Partial Payment, Open Invoice

[MarionB2BAuto]

I am curious on something. Because of the local economy, I have several customers "on payment" meaning that when I repair their vehicle, it stays in my shop until they pay it off. They may come in one week and pay $100, then the next week pay $50, and so on. PERSONALLY I would like to keep the invoice open, and on my WIP screen until I am ready to post the final payment and deliver. However whenever I post a partial payment on the "Pay/Post invoice" button, even if II pay a partial payment, it takes it off the WIP screen. Is there a way to post a payment, but still keep the invoice open, and on my WIP?

[steven kiser]

Let's see if this helps. I have a few space takers on my lot as well. When a payment is made i treat it as a normal order. I make it an invoice and when i apply partial payment i'm prompted to post additional payment and i just click no. I make a note of the payment on the order and the current amount due. For some reason it shows the total amount open when i bring up the invoice, it will not show the true amount due until i go to the payment prompt.

Now we all know i just can't stop here on this post. I also add a monthly fee, this stimulated people to get their vehicles off my lot. In the past i've had vehicles left for months with the amount chipped away at only to find the person is away and had no other place to park it. I also charge people for starting and driving the vehicles around and fuel if necessary. The last thing i want is someone to pick up a vehicle i'm storing and complain that the brakes are grinding or pulsating or the battery is dead and after i jump it so they can take it i get a call that it won't start. All of these things have happened to me. THe other think i know i've mentioned before about these issues is i take everything out of the vehicle, take pictures and document them. take pictures of the condition of the interior and exterior. It only takes a few minutes and can save a bit of frustration. I had a mini van that had a cooler with food in it when it was left. I noticed the smell a few weeks later. I have an air ionizer that got the stink out but it would have been a real mess if i hadn't caught it. I had a person show up to get their belongings out of a vehicle. I had them is storage and they wanted them. I explained to them they came with the vehicle so they leave with it. 'm not being a prick here but one of my tenants did a bunch of work to a van and allowed the person to take all their tools. After a few months he found out the person found a used van cheaper than his bill was and just pretty much abandoned it.


Doing people favors like this gives them the opportunity to think things over. I had a person that was a fairly regular customer i did a favor like this for and after a month or so he came to me after speaking to his buddies at the "social club" and he now feels i screwed him. When this happens you're dead in the water. I took off the 4 new tires, radiator and front brakes and pushed it into his driveway later that night. I denied ever having it on my lot. We all want to be good shits and help people out when their down and out but one of these times we get stung bad. I protect myself like a professional goalie. I have agreements drawn up about storage and a comprehensive check list that the customer signs. I charge a minimum fee of a dollar a week to make it binding and i have the opportunity to wave the fee but in case it's on the street and gets clipped with the agreement i have i'm legally covered and if necessary my insurance company can't duck the responsibility. Maybe being from Massachusetts and getting it rammed up my breezeway from "every one is a victim" laws i cover as many angles as possible. Heck i've even had a signed agreement document notarized because i smelled a rat. Well enough for me. You can probably figure out a bottomer or two has tried to tag me.

[timbre4]

The short version is you don't really want to keep it open cluttering your WIP screen. Besides tripping over that entry, the system cannot fulfill it's ability to report balances due for this customer. (based on posted invoices)

When they come in and make a payment, press F5 batch payment, select their name and process the payment. Print a receipt as needed.