Writing Off an Unpaid Balance

Overview

Sometimes you receive a part payment on an invoice and decide not to chase the rest. Astalty does not have a dedicated write-off, bad debt, or credit note feature, so there is no button that clears the shortfall for you.

Instead, you record a second payment for the remaining balance and allocate it to the invoice. Once the allocations against an invoice add up to the invoice total, the invoice moves to Paid and the shortfall drops out of Total Outstanding on the Invoices page.

The invoice total itself never changes. Astalty always recalculates an invoice total from the charges on it, so the write-off is represented by the extra allocation rather than by reducing the invoice — your original invoice amount stays intact for reporting.

Before you start

Open the invoice and note the exact amount still owing, shown as Amount Due on the invoice. This is the figure you will record as the write-off.

Recording the write-off

1. Go to Payments in the Finance section and click Create Payment.
2. Enter the Date for the payment.
3. Choose the Type that matches the invoice — Plan Managed or Self Managed. If you choose Plan Managed, also select the relevant plan manager.
4. Use the Reference field to label the payment clearly, for example Write off or Write off - I-001-0002. This is how you will recognise it later, so it isn't mistaken for money actually received.
5. Enter the outstanding amount in the Amount field.
6. Click Create Payment to save it.
7. In the Allocations list, find the invoice you are writing off. Partially paid invoices appear here, and the Outstanding column shows the amount still owing.
8. Enter that outstanding amount in the Paid Amount field against the invoice.
9. Open the invoice again to confirm it now shows an Amount Due of $0.00 and a status of Paid.

For a full walkthrough of creating and allocating a payment, see Plan and Self Managed Payments.

Changed your mind?

A write-off can be reversed. Delete the payment, or set its allocation against the invoice back to $0.00, and the outstanding amount returns to the invoice. See Deleting Payments.

The same applies if you used Mark as Paid on a partially paid invoice by mistake — you can spot these on the Invoices page, where the paid status shows as Overpaid. Delete the payment that Mark as Paid created, then follow the steps above to record the shortfall instead.