Log check and cash payments on Dubsado invoices

1. Find the invoice: open the Invoicing page, use the Invoices widget on Home, or click Amount remaining under Insights > Finance reports to see every open invoice.
2. Open the invoice and click the Transactions tab in the details column, then Payment (or + Log a payment when the invoice has no transactions yet).
3. In the Log payment dialog, set the Date the payment was received, choose the Payment method (Cash, Check, Credit, E-transfer and others) and enter the Amount; Add max amount fills in the whole balance.
4. Add a Description such as the check number and click Log Payment, or Mark invoice as paid when it covers the balance.
5. Repeat for every check and transfer. Matching a deposit to the right invoice and installment is the slow part, and a payment logged twice or on the wrong project is easy to miss.

Here are this week's checks and e-transfers. Match each one to the open Dubsado invoice it pays, log it as a manual payment, and list who still owes me.

1. 01

   Match each payment to one invoice

   For each line you give (payer, amount, date, check number), the agent finds the client with list_clients and their open invoices with list_invoices. An amount that equals a balance or the next installment is a match; two invoices that fit equally go back to you.

2. 02

   Stop on amounts that do not fit

   Dubsado refuses a payment larger than the remaining balance, so an overpayment is reported instead of split across invoices. A payment that fits no open invoice, or comes from someone who is not a client, is listed as unmatched.

3. 03

   Guard against double logging

   When the balance is already lower by that exact amount, or the invoice is paid, the agent assumes it was logged before and skips it. The check number goes into the description so the next run and your bookkeeping can tell payments apart.

4. 04

   Log with your OK

   record_manual_payment uses the method the client actually used and the date the money arrived, not today's date. You approve each payment, or the whole batch after reading the match list.

5. 05

   Report what is still owed

   The run ends with list_invoices for every unpaid invoice: client, balance and the next due date, overdue ones first, so the Monday "who owes me" list comes out of the same run.

Logged after your OK (3):
Check #1042, $800.00 from Acme Co: invoice 0042 "Acme rebrand", balance now $0.00, marked Paid.
E-transfer $400.00 from Maya Chen: invoice 0051 "Spring brand shoot", installment 1 of 3, balance $800.00.
Cash $150.00 from Leo Grant: invoice 0049, balance now $0.00.
Not logged: $1,250.00 from R. Patel is more than the $1,000.00 balance on invoice 0047; check the amount.
Still owed: 4 invoices, $3,150.00. Overdue: 0038 "Kim family session", $450.00 due 1 Oct.

• Dubsado does not let a manual payment exceed the invoice's remaining balance, and a payment that clears the balance moves the invoice to Paid.
• Only manually logged Dubsado payments can be edited or deleted; payments through Dubsado Payments are locked and can only be refunded.
• Logging a manual payment in Dubsado sends the client no receipt; the invoice itself lists the payment, and you share it as a PDF or link when the client wants proof.
• Dubsado payment reminders for an installment stop once that installment is paid in full, while logging or editing a manual payment does not cancel the client's autopay enrollment.
• Dubsado invoices with any transaction cannot be deleted; to stop collecting, you close the invoice, which marks the rest as uncollectible and cancels the remaining reminders.

record_manual_payment asks for your OK by default. To run it weekly without you, switch confirmation off for that tool in your dashboard.

Sources: Dubsado Help: Managing manual payments · Dubsado Help: Send transaction receipts to clients · Dubsado Help: Automated payment reminders · Dubsado Help: Finance reports

curl https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/dubsado/record_manual_payment \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"invoice_id":"inv_20417","amount":"400.00","paid_on":"2026-10-09","method":"e_transfer","description":"E-transfer ref 7731"}'

{
  "invoice_id": "inv_20417",
  "amount": "400.00",
  "method": "check",
  "paid_on": "2026-10-12",
  "balance": "800.00",
  "invoice_status": "unpaid"
}

MCP: add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 with the same key; the tool is dubsado_record_manual_payment. Example data.

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