Handle Partial Payments

A partial payment occurs when a customer pays less than the outstanding balance. This is common in workshops — a customer pays a deposit at drop-off, or pays their excess while waiting for the insurer to settle the remainder. BayWise Payments tracks partial payments automatically and shows the remaining balance on every surface.

Who can do this: Cashiers, Service Advisors, and Finance Managers.

What partial payments look like

When a partial payment is recorded against an entity, the following changes occur across BayWise Payments:

The EntityCard in the Collection Queue shows a PARTIAL badge inline on the vehicle row.
The Balance Due amount updates to show the remaining balance, with a sub-line reading “of [total]” so you can see both the outstanding and original amounts at a glance.
The event row in the Financial Modal moves to State B (has transactions) and shows the recorded amount alongside the remaining balance.
The entity stays in the Collection Queue until the full balance is settled.

Record a partial payment

Open the entity from the Collection Queue

Navigate to the Collection Queue and find the vehicle. Click the entity card to open the Financial Modal.

Go to the Collections sub-tab

In the Financial Modal, the Collections sub-tab shows event rows grouped by lifecycle stage.

Click ”+ Record” on the event row

On a State A row, click ”+ Record”. If the row is already in State B (previous partial payment exists), look for the recording option within the existing transaction section.

Select the payment method

Choose Cash, Card, Bank Transfer, or Cheque from the method picker — the flow is identical to recording a full payment.

Enter the partial amount

In the amount field, enter the amount the customer is actually paying. You do not need to enter the full outstanding balance. For example, if the invoice is AED 5,000 and the customer is paying AED 2,000 now, enter 2,000.

Tax is computed on the entered amount, not the full invoice. The tax strip shows the breakdown for the partial amount.

Confirm the recording

Click confirm. The transaction is created for the partial amount. The entity card updates immediately:

Balance Due shows the remaining AED 3,000.
A sub-line reads “of AED 5,000” for context.
The PARTIAL badge appears on the card.

You can record as many partial payments as needed. Each one reduces the outstanding balance. When the total collected equals or exceeds the expected amount, the entity moves to “Fully Paid” status.

How outstanding balance is calculated

The outstanding balance formula is straightforward:

Outstanding = max(0, payable - collected)

Where:

Payable is the expected customer amount (from the invoice or estimate).
Collected is the sum of all settled inflow transactions against the entity.

The balance never goes negative. If a customer overpays (collected exceeds payable), the outstanding shows as zero and the overpayment is flagged in the ledger for review.

Insurance split scenarios

Insurance jobs are the most common source of partial payments. The total bill is split between the customer and the insurer, and each party pays separately.

How the split works

When an entity has an insurance component:

The customer amount is the customer’s portion of the bill (excess, co-pay, or non-covered items).
The insurance amount is the insurer’s portion.
The EntityCard shows both amounts in the right column — Insurance Due first, then Balance Due (customer portion).

Recording the customer’s portion

Customer pays their excess

At Santos Body Works Sao Paulo, the customer pays their excess of BRL 1,500 in cash at vehicle delivery. Record this as a cash payment against the customer’s portion. The EntityCard’s Balance Due updates to zero for the customer, but the Insurance Due amount remains outstanding.

Insurer pays the remainder

When the insurer remits payment (typically via bank transfer on credit terms), record it against the insurance portion. Select the insurer as the contact so the payment is attributed to the insurance bucket, not the customer bucket.

Entity reaches Fully Paid

When both the customer and insurance amounts are fully collected, the entity shows “Fully Paid” with the green checkmark badge.

Contact-based attribution

Partial payments are attributed to the customer or insurer based on the contact attached to the transaction:

If the contact matches the insurer on file, the payment reduces the insurance outstanding.
If the contact matches the customer or is unspecified, the payment reduces the customer outstanding.
Unclassified inflows (no contact match) default to the customer bucket.

This means that correctly selecting the contact during recording is important for accurate split tracking.

State C: settling the remaining balance

When the event row has partial payments and a remaining balance, it enters State C. In this state, the row shows:

All previously recorded transactions with their amounts and methods.
A “Mark as Received/Paid” button for settling the remaining balance.

The “Mark as Received/Paid” action is a shortcut for recording the final payment that closes out the balance. It pre-fills the remaining amount and lets you select the method.

Common partial payment scenarios

Deposit at drop-off, balance at delivery

At Sharma Motors Mumbai, the service advisor collects a 30% deposit when the customer drops off the vehicle. The remaining 70% is collected when the customer picks up the vehicle after repairs.

Record the deposit (30%) as a cash payment when the vehicle arrives.
The entity card shows PARTIAL with the 70% remaining.
When the customer returns, record the balance (70%) against the same event.
The entity moves to Fully Paid.

Multiple installments for high-value repairs

For expensive repairs at Tanaka Auto Service Osaka, a customer may pay in three installments — one-third upfront, one-third at mid-repair, and one-third at delivery. Each installment is recorded as a separate partial payment. The balance updates after each recording.

Customer overpays

If a customer accidentally pays more than the outstanding balance (e.g., pays AED 3,000 when only AED 2,500 is due), the outstanding balance shows zero. The AED 500 excess is recorded in the ledger and flagged during Day Close for resolution — typically a refund or credit note.

Common questions

How many partial payments can I record against a single entity? There is no limit. Each partial payment creates a separate transaction in the ledger. Record as many as needed until the balance reaches zero.

Can I record partial payments using different methods? Yes. The first partial payment can be cash, the second a bank transfer, and the third a card payment. Each transaction records its own method independently.

The PARTIAL badge is not showing on the entity card. The PARTIAL badge appears only when the collected amount is greater than zero but less than the expected customer amount. If the expected amount has not been set (shows “Amount TBD”), no badge appears because the system cannot determine whether the payment is partial.

Can I void one of several partial payments? Yes. Voiding one partial payment reverses its amount from the collected total. The outstanding balance increases accordingly, and the entity card updates. The remaining partial payments are unaffected. See Void a Transaction.

How does the cashflow calendar show partial payments? Each partial payment appears on the cashflow calendar on the date it was recorded. The calendar reflects actual cash movement, not the full invoice amount. Pending partial amounts (what is still owed) appear in the expected column based on credit terms and due dates.