Method CRM logo Method CRM automation · runs weekly

Record customer payments in Method CRM

Checks and transfers land in the bank, and someone has to find the customer and the invoice in Method and enter each payment before the books match.

Cotlet does it in your own Method CRM account with list_customers, list_invoices and receive_payment, called by your AI agent, an n8n workflow or a script.

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Hosted · nothing to install or maintain

Can Method CRM do this on its own?

Method's Payments App records one payment at a time (checked 23 Oct 2026). Its API can create transactions, and Method says it cannot process payments. Nothing in Method matches a bank line to an invoice.

How you do it in Method CRM today

  1. In the Payments App, click New, or New Payment in the Payment List. Pick the customer first.
  2. Enter the Amount, which defaults to the customer's full outstanding balance, then the Payment Method, the Date and the Deposit to Account.
  3. Leave Auto Apply Payments ticked, or untick it and use Select Invoices to Pay to choose the invoices by hand.
  4. Leave Process with Payment Gateway when saving unticked for a check or transfer, which Method then treats as already received. Add the reference number.
  5. Save. Method updates the invoices in Method and, unless Wait for sync approval is ticked, in QuickBooks.

How to record customer payments in Method CRM

Prompt

Here are this week's bank deposits. Match each to an open Method invoice by customer and amount, record the payment with the right invoice, and list the lines you could not match.
  1. 01

    Find the customer

    list_customers runs once per bank line with the payer name. A name that matches two customers is listed for you, because a payment on the wrong customer syncs to the wrong books.

  2. 02

    Find the invoices

    list_invoices returns the customer's invoices with balance due. The agent looks for one whose total equals the deposit, the same rule Method's auto-apply uses first.

  3. 03

    Choose how to apply

    An exact match is applied to that invoice. A deposit smaller than the invoice is recorded as a partial payment on it. A deposit larger than the oldest invoice goes to the oldest, then the next one.

  4. 04

    Record without charging

    receive_payment saves the payment with the method, date, deposit account and the reference number from the bank line. It never charges a card, and it holds the QuickBooks sync by default. Each call waits for your OK.

  5. 05

    List what is left

    Lines with no customer, a negative balance or no open invoice are not recorded. The agent lists them with the reason.

What you get back

Example data

Bank lines: 5
Recorded 3:
- Ortega Kitchens, check 1187, 4,800 to invoice 1043
- Chen Dental, transfer, 1,250 to invoice 1038
- Patel Studio, transfer, 300 partial on invoice 1047
Left for you 2:
- "J LOPEZ", 500, two customers match
- "ACME PAYROLL", 2,000, no open invoice

Other ways to ask

  • Do this every Friday for the deposits in the CSV I attach, and hold every sync.
  • Only list which deposits match an invoice exactly and record nothing.
  • Record the deposits as of their bank dates, not today.

What Method CRM allows, and what to know first

  • Method does not let a customer with a negative balance have a payment linked to them.
  • Method's Auto Apply Payments pays an invoice whose total equals the payment first, otherwise the oldest outstanding invoice, and rolls any leftover to the next oldest.
  • A future payment date is allowed, and Method advises ticking Wait for sync approval so QuickBooks invoices are not updated early.
  • Attachments on a payment do not sync to QuickBooks.

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

Sources: Method Help: Receive a Payment for QuickBooks Online Accounts · Method Help: Log a Partial Payment · Method: Method CRM API

Call receive_payment from a script

curl

curl -X POST https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/method-crm/customers/C-2041/payment/receive \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"amount":4800,"payment_method":"Check","date":"2026-10-21","deposit_to_account":"Checking","invoice_ids":["1043"],"reference_number":"1187","wait_for_sync_approval":true}'

Example response

{
  "payment_id": "P-3320",
  "customer": "Ortega Kitchens",
  "amount": 4800,
  "applied": [
    {
      "invoice_id": "1043",
      "amount": 4800,
      "balance_due": 0
    }
  ],
  "sync": "held"
}

MCP: add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 with the same key; the call is method_crm_write → receive_payment. Example data.

Schedule it in n8n, Make, Zapier or cron

Method CRM tools this automation uses

Cotlet Method CRM tools used to record customer payments in Method CRM
Tool Parameters
list_customers query, contact_type, cursor
list_invoices status, contact_id, assigned_to, cursor
receive_payment customer_id, amount, payment_method, date, deposit_to_account, invoice_ids, reference_number, wait_for_sync_approval
All 15 Method CRM tools with descriptions

Frequently asked questions

Is it safe to connect Method CRM to Cotlet?

Yes. You sign in to Method CRM yourself, in your own Cloud Browser in the EU, and we never save your password. Your agents only get Method CRM once you enable it, every background request is listed, and the browser profile is stored encrypted with AES-256-GCM, the cipher 1Password uses for its vaults. The AI model never sees a login, posts and messages wait for your OK, and Disable for agents cuts access in one click. Independent scanners grade cotlet.dev A+ on Qualys SSL Labs, securityheaders.com and Mozilla Observatory; live results are on https://cotlet.dev/security.

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