Customers don't always pay an invoice all at once. When a payment comes in for less than the full balance, Cornerspot tracks it as a partial payment — the invoice moves to Partially paid, the balance counts down, and the invoice only reaches Paid once nothing is left outstanding. This guide shows you how to record partial payments and read what changes on the invoice.
How partial payments work in Cornerspot
Any payment you record — or that a customer makes online — is applied against the invoice's outstanding balance. If it covers the whole balance, the invoice becomes Paid. If it covers only part of it, the invoice becomes Partially paid and keeps the remaining balance open until further payments bring it to zero.
1. Open the invoice
From your Invoices list, open a finalized invoice that's Open (or already Partially paid or Overdue) and still has a balance. The hero card shows the amount due, and the Payments card is where you'll log money you receive.
2. Record the first payment
In the Payments card, click Record manual payment. This is how you log a payment received outside of online checkout — a check, cash, or a bank transfer.
3. Enter an amount smaller than the balance
The Record Payment panel shows the current Outstanding balance and pre-fills the Amount with the full balance. To record a partial payment, change the Amount to less than the balance, pick the Method and Date, and add an optional Reference or internal Notes. Then click Record payment. The amount can't exceed what's outstanding.
4. See the invoice become “Partially paid”
Once the payment is applied, the invoice's status flips to Partially paid. The hero card splits into Collected (what's been paid so far) and Outstanding (what's still owed), and the Balance due drops by the amount you recorded.
5. Record more payments over time
As more money comes in, record each payment the same way. The Payments card lists every payment — its date, method, reference, amount, and status — and its subtitle summarizes everything as “{N} payments · {amount} outstanding.” Keep recording until the outstanding amount reaches zero, at which point the invoice becomes Paid.
6. Watch the balance count down
Each payment counts the balance down. The hero card always reflects how much has been Collected versus what's still Outstanding, so you can see exactly where the invoice stands at a glance.
Tips for partial payments
- A payment can never exceed the outstanding balance — Cornerspot blocks an over-payment.
- Use the Reference field (e.g. a check number or transaction id) so each partial payment is easy to reconcile later.
- If a balance lingers, send a reminder from the invoice to prompt the customer to pay the rest.
- Online payments your customer makes from the member portal behave exactly the same way — each one reduces the balance until the invoice is fully paid.