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Add To Account Partial Payment Handling

Updated

Overview

When a customer pays part of their order and then asks to put the rest on their store account, you can choose whether OrderCounter reverses the partial payment or keeps it as a payment on the account.

For example, a customer hands you $5 cash on a $20 order and asks to put the rest on their account. One setting, with two options, controls what happens to the partial payment:

  • Reverse Partial Payment (default) - the cashier is prompted to reverse the partial payment so the entire order is charged to the account.
  • Keep Partial as Account Payment - the partial payment stays in the till and is recorded as a payment toward that customer's account. The full sale amount is charged to the account, and a separate payment-on-account entry is automatically created for the partial. The customer's net account balance only goes up by the remainder.

This is useful for accounts where customers regularly pay a little at the counter and put the rest on credit.

How to Use

Pick the mode

  1. Open Back Office.
  2. Go to Settings > Payments > Tenders (or use the search box - type "Add To Account").
  3. Find Add To Account Partial Payment Handling.
  4. Choose:
    • Reverse Partial Payment (default) to have the cashier reverse the partial payment.
    • Keep Partial as Account Payment to keep the partial payment as a payment on the account.
  5. Save.

What the cashier sees, by mode

Reverse Partial Payment (default)

  1. Cashier rings up a $20 order.
  2. Customer hands $5 cash; cashier applies a $5 partial cash payment.
  3. Cashier presses Add To Account.
  4. POS shows: "Full balance of order must be applied to account. If you choose to continue, any payment made to this transaction will be reversed (including credit card payments)."
  5. If the cashier confirms, the $5 is reversed, the cashier hands the $5 back, the full $20 goes onto the account.
  6. If the cashier cancels, nothing happens.

Keep Partial as Account Payment

  1. Cashier rings up a $20 order.
  2. Customer hands $5 cash; cashier applies a $5 partial cash payment.
  3. Cashier presses Add To Account and picks the customer's account.
  4. The POS does the following automatically:
    • Creates the $20 sale invoice and charges the full $20 to the account.
    • Keeps the $5 cash in the till.
    • Creates a separate "Account Payment" invoice for $5 against the same account.
    • Net change to the customer's account balance is $15.
  5. The cashier sees Saved to account. The $5 cash drawer entry from the original partial stays put.

End result: customer owes $15 more, you have $5 more cash, books balance.

Limitations

  • The mode applies store-wide. You cannot set it per cashier or per account.
  • In Keep Partial as Account Payment mode, two invoices are recorded for the transaction: one for the sale and one for the payment. Customer account history shows both lines.
  • This setting also applies to EBT, gift certificate, and deposit-redeemed partials. If your store takes any of those as partials before Add To Account, switch to Keep Partial as Account Payment so they are recorded as a payment on the account.
  • The Add To Account button also respects the Override Add To Account password setting and the Gift Cards on Account rule.
  • The account payment receipt matches the standard payment-on-account receipt the customer would get if they paid the account through the Pay Account flow. The cashier may get two receipt printouts (one for the sale, one for the payment), depending on your receipt copy settings.

FAQ

Q: What happens if I leave the setting at "Reverse Partial Payment"? A: The cashier is prompted to reverse the partial payment before the full order goes on the account. The prompt also appears for EBT, gift certificate, and deposit-redeemed partials.

Q: Can the cashier choose per-transaction which mode to use? A: No. The mode is set in Back Office and applies to every Add To Account press until you change it.

Q: What happens if the customer paid the full amount already and then presses Add To Account? A: Add To Account is not needed when the order is already paid. The cashier sees the standard prompts and the order is finalized normally.

Q: Does this work with credit card partials? A: Yes for both modes, but think carefully about it: in Reverse Partial Payment mode the credit transaction is voided. In Keep Partial as Account Payment mode the credit charge is kept and shown as a payment against the account. If the credit was hosted (PAX, Vantiv, etc.), the Keep mode is generally safer because no void is attempted.

Q: Can I see both the sale and the payment in the account history? A: Yes. The customer's account shows the full sale invoice and the offsetting payment invoice as two separate lines.

Q: What if the cashier cancels at the account-picker dialog? A: Nothing is written. The partial payment is left intact and the cashier is back at checkout. Same in both modes.