Introduction to Payments

The Payments module enables you to accept payments for the goods sold to your customers. Your customers can pay you online through a secure gateway, thereby ensuring that the payments are faster and safer.  

You must have a merchant account, either Authorize. net or PayPal to accept payments online. However, if you don’t have a merchant account, you can enter payment details manually to track the payments done on invoice records.

 

Feature Availability

List View in Payments

List View sorts and lists all payments based on the last modified payment by default.

• Columns in List View 

The columns that are visible by default in the List View are :

1. Payment No - Displays the number of the payment record.

2. Related To - Displays the module to which the payment record is related.

3. Amount - Displays the total amount of the payment record.

4. Status - Displays the status of the payment record.

5. Mode - Displays the mode through which the payment was done.

6. Modified Time - Displays the time at which the payment record was modified.

• List actions

You can perform many quick actions such as Delete, Export, Follow, etc. on payment records in the List View.
To learn more about List View actions in Vtiger CRM, click here. 

Ways of viewing a Payment Records

• Summary View

Summary View is the view that appears when you click a particular record from the List View. The Summary View displays a collection of all the key information of the record.

The Summary View can be divided into four sections. Each section has a particular functionality.

• Summary View actions

  • Follow: You can follow a payment record to get updates on all the activities performed on that record.

  • Tags: You can add tag names to a record to identify the record easily.

  • Print: You can print payment details or save it as a PDF file for future references.

  • Duplicate: You can duplicate the current record and have all the details reflected in a new record.

  • Delete: You can delete a record by clicking this button.

• Activity

  This section lists all the activities performed on that particular record. You can click the Filters button to enable other information to be shown in this section.

• Do button

  When you click on the Do button on the right-hand top corner of the Summary View, you will see the following:

  • Add or Create- You can add or create other modules related to the payment record.

  • Send Link- You can send the link from your payment record to the customer. 

  • Pay Now- You can enter the credit card or bank details manually and make the payment.

• Widgets

  • Analytics-You can view all the metrics related to the payment in the form of charts, mini-lists, etc. You can also create new ones here.

  • Sales Ops- You can view the Invoices, Bills, Purchase Orders (PO), Credit Notes related to the payment record.

• Deep Dive View

You can view and edit all the information related to a payment record by clicking the Deep Dive button in the Summary View of the record.

Important Fields in Payments

Installation

The Payments module is not available by default. To use the Payments module, you must first install it from the extension store.
Follow these steps to install the module:

1. Click the display picture on the right-hand top corner of the screen.

2. Select Settings.

3. Click Extension Store under Extensions.

4. Locate Payments and click Install.

5. Click OK for a successful installation.

Configuration

Vtiger CRM offers you three secure gateway merchants, using which you can do the payments.

1. Authorize. net

2. PayPal

3. Stripe

After you install the payments module, it is necessary to configure these gateways to create a smooth payment process for your customers.

1. Configuring Authorize.net merchant 

Follow these steps to configure your Authorize.net merchant account:

1. Click the display picture on the right-hand top corner of the screen. 

2. Click Settings.

3. Click Payments and Subscriptions under Inventory.

4. Click the Payment Gateway Configuration tab.

5. Click the +Add Gateway button.

6. In the ‘Add Configuration’ popup, provide the following mandatory details:
   
   
    

   

1. Provider: Select Authorize.

2. Active: To enable or disable your merchant account.

3. Label: Enter the desired username.

4. API Login ID: Provide the API Login ID provided by your online payment gateway.

5. TransactionKey: Provide Transaction Key provided by your online payment gateway.

6. SilentPostURL: Use the right-click on the link next to the field and copy the link address. 

7. Now log in to your Authorize.net account.

8. Click the Account tab.

9. Click Silent Post URL and paste it in the URL field.

6. Click Save.

To know more about the features and benefits of Authorize. net, click here.

2. Configuring PayPal

The PayPal Digital Goods Checkout payment method helps you to accept payments through a secure PayPal gateway. To achieve this, you’ll need to have a PayPal Business Account to accept payments online. 

Follow a few simple steps to configure your PayPal account

1. Click the display picture on the right-hand top corner of the screen. 

2. Click Settings.

3. Click Payments and Subscriptions under Inventory.

4. Click the Payment Gateway Configuration tab.

5. Click the +Add Gateway button.

6. In the ‘Add Configuration’ popup, provide the following mandatory information:

1. Provider: Select PayPal.

2. Active: To enable or disable your merchant account.

3. Label: Enter your desired username.

4. Api User ID: Enter API Login ID provided by your PayPal Payment Gateway.

5. Password: Enter the Password provided by your PayPal Payment Gateway.

6. Signature: Paste the API Signature from PayPal.

6. Click Save.

To know more about PayPal and its features and benefits, click here.

Business accounts in PayPal 

In this section, you will learn how to create a business account on PayPal. If you already have one, you will learn where to find the API User ID, Password, and Signature.

Follow these steps to know about PayPal business accounts:

1. You can sign up for free on the PayPal website. Provide all the mandatory details and create a Business Account.
   
   
    

   

2. After signing up, log in to your PayPal account.

3. Click Tools > Business Setup > Option A.

4. Select Get your API Credentials.
   
    

   

5. Click View API Signature.
   
    

   

6. Click Show to view the API Username, API Password, and Signature.
   
    

   

7. Copy the values from the API Username, API Password, and Signature and paste them in Add Configuration Screen.
   
    

   

8. Click Done and log out of your account. 

Currencies supported by PayPal

Here is a list of currencies supported by PayPal:

To know more about PayPal currencies, click here.

3. Configuring Stripe

Follow these steps to configure your Stripe merchant account:

1. Click the display picture on the right-hand top corner of the screen. 

2. Click Settings.

3. Click Payments and Subscriptions under Inventory.

4. Click the Payment Gateway Configuration tab.

5. Click the +Add Gateway button.

6. In the Add Configuration popup, provide the following details:
   
    

   

1. Provider: Select Stripe.

2. Active: To enable or disable your merchant account.

3. Label: Enter desired username.

4. Publishable Key: Enter the key provided in the stripe account.

5. Secret Key:Enter the secret key available in the stripe account.

6. Click Save.

To know more about the features and benefits of Stripe, click here.

How to Create a Payment Record 

Listed below are the ways from which you can create a payment. 

• From Payments’ List View 

You can use the +Add Payment button to create a new payment. You can find it on the top right corner in the Payments’ List View.
Follow the steps below to create a payment:

1. Click the Menu icon.

2. Go to the Inventory tab.

3. Select the Payments module.

4. Click the +Add Payment button. By default, all payment records are related to Invoices. To change the module, click the arrow next to the button.

5. Fill in all the necessary details.

6. Click Save.

• From Invoices 

You can create a payment through an invoice with the Do button.
Follow these steps to add a payment from Do button in invoices:

1. Click the Menu icon.

2. Go to the Inventory tab.

3. Select the Invoices module.

4. Open an invoice from the List View.

5. In the Summary View of the invoice record, click the +Do button on the right-hand side top corner of the screen.

6. Click the Add or Create button.

7. Click Payments.

8. Enter all the details and click Save.

This newly created payment will now be linked to the invoice.

• From Quick Create

Payment can also be created by clicking the + icon, which is the quick create icon present on the right-hand top corner of the screen. 
Follow these steps to create a payment using Quick Create:

1. Click the + icon displayed on the top right side of your screen.

2. Click Show all to view all the modules you can create records in using Quick Create.

3. Select Payments from Order fulfillment.

4. Enter all the mandatory details.

5. Click:

1. Save to save the record.

2. Save and Continue to save the record and go to its Deep Dive View.

3. Clicking Cancel discards all the information you entered.

To know more about Quick Create, click here.

Relationship between Payments and Invoices

Vtiger CRM provides a default ‘many-to-many’ relationship between Payments and Invoices.

The following functionalities are restricted for the payments module:

• Duplicate Management from Layout Editor.
• Duplicate Check step in Import operation.
• Merge and Find Duplicates options from the List View

Note: ​For an automatic update of invoice and payment status, the customer needs to copy the silent URL from Vtiger CRM and paste it to the authorized accounts settings page. Once this is done, payment and invoice will get automatically updated once they have made the payment.
 

 

Create payment record for multiple invoices

You can relate many invoices to a payment record. Follow these steps to create a payment for multiple invoices:

1. Click the Menu icon.
2. Go to the Inventory tab.
3. Select the Payments module.
4. Click the arrow beside the  +Add Payment button.
5. Select Payment from customer from the drop-down.
6. Determine the total amount to be received.
7. Keep the Related To invoice field empty and fill in other details.
8. Click the Save.

To link Invoices, change the Payment Status to Received.

Consider the following example,

You need to receive an amount of $100,000 from XYZ company with multiple invoices.

1. Create a payment record relating to XYZ company with a total amount of $100,000.
2. Change Payment Status to Received.
3. Go to the Invoices tab and click the Select Invoice button.
   Note: To see the Select Invoice button, enable “Allow record linking for closed records” from Layout Editor.
4. You can see the related Invoices whose currency is the same as the Payment currency.
5. Select the desired invoices.
6. Enter the amount to credit.
   Example,
   Invoice 1: Total=75,000, Applied amount=$50,000.
   Invoice 2: Total=$25,000, Applied amount=$25,000.
7. Click the Apply Payment button.

The applied amount gets deducted from Available Credits, and the balanced invoices are calculated accordingly.

In the above example, 

• Available credits: 100000-75000=25000 and the total applied amount: 75000.
• The Invoice 1 balance becomes 25000.

You can see the Invoice Status and the Applied Amount in the related Invoices tab.

Unlinking an Invoice calculates the balance and updates the Invoice record.

Note!

• Ensure that the Payment currency and Invoice currency are the same.
• You can also create a Detail Report on the Applied Amount.

Tracking Payments

With Vtiger CRM, you can never lose track of your payments. You will have a record of all the payments you owe your suppliers or the payments your customers owe you. Listed below are the ways through which you can track your payments.

Tracking incoming payments

Vtiger CRM supports two different means of accepting payments from your customers. You can either initialize the payment after getting banking information from the customer or directly send the payment link to the customer. 

However, in both cases, payments are processed in a secure environment through popular online payment gateways such as Authorize. net.

• Payment initiated by the merchant 

If you are the merchant, you can initialize the payment provided, you have the credit card or bank account details of the customer.
Follow these steps to initialize the payment:

1. Click the Menu icon.

2. Go to the Inventory tab.

3. Select the Payments module.

4. Open any pending payment record.

5. Click the Do button in the Summary View.

6. Select the Pay Now option.

7. Select the gateway through which you want to process the payment.

8. Enter the customer’s credit card details.

9. You will be redirected to the gateway where the payment will be completed.

You will be redirected back to the payment record.

As a result, the following fields in your payment record in Vtiger CRM will be updated automatically:

• Status: Updates to Received (Invoice)

• Date received: Updates payment received date, the current date

• Payment initiated by the customer

You can send the payment link to your customers using which they can make the payment.
Follow these steps to initiate the payment by the customer:

1. Click the Menu icon.

2. Go to the Inventory tab.

3. Select the Payments module.

4. Open any pending payment record.

5. Click the Do button in the Summary View.

6. Select the Send Link option.

7. Select the gateway through which you want to process the payment.

An email compose window will be opened with the payment link embedded in it.

8. Enter the recipient’s details.

9. Click Send.

When your customers click on the payment link, they will be sent to the secure online payment gateway. Here, they can provide their credit card or bank account details and successfully complete the payment process.

As a result, the following fields in your payment record in Vtiger CRM will be updated automatically:

• Status: Updates to Received (Invoice)

• Date received: Updates payment received date, the current date

Tracking outgoing payments

When goods are procured from your suppliers, you can easily create a Purchase Order record and link it to the payment record. By doing this, you can track the amount that is paid or debt to your suppliers. 

After the payment is done, you can update the payment record which automatically updates the purchase order as well.

Follow these steps to track outgoing payments:

1. Click the Menu icon.

2. Go to the Inventory tab.

3. Select the Payments module.

4. Click the +Add Payment button.

5. Click the arrow button in the Related To field.

6. Select Purchase Orders from the dropdown.

7. Select a PO record from the list of all available records either by typing the PO name or by clicking the PO icon. 

8. Fill in the other mandatory details.

9. Click Save to create the payment record.

   • Click Save and Continue to enter other details.

This newly created payment record will be linked to the PO.

Tracking payments in other modules

• From Invoices

These particular fields get updated in an invoice record whenever a payment has been successfully completed:

• Received: This field gets automatically updated to the amount that has been paid.

• Grand Total: The amount that you have received through the payment process is deducted from the grand total field.

• Balance: The remaining amount that the customer owes you is displayed in this field.

Follow these steps to track payments from the invoice record:

1. Click the Menu icon.

2. Go to the Inventory tab.

3. Select the Invoices module.

4. Open the invoice record of your choice.

5. Click the Payments widget in the summary view to see the list of all payments done and also create new ones.

6. Click the Deep Dive button on the right-hand top corner of the summary view.

7. Check the Received and Balance fields to know the status of the payment.

• From Purchase Order

A purchase order can have multiple payment records attached to it.

These particular fields get updated in the PO record whenever a payment has been successfully completed:

• Paid: When the status of the payment is set to Paid then, this field gets automatically updated to the amount that has been paid.

• Grand Total: The amount that you have paid through the payment process is deducted from the grand total field.

• Balance: The remaining amount that you owe the supplier is displayed in this field.

Follow these steps to track payments from the PO record:

1. Click the Menu icon.

2. Go to the Inventory tab.

3. Select the Purchase Orders module.

4. Open the purchase order of your choice.

5. Click the Payments widget in the summary view to see the list of all payments done and also create new ones.

6. Click the Deep Dive button on the right-hand top corner of the summary view.

7. Check the Paid and Balance fields to know the status of the payment.

• From Bills 

You can create multiple payments to settle a bill record.

These particular fields get updated in the bill record whenever a payment is completed successfully.

• Paid: When the status of the payment is set to Paid then, this field gets automatically updated to the amount that has been paid.

• Grand Total: The amount that you have paid through the payment process is deducted from the grand total field.

• Balance: The remaining amount that you owe the supplier is displayed in this field.

Follow these steps to track payments from the bill record:

1. Click the Menu icon.

2. Go to the Inventory tab.

3. Select the Bills module.

4. Open the bill of your choice.

5. Click the Payments widget in the summary view to see the list of all payments done and also create new ones.

6. Click the Deep Dive button on the right-hand top corner of the summary view.

7. Check the Paid and Balance fields to know the status of the payment.

• From Credit Notes 

You can create multiple refunds on a credit note; thus creating multiple payments on a single credit note is accepted.

These particular fields get updated in a credit note whenever a payment has been successfully completed:

• Refund: When the status of the payment is set to Refunded, this field gets automatically updated to the amount that has been refunded.

• Available Credits: The amount that you have paid through the payment process is deducted from the credit amount field and the remaining credits to be claimed are displayed here.

Follow these steps to track payments from a credit note:

1. Click the Menu icon.

2. Go to the Inventory tab.

3. Select the Credit Notes module.

4. Open the credit note of your choice.

5. Click the Payments widget in the summary view to see the list of all payments done and also create new ones.

6. Click the Deep Dive button on the right-hand top corner of the summary view.

7. Check the Refund and Available Credits fields to know the status of the payment.

Actions Possible on a Payment Record

You can perform the following actions on the payment:

• Export

Follow these steps to export a payment:

1. Click the Menu icon.

2. Go to the Inventory tab.

3. Select the Payments module.

4. In the List View, hover over any record and click the radio button on the left side.

5. Click the Export button.

6. Select any one of the following options:

   1. Export Selected Records - This option will export only the selected record.

   2. Export data in current page - This option will export the records in the current page.

   3. Export all data - This option will export all the data in all the pages of the payments module.

The exported record will be saved on your local system.

• Print

Follow these steps to print a payment:

1. Click the Menu icon.

2. Go to the Inventory tab.

3. Select the Payments module.

4. Open any payment record.

5. Click the More button.

6. Click the Print button to print the payment record.

7. You can perform any of the below options:

   1. Edit & Export - You can edit and export the payments to your local system.

   2. Email with PDF - You can email the payments record as a PDF to the contact.

   3. Print - You can print the payments and keep a hard copy.

   4. Save as PDF - You can save the payments as a PDF on your local system.

How to change the template of a payment

Follow these steps to change the template of a payment:

1. Click the Menu icon.

2. Go to the Inventory tab.

3. Select the Payments module.

4. Open any payment record.

5. Click the More button.

6. Click the Print button to print the payment record.

7. Select any template from the list of available templates.

8. You can perform any of the below options to view the applied template on the payment record.

   • Edit & Export- You can edit and export the payments to your local system.

   • Email with PDF- You can email the payments record as a PDF to the contact.

   • Print- You can print the payments and keep a hard copy.

   • Save as PDF- You can save the payments as a PDF on your local system.