Payments is a read-only record of money received against bookings. It's where you review what's come in, not where you key payments.
When you'd use this
- Checking which payments have landed and by what method.
Where payments come from
- Online card payments from your booking page land here automatically the moment the customer pays — nothing to key in. These show with a Stripe method badge.
- You record an in-person payment on the booking itself — open a booking and use Record Payment (bookings.md) for cash, card, bank transfer and the rest. You can also do it straight from this page with Add Payment (search the booking, then enter amount, method and date) — it posts exactly the same way.
- If you set a Card surcharge (%) in Centre Info → Finance, picking Card adds it on top: the form shows a Card surcharge line and the total the customer pays. Cash and other methods are never surcharged, and a card refund returns the surcharge too.
- Counter sales are recorded in the POS.
- This page then lists every resulting payment.
- Refunds recorded on a booking (Record Refund, see bookings.md) appear here as negative amounts and net against takings.
Reviewing payments
- Open Finance → Payments.
- Filter by search, method (Stripe, Cash, Card, Bank Transfer, Wise, PayPal, a local payment app, Other) and a From / To date range.
- Press Export CSV to download the rows currently shown (your filters and date range are applied) for spreadsheets or your accountant.
Tax invoices
Each payment row has a Tax invoice button (the same button sits on a booking's payment list and on a Shop sale). It opens a printable TAX INVOICE PDF: your centre's address ("Payable to"), an invoice number, the customer's name, your Tax ID, the date and payment type, plus a line-item table and a VAT breakdown (VAT-inclusive — the VAT shown is the amount contained in the total).
- The invoice number is issued the first time you print (e.g.
TX-2026-0001) and never changes — printing again gives the identical document. - The buttons only appear once your Tax ID, Tax Name and Tax Rate are set in Settings → Centre Info → Finance. Refunds don't get tax invoices.
- Print carefully: a mistaken print still uses up a number in the sequence.
- Every tax invoice you've issued is listed in the Tax invoices tab on Finance → Invoices — search, filter by date, reprint, and Export CSV for your accountant.
Tips
- Stripe means a card the customer paid online through your booking page. Card means a card you took in person at reception. Filter by Stripe to reconcile against your Stripe payouts.
- Invoices are billing records only — revenue is recognised through Payments. See finance-invoices.md.
- To email a receipt automatically every time you record a payment, turn on Email receipts automatically in Settings → Booking Page → Payments (it only sends when the customer has an email on file). You can always send one by hand from a booking's payment too.