Account for invoice overpayments
Change the method used to manage an overpayment
Account for invoice overpayments
When a client pays you more money than is due on the invoice that was sent, this is an overpayment. You have three options to handle the overpayment:
Refund your customer
If the payment was received through Wave’s online payments feature, you can refund your client the overpayment and Wave will automatically account for the refund. This will also save you any processing fees on the refunded portion of the payment.
If the payment was received outside of Wave, manually record a payment to the invoice for the full amount received. Refund your customer outside of Wave, then record the overpayment as a refund on the invoice.
To record the overpayment as a refund:
- Open the overpaid invoice.
- Select Manage overpayment.
- Select the method you chose to refund your customer (e.g., cash, bank payment, etc.).
- Select the account from which funds were withdrawn for the refund.
- Select Submit in your web browser or Record amount as refund in the mobile app.
Apply the overpayment to other existing invoices
If your customer paid a lump sum amount for multiple invoices, you can apply that amount to other invoices. Learn how to apply the overpayment to other invoices in Account for a lump sum invoice payment.
Create a customer credit
If your client doesn’t want a refund and prefers you to put the extra money towards future invoices, you can record the overpayment in a customer credit account. Learn how to Bookkeep a customer credit.
Change the method used to manage an overpayment
If you recorded a refund for an overpayment or transferred it to a customer credit account, you can edit or delete this transaction later if needed.
To edit or remove the transaction:
- Open the invoice.
- If in your web browser, scroll down to the Manage payments section. To edit, click Edit, make the changes, then click Submit. To delete, click Remove.
- If in the mobile app, under the Payments section, tap on the payment to open it. Click on the three dots at the top right. To edit, tap Edit, make the changes, then tap Save. To remove, tap Delete.
These changes will also impact the transactions on your Transactions page.
If you delete a refund or credit transaction, you can then choose to manage the overpayment using a different method.