Invoices

How invoice balances work

Understand subtotal, discount, amount paid, balance due, and total.

Invoice balance is the amount still owed by the customer. The balance changes when discounts are applied or payments are recorded.

Main balance fields

  • Subtotal is the invoice amount before discount.
  • Discount reduces the amount the customer needs to pay.
  • Total is the final invoice value after discount.
  • Amount paid is the total of payments recorded.
  • Balance due is the amount still unpaid.

Simple example

  • Subtotal: KSh 12,500.
  • Discount: KSh 500.
  • Total: KSh 12,000.
  • Amount paid: KSh 5,000.
  • Balance due: KSh 7,000.

What causes balance problems

  • Payment entered with the wrong amount.
  • Payment deleted by mistake.
  • Discount entered wrongly.
  • Invoice item quantity or price wrong.
  • Customer paid but payment was not recorded.
  • Payment was recorded against the wrong invoice.

How to check a balance problem

  • Open the invoice.
  • Check item totals.
  • Check discount.
  • Check payment history.
  • Check invoice history.
  • Check whether the correct customer and invoice number were used.

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Bizwazi helps small businesses record sales, expenses, invoices, inventory, bills, transfers and daily balances so the money makes more sense.