Invoice payment statuses

Invoices are generated with a specific payment status such as “unpaid.”

The payment status can change in the database after the invoice generation, for instance, when a customer makes a successful payment covering their debt, the invoice status immediately changes to “paid.”. Every time a payment is recorded in the system – whether it is a periodic payment, an online payment by a customer, or a payment entered manually by the admin – it not only modifies a customer’s balance but also applies to one of their unpaid invoices. If the payment amount equals the invoice’s “Period total” (also referred to as “Amount net”), the invoice status changes to “paid”. If the payment amount is less than the period total, the invoice status changes to “partially paid”. Payments are applied to an invoice cumulatively; for example if an invoice totals $30, and the customer makes three payments of $10, $15, and $5, the invoice will be marked as “paid” following the last payment. If a customer has several unpaid invoices, the payment will be applied to settle the oldest ones first (see example).

The payment status for each invoice is visible for admins on the PortaBilling web interface and reflects whether the payment collection process has been successfully completed (“paid,” “do not pay,”) or not (“unpaid,” “partially paid,” or, “overdue”).

An invoice may have one of the following payment statuses:

• Unpaid – the typical status of a newly generated invoice. It means that the invoice’s “Period total” equals “Outstanding balance.”
• Paid – indicates that the customer has settled the invoice. Note that if there are previous unpaid invoices, an invoice can only become “paid” when the debt for this and all previous billing periods (“Amount due”) is settled.
• Partially paid – indicates that a payment was received, but it does not cover the invoice’s “Period total.” The “partially paid” status changes to “paid” if the customer pays the remaining debt, or “overdue” if the invoice remains unsettled after its due date has passed.
• Overdue – the day following the due date, an “unpaid” or “partially paid” invoice is considered “overdue.” The “overdue” status of an invoice triggers payment collection notifications and actions, such as service suspension, configured in the customer class that is assigned to the customer. The “overdue” status can only change to “paid.”
• Do not pay – this status means that the “Period total” value is zero (e.g., the customer did not use the service) or negative (e.g., the customer was given credit in an amount higher than the actual service usage) and there is no unpaid balance from the previous invoices.
• Previous balance remaining – this status applies when an invoice has a zero (or negative) “Period total,” but there is still an unsettled “Amount due” with the debt from earlier billing periods. Once the customer settles all the earlier unpaid invoices, this invoice’s status will become “Do not pay.”
• No payment required – this status is no longer in use since MR107; it may still be referenced in older admin manuals. In previous releases, it indicated that the invoice amount due was equal to or less than the collection threshold, ensuring no notifications or service suspension even if the customer didn’t make a timely payment.

Suppose a customer hasn’t made any payments during three months and has three unsettled invoices:

• Invoice #1 (oldest)
  • Outstanding balance: $20
  • Payment status: “overdue”
• Invoice #2
  • Outstanding balance: $20
  • Payment status: “unpaid”
• Invoice #3 (the most recent one)
  • Outstanding balance: $15
  • Payment status: “unpaid”

If the customer makes a payment of $30, it will be first applied to settle the oldest Invoice #1 ($20). The remaining amount $10 ($30-$20) is then be applied to Invoice #2 and Invoice #3 will not be covered at all. The invoice statuses will change in the following way:

• Invoice #1 (oldest)
  • Outstanding balance: $0
  • Payment status: “paid”
• Invoice #2
  • Outstanding balance: $10
  • Payment status: “partially paid”
• Invoice #3 (the most recent one)
  • Outstanding balance: $15
  • Payment status: “unpaid”