.

If a member has a payment page open for a bill when you add a waiver (an adjustment that lowers the bill), apply a credit, or cancel (void) the bill, that page is closed first so the member can't pay the old amount. If they go back to pay, they see the new amount. If the page can't be closed, the change is refused and nothing is changed. The message says why: the member is in the middle of paying ("Try again in a minute."), a bank transfer for the bill is on its way (wait until it arrives or is canceled), or Stripe couldn't be reached to close the page (try again shortly, and contact Swim Ops support if it keeps happening). Adding a charge, such as a late fee, never closes the page. A bill that can't be voided (one with a payment still being processed, or one already paid or voided) is refused before any page is closed.

Cancelling (voiding) a bill gives back any account credit that was used on it. The credit goes back to the household's account with its original terms: credit that only works for camp still only works for camp, and credit with an expiry date keeps that date, even if it has already passed. The cancelled invoice shows Credit given back, the confirmation before you void and the message after it say how much credit goes back, and the household's history shows it. This happens however the bill is cancelled, including when a member cancels a booking or a membership is relinquished or ended.

Members pay each bill in full unless your club turns on Let members pay part of a bill under Club → Payments. It is off unless you turn it on. While it is off, a member's invoice page offers only the full amount, and a payment for less is turned down with a sentence saying the club asks for the full amount. A check is still recorded for whatever arrives; if it covers only part of the bill, the household pays the rest in full, online or by another check. A part payment a member started before the switch was turned off still goes through.

With it on, a member can pay part of a large invoice by bank debit. The smallest part payment is set under Club → Payments beside the switch; a final payment that clears the invoice is always allowed even if it is smaller than that. The member's own invoice page states the smallest amount and the balance still due before they type anything, and turns down an amount outside that range in plain words.

While a part payment is settling, the whole invoice sits in processing and nothing counts as paid yet. The member's page names the amount on its way and the amount still due, rather than telling them there is nothing more to do. If a member's bank transfer arrives short, their page says how much has arrived and how much is still owed, and asks them to send the rest using the same instructions.