Payments & the ledger

Every pound that moves through Pet Central is recorded as a payment in one place: Finance → Payments. It does not matter how the money arrived — card, PayPal, a payment link, bank transfer, cash or your own card reader — or what it was for. Deposits, invoice payments and package purchases all land in the same ledger.

Nothing is a guess. An invoice is marked paid because payments recorded against it add up to its total; it shows as part paid when they add up to less. That is why there is no separate “mark paid” step any more — you record the money you received, and the status follows automatically.

Taking a payment: open the invoice and use the Take a payment box on the right. It shows what was invoiced, what has come in and what is still outstanding, defaults the amount to the balance, and lets you pick the method. Part payments are fine — record each one as it arrives and the balance keeps up.

Deposits taken against a booking are recorded the same way, so a deposit and the invoice for the same job finally share one set of books instead of living apart.

Refunds are recorded as money going back out (a negative entry), so your totals net off correctly rather than a status flag being the only trace.

Card payments through Stripe record themselves automatically, with the exact amount Stripe reports. Every other method is recorded by you when the money lands — one tap when you reconcile.

Example

A booking takes a £10 card deposit, which records itself. On collection the customer pays the £25 balance in cash, so you open the invoice, tap Record payment, and it settles — the ledger shows both, and the client balance is zero.

FAQ

Where do I see everything that has been paid?
Pet Central → Finance → Payments. Every payment and refund is listed with its amount, method, date and what it settled.

What happened to “Mark paid”?
It is now “Record payment” on the invoice. Recording the money is what marks the invoice paid, so a payment always exists behind a paid invoice.

Can I take part payments?
Yes. Record each amount as it arrives; the invoice shows as part paid and the outstanding balance updates automatically until it reaches zero.

How do I record a payment from my card reader?
Take it on your reader as usual, then open the invoice and record the payment choosing that method. Pet Central has no live link to card readers, so it needs that one tap.

Does a refund undo the payment?
It records a matching amount going back out, so the original payment is still on record and your totals net off correctly.