Once money has actually moved, the invoice should match. You can record a payment yourself, let Xero update the status when a payment lands there, or mark approved booking invoices as paid on a schedule — so you are not opening each one after a weekly pay run.
Recording a payment updates the invoice (Paid or Partially Paid), writes it on the booking, and can send remittance and stop reminders. You do not have to chase those follow-ups by hand.
What this helps you do
Record a payment on an open invoice, with amount, method, reference, and notes.
Pay part of an invoice now and the rest later.
Send a remittance email automatically when an invoice becomes fully paid, or share the remittance yourself.
Let Xero payment activity update invoice status when Xero is connected.
Mark unpaid booking invoices as paid on a schedule after the settlement is approved.
Edit, refund, or void a payment if the ledger needs to change.
Before you start
The invoice must already be issued. You can add a payment when the status is Open, Viewed, Overdue, or Partially Paid. Draft and voided invoices cannot be paid.
You need permission to manage invoices on that booking.
If you want remittance email to go out automatically, turn on Send remittance automatically when an invoice is paid in Settings → Invoices, and set your default remittance wording in Settings → Emails.
Record a payment by hand
Use this when you have paid (or been paid) outside the app — bank transfer, cash, card, and so on.
Open the invoice from Payments, or from the booking Payments tab.
Choose Add payment.
Check the amount. It defaults to the balance due. Enter a smaller amount if this is a part payment.
Choose a Payment method: Bank transfer, Credit card, Cash, Cheque, PayPal, Stripe, or Other.
Add a Reference if you want (cheque number, transfer ID, or similar).
Add Notes if you want extra context for your team.
If a remittance email is about to send, leave Send email automatically on, or turn it off for this payment only.
Choose Record payment.
The invoice becomes Paid when the recorded payments cover the total, or Partially Paid if a balance is still due. The payment date is saved when you record it.
You can also ask the assistant to record a payment on an invoice.
Send remittance
A remittance tells the person who was paid that the invoice is settled. It uses your default remittance message from Settings → Emails.
Automatic remittance email
In Settings → Invoices, turn on Send remittance automatically when an invoice is paid.
When that is on, a remittance email is sent as soon as a payment you record — or the scheduled mark-paid run — takes the invoice to Paid. It goes to the payee's payment email recipients — not when the payee is your own Account.
Partial payments do not send remittance. The email waits until the invoice is fully paid.
Payments that arrive from Xero do not send remittance. After the invoice is paid, you can still open Remittance and share the link yourself.
When you record a payment that will finish the invoice, the dialog can show Remittance email will be sent. You can turn Send email automatically off if you do not want that email this time.
Send or share remittance yourself
There is no separate “Send remittance” button after the fact. After a payment is recorded:
Open the invoice.
Open the payment menu (⋯).
Choose Remittance to view it.
Download the PDF, or copy the remittance link and send it yourself.
You can do the same with Receipt when you want a receipt instead of remittance advice.
Mark booking invoices as paid on a schedule
If you approve settlements first and pay later (for example a weekly pay run), you can mark those booking invoices paid in one scheduled pass. There is no checkbox on Payments to select many invoices and mark them paid at once — the schedule is the batch path.
Open Settings → Invoices.
Find Mark invoices as paid automatically.
Turn on Mark unpaid booking invoices as paid on a schedule.
Set frequency, day (if weekly), time, and timezone.
Save.
At that time, unpaid Booking Settlement invoices are marked paid if the settlement was already approved before the run. The next run also includes invoices that were already approved before you turned this on.
If a lot of invoices qualify, they are marked paid in the background. That takes a few minutes. You can keep working — invoices flip to Paid as they finish.
This only applies to fully unpaid booking invoices that are Open, Viewed, or Overdue. Commission invoices, deposit invoices, and invoices that already have a part payment are left alone.
Remittance and invoice reminders follow the same rules as recording the payment yourself.
When Xero records a payment
If Xero is connected and invoices sync there, a payment recorded in Xero can update the invoice status here so you do not enter the same payment twice.
Those Xero payments do not send remittance. Recording, refunding, or voiding a payment here also does not create a matching payment in Xero. Bank feeds and reconciliation in Xero stay the source of truth for money movement.
See Connect Xero for sync settings and what does not push to Xero.
Edit, refund, or void a payment
Open the invoice, then the payment menu (⋯).
Edit
Choose Edit (or Edit payment from the invoice header) to change amount, method, reference, or notes. If you reduce the amount so the invoice is no longer fully paid, it leaves Paid.
Refund
Choose Refund, then Record refund. Enter the amount, payment method, and optional notes. The invoice may return to Partially Paid or unpaid, depending on what is left. You can later Void refund if that refund should not count.
Void (unmark as paid)
There is no separate “unmark as paid” action. Void the payment that should not count.
Open the payment menu.
Choose Void (or Void payment).
Add a reason if you want.
Confirm Void payment.
Voiding cannot be undone. The payment is marked Voided, and the invoice balance comes back. If Australian super had moved forward because the invoice was fully paid, it can move back if that super has not already been sent.
Voiding a payment is not the same as voiding the invoice. Void invoice cancels the bill itself. Void payment only removes that payment row.
What else happens when an invoice is paid
Invoice reminders stop once the invoice is fully paid.
For Australian Accounts with super on, a fully paid booking invoice can move the related super to ready. See Set up superannuation.
Activity on the booking shows that the payment was recorded.
Recording or voiding a payment here does not add or remove a payment in Xero.
Mark a settlement line as paid (not an invoice)
On a settlement, Mark as already paid records that a single line was paid — for example cash on the night — without creating a normal invoice.
That is an internal settlement entry (Marked as paid). It does not send remittance, does not appear on the account Payments list as an invoice, and does not sync a payment to Xero.
Use Add payment on the invoice when you want the real invoice marked paid.
You can also…
On Enterprise, Release payment can release a paid invoice amount into commission or roster settlements when your workflow splits the fee after the booking invoice is paid.
Common questions
Can I pay only part of an invoice? Yes. Enter a smaller amount. The invoice becomes Partially Paid until the rest is recorded.
Why did remittance not send? The invoice may still have a balance, remittance auto-send may be off, the payee may be your own Account, or there may be no payment email for the payee. You can still open Remittance and share the link.
Can I mark many invoices paid at once from the Payments list? No. Use Mark invoices as paid automatically in Settings → Invoices for approved booking invoices, or record each payment with Add payment.
Why aren't all invoices Paid yet after the scheduled time? A large run finishes in the background. Refresh Payments after a few minutes. Remittance emails, if you have them on, can make a large run take longer.
Does the schedule mark commission invoices? No. Only unpaid booking settlement invoices with an approved settlement.
Does adding a payment in here pay the bill in Xero? No. Record the payment in Xero if that is where you reconcile the bank. Xero can then update status here.
How do I undo a mark as paid? Void that payment. If several payments were recorded, void the ones that should not count.
What payment methods can I choose? Bank transfer, Credit card, Cash, Cheque, PayPal, Stripe, or Other.