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

# Payments

> A payment is applied to invoices, and each invoice's balance works itself out.

**A payment is applied to invoices, and each invoice's balance works itself out from what was applied.** Nobody types in a balance or marks an invoice paid by hand.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/denari/BjswZVn-VPq93yoD/images/flows/payments.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=BjswZVn-VPq93yoD&q=85&s=ac0c7a244e4f0b143ec9c29e20097415" alt="The Payments page listing payments with their state, provider, reference, gross, fee, and net amounts." style={{ borderRadius: "0.5rem" }} width="1600" height="1000" data-path="images/flows/payments.png" />

## How clients pay

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Online">
    The client clicks the pay link in the invoice email and pays by card or
    bank through Stripe. The payment shows up in Flows on its own.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Check, wire, or manual transfer">
    You record it:

    1. Click **Record payment**.
    2. Pick who paid and the method: **Check**, **Wire**, **ACH (manual)**, **Journal entry**, or **Credit transfer**.
    3. Enter the amount and the date.
    4. Optionally pick which invoices it pays. Invoices you name are paid first.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Payment states

| State | Meaning |
| - | - |
| **Pending** | Taken but not confirmed. |
| **Succeeded** | The payment went through. |
| **Settled** | Stripe has paid the money out to the firm and it matches up. |
| **Failed** | Did not go through. |
| **Reversed** | The money went back out (a refund, a returned bank payment, or a dispute). |

<Note>
  **Succeeded and Settled are different.** A bank payment can succeed and still
  be returned days later.
</Note>

## Paying too much or too little

* **Too much:** the extra becomes **account credit**, applied to the client's next draft on its own as a credit line.
* **Too little:** the invoice shows **Partially paid**, and the balance is what's left.

## Things to know

* **Processing fees are the firm's cost.** A $10,000 payment with $290 in card fees still pays a \$10,000 invoice in full.
* **Reversals never erase anything.** A reversed payment shows as its own entry, and the invoice balance goes back up by itself.
* **Three views.** The **Payments** page switches between **Payments** (every payment), **Ledger** (the accounting entries behind them), and **Payouts** (Stripe payouts matched to the payments inside them, with fee totals).


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.