Recording a Receipt or a Payment Against a Due Item in SamBooks
10 min read
Close a due item in your open items list by recording a customer's receipt or a supplier's payment, in full or in part, plus the journal entry it creates.
What it's for
When you issue a sales invoice or record a purchase invoice, SamBooks automatically creates a due item in the open items list: a line representing the amount still to collect or to pay, with its due date. "Recording a receipt" or "recording a payment" is the action that tells SamBooks that money has actually moved in or out of a company account: the system writes a double-entry journal entry, updates the outstanding amount of the due item, and — once the outstanding amount reaches zero — removes it from the open items list. You can settle a due item in full or in several instalments, and you can also offset it with a journal transfer instead of a real cash or bank movement.
Before you start
- The due item must already exist: it comes from an issued sales invoice, a recorded purchase invoice, an employee expense note reimbursement, or an item imported from a previous accounting system. If you can't find the due item you're looking for, first check that the source document was actually issued or recorded.
- You need a cash or bank account (bank, cash, card or PSP) to post the movement to — if you haven't created one yet, you can add it on the fly from the same recording dialog, without leaving the page.
- You need the Manager or Administrative role: a Viewer can see the open items list but cannot record or reverse anything.
How to do it, step by step
1. Open the due item to close
Go to Open items under the Finance menu. You'll see two separate aging rows — one for receivables from customers, one for payables to suppliers — and below them a table of every open item, with counterparty, type, document, due date, outstanding amount and aging bracket. You can filter by Type, Status, or search by counterparty. Once you've found the row, click the banknote icon on the right: hovering over it reveals the label, which automatically switches between Record receipt (for a receivable) and Record payment (for a payable). Alternatively, click the row to open the due item's details and use the same button from there.
2. Fill in the settlement details
The dialog that opens shows:
- Outstanding to settle: the amount still open, shown read-only as a reference.
- Date: the day the receipt or payment took place; defaults to today.
- Amount: pre-filled with the full outstanding amount — reduce it for a partial receipt or payment. It cannot exceed the outstanding amount: going over it triggers the error "The amount must be positive and not exceed…".
- Account: the cash/bank account to post the movement to, pre-filled with your default account if you've set one (otherwise the first one available). The + button next to the dropdown opens "Add account" so you can create one without closing the dialog.
- Note: an optional free-text field.
3. Confirm and check the result
Press Record. SamBooks immediately writes the journal entry and updates the due item: if you settled the full outstanding amount the row disappears from the open items list; if you only settled part of it, the row stays with the updated outstanding amount. A message confirms with "Receipt recorded." or "Payment recorded." The open items table always shows only the Outstanding column: to see exactly how much you've collected or paid so far, reopen the due item's details, which show the Amount, Paid and Outstanding figures separately.
Partial receipts and payments
You can settle a due item over several instalments: every time you record an amount lower than the outstanding balance, SamBooks subtracts it and keeps the row open with the new outstanding amount, ready for another entry. Repeat until the outstanding amount reaches zero — there's no limit to the number of partial receipts or payments on the same due item.
Offsetting with a journal transfer instead of a cash/bank account
When there's no real cash or bank movement — for example because you're offsetting a receivable from a customer against a payable to the same party, or closing a due item against an advance already recorded — use the Offset with another account link below the Account field. The field turns into a search across the entire chart of accounts (type the code or the name, for example a suspense/offset account or a supplier advances account) instead of just cash/bank accounts. SamBooks warns that "A journal transfer will be recorded: no bank movement", and in the journal the entry carries the reason "Compensazione partita" (on a receivable) or "Giroconto partita" (on a payable) instead of "Incasso fattura" or "Pagamento fattura" — the system writes these reason labels in Italian. The Back to cash account link returns to the normal mode.
Two constraints to know: the chosen account must be an active account in the chart of accounts, and it cannot be the same as the Receivables/Payables account of the due item itself — a transfer onto the same account would settle nothing, and SamBooks rejects the entry and asks you to pick a different one.
Paying a supplier invoice
The mechanics mirror a receipt exactly: open the payable due item, press Record payment, choose the date, the amount (up to the outstanding balance) and the cash/bank account the money leaves from. SamBooks debits the Payables account and credits the chosen cash/bank account — the accounting opposite of a receipt, where the cash/bank account is debited instead. You can also pay a supplier invoice partially, and you can use the offset mode instead of a real bank or cash account, for instance to close the invoice against an advance already paid.
Reversing a receipt or a payment
If you recorded a receipt or a payment by mistake, reopen the due item (from the row or from the details view): if it already has at least one recorded payment, the Reverse payment icon appears. Confirm on "Reverse this payment?" and SamBooks reopens the due item at its previous outstanding amount and removes the linked journal entry. Reversing always undoes the LAST settlement recorded on that due item: if you made several partial receipts or payments and want to undo all of them, repeat the reversal once per entry, starting from the most recent.
The Reverse icon doesn't appear at all if the due item has no recorded payment yet, or if it comes from a source other than a sales or purchase invoice (an employee expense note reimbursement or an imported item, for example): in those cases reversing isn't available from the interface.
Manual entry or bank reconciliation?
This dialog is the manual route: you tell SamBooks the receipt or payment happened, choosing the account and date yourself. There's also the bank route: once you've imported your bank statement, open the transaction on the Reconciliation tab and choose the "Close due item" path instead of this entry — the accounting result is the same, but the entry is created already linked to the matching bank line. There too, though, you are the one confirming the match: what the import matches on its own writes no journal entry and closes no due item, so an item you believe settled and still find in Open items has to be closed by hand. Use the manual entry when money moves outside an account tracked in SamBooks (cash in a till, for example) or when you want to close the item before the movement even appears on the bank statement; use bank reconciliation when the movement has already landed in the bank. The full detail of that path is in the guide on how to reconcile bank transactions with the journal.
Ask Sam
You can get the same result by asking Sam, for example: "Record the receipt of €1,200 for invoice no. 45 from Rossi Srl on the bank account" or "Pay the full invoice from supplier Bianchi Srl from the cash account." Sam finds the right due item, shows you a preview of the debit/credit lines of the entry, and only records it after your explicit confirmation — same logic as the dialog, with chat instead of a form. You can also ask Sam to reverse a receipt or a payment recorded by mistake.
If something goes wrong
- "The amount must be positive and not exceed…": you entered more than the current outstanding amount. If the number looks right but the error still appears, someone else may have recorded another receipt or payment on the same due item in the meantime: close the dialog and try again — the outstanding amount refreshes.
- The Record button stays disabled: a valid account is missing — in cash/bank mode, no account selected or created yet; in offset mode, no account chosen from the search — or the amount isn't valid.
- "No account available: add one with the + button.": the company has no cash/bank account configured yet. Use the + button next to the Account field to create one without leaving the dialog.
- The chosen offset account is rejected: if it matches the due item's own Receivables/Payables account, or if it's a disabled account in the chart of accounts, SamBooks blocks the entry and tells you explicitly — pick a different account.
- Reversal is rejected: if the fiscal year the entry belongs to has already been closed, SamBooks won't let you remove the entry and explains this in the error message; if there's no recorded payment on the due item, the Reverse icon simply isn't shown.
- Foreign-currency supplier invoice: if the amount you actually paid in euros differs from the one recorded because of the day's exchange rate, this dialog still only accepts an amount up to the outstanding balance shown; to settle the exchange-rate difference, ask Sam, who handles this specific case within the same action.
Frequently asked questions
How do I record the receipt of a customer invoice? Go to Open items, find the invoice row among the receivables, press the banknote icon labelled "Record receipt", and confirm the date, amount and cash/bank account the money arrived on.
How do I record the payment of a supplier invoice? Same path, on the payable row: press "Record payment" and choose the account the money leaves from.
Can I collect or pay only part of the amount due? Yes: reduce the Amount field below the outstanding amount shown. The due item stays open with the new outstanding amount, ready for another entry.
How do I undo a receipt or payment recorded by mistake? Reopen the due item and use the Reverse icon, if present: it reopens the due item at its previous outstanding amount and removes the linked journal entry. It only undoes the last settlement recorded.
How do I offset a receivable and a payable with the same customer or supplier? Use "Offset with another account" instead of a cash/bank account, and choose an account from the chart of accounts — for example a suspense/offset account: SamBooks records a journal transfer instead of a bank movement.
Which account does the money come from or go to? The cash/bank account you choose in the dialog — bank, cash, card or PSP — or, in offset mode, the chart-of-accounts account you point to instead.
Can I record a receipt or payment without going through bank reconciliation? Yes, that's exactly what this dialog is for: you record the account and date yourself, without waiting for the movement to show up on an imported bank statement.
Does the invoice show as "paid" after recording this? No: no path in SamBooks assigns the invoice the "Pagata" (Paid) status. What changes is the linked due item, which closes — and disappears from Open items — once its outstanding amount reaches zero.