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Managing On account balances

On account sales allow customers to purchase products or services on a credit account they can pay off later. By placing a purchase On account, you’ll create an invoice for that sale, which the customer will need to settle in the future. You can set your own policy around timing and payment methods for On account balances.

You can also process On account sales with the Lightspeed Scanner app. Payment links will be sent to customers if the payment link feature is enabled.

Viewing On account details

You can view and manage On account details on the Sell screen during a sale, or by navigating to the Customers page.

To view a customer’s On account details via the Customers page:

  1. Navigate to Customers > Customers.
  2. Locate the customer and click their name to expand the row.
  3. Click the Account tab to view the different balances your customer may have:
    • Account balance: The rolling account balance that recalculates after every transaction.
    • Allow account balance: Indicates whether an On account limit is enabled as well as the balance limit, if applicable.
    • Limit available: The remaining credit available after the account balance is subtracted from the balance limit.
    • Total spent: The total value spent to date.
    • Last 12 months: The total value spent in the 12 months prior to the customer’s last purchase (not the last 12 months from today).

      An expanded customer row with the Account tab selected. The tab displays information about the customer’s account balance.

  4. Under History, click the Current period row (from the first of the current month to today’s date) or the previous period’s row (from the first to the last day of the previous month) to expand it and view the following details:
    • Opening balance: The account balance as of the start of the selected period.
    • Sales: Any On account sales made during the selected period, as well as their respective sale IDs (which link to the Sales history page) and the amount of credit used or settled during the transaction.
    • Current balance: The closing balance as of the end of the selected period.

      The Account tab showing the transactions included in the current period.

If you have Lightspeed Payments, you can review payments made to balances on outstanding invoices by navigating to Finance, locating the payment, and clicking View invoice allocations.

Viewing invoices on the customer’s accounts receivable page

This feature is in beta and may not be available in your account.

A customer’s accounts receivable page offers a more detailed view of their account balances and invoices. From this page, you can:

  • Monitor credit limit usage and outstanding balances
  • View a list of the customer’s invoices, as well as the creation date, original amount, and remaining balance of each invoice
  • Click an invoice number to view a specific invoice

The page can be accessed via the Customers page or the Sales history page.

A customer's accounts receivable page showing a list of invoices.

To access a specific customer’s accounts receivable page via the Customers page:

  1. Navigate to Customers > Customers.
  2. Locate the customer and click their name to expand the row.
  3. On the right side of the customer’s details, click View accounts receivable.

    An expanded customer row with the Details tab selected. The tab displays several options for managing the customer’s details.

To access a specific customer’s accounts receivable page from the Sales history:

  1. Navigate to Sell > Sales history.
  2. Locate an On account sale and click it to expand the row.
  3. Click View accounts receivable.

    The Sales history page showing an expanded sale row. Options to continue the sale, manage receipts, and view the accounts receivable page are displayed.

On the customer’s accounts receivable page, you can review their On account details, search for an invoice, or click an invoice number to view the full invoice.

Sending account statements

This feature is in beta and may not be available in your account.

If a customer has an outstanding account balance, you can send them an account statement with an embedded payment form:

  1. Navigate to Customers > Customers.
  2. Locate the customer and click their name to expand the row.
  3. On the right side of the customer’s details, click View accounts receivable.
  4. Click Send statement. This button will only be active if the customer has an outstanding balance.

    A customer’s accounts receivable page with the Send statement button highlighted.

  5. Under Send to, review the customer’s email address, or add an email address if needed.

    The Send account statement window.

  6. Under Period, the All time option (all outstanding invoices) will be selected by default. If needed, click the dropdown and select a different time period, or use the calendar picker to select a custom date range.
  7. (Optional) Click Print to print a copy of the statement for your records.
  8. Click Send statement.

The account statement will be emailed to the customer, and they’ll be able to pay their outstanding balance from the embedded Lightspeed Payments form using a credit card. Customers located in the US can also use a saved direct debit (ACH) card.

An example account statement showing the Pay statement option.

Viewing account statements

To view a record of all account statements sent to a customer:

  1. Navigate to Customers > Customers.
  2. Locate the customer and click their name to expand the row.
  3. On the right side of the customer’s details, click View accounts receivable.
  4. Click the Statements tab.

    A customer’s accounts receivable page with the Statements tab selected.

  5. Review the statement’s details, including the statement ID, time period, creation date, delivery date, amount, and remaining balance.
  6. (Optional) Click the statement ID to view the statement.

Exporting On account details

You can view all your customers’ total balances at once by exporting a customer list.

  1. Navigate to Customers > Customers.
  2. Click Export list.
  3. Locate the Balance column. The negative numbers represent each customer’s total balance owing.

Applying payments to On account balances

You can apply a payment to a customer’s On account balance from the Customers page, during a sale, or by continuing the sale from the Sales history page.

If you use Lightspeed Payments, you can send an online payment link for On account sales.

Applying a payment from the Customers page

You can apply a payment to a customer’s On account balance from the Customers page using a saved payment method (Lightspeed Payments), by manually accepting cash, or by processing an integrated payment type.

  • Applying a payment from the Customers page with Lightspeed Payments

    This feature is in beta and may not be available in your account. You can view alternative instructions in the next tab.

    1. Navigate to Customers > Customers.
    2. Locate the customer and click their name to expand the row.
    3. Click Pay balances.

      An expanded customer row with the Details tab selected. The tab displays several options for managing the customer’s details.

    4. Select a location, if applicable, then click Next.

      If a customer has outstanding balances across multiple locations, you can only pay off one location balance at a time. Repeat the steps in this section for each location, as needed.

    5. Use the checkboxes to select the applicable invoices. Enter the payment amount for each invoice line as needed, then click Next.

      The Define payment amount pop-up showing several selected invoices and their respective payment amounts.

    6. From the Register dropdown, select a register to attach the payment to.
    7. From the Payment method dropdown, select a saved payment method, or click Enter card details manually and enter the card information.

      The Select payment method pop-up with the Payment method dropdown open.

    8. Click Process payment. When the payment is successfully processed, the Payment received pop-up will appear.
    9. (Optional) Add the customer’s email address to send them a receipt.

      The Payment received pop-up showing the field where the customer’s email address can be entered.

    10. Click Done.

    You can review payments made to balances on outstanding invoices by navigating to Finance, locating the payment, and clicking View invoice allocations.

  • Applying a payment from the Customers page without Lightspeed Payments

    1. Navigate to Customers > Customers.
    2. Locate the customer and click their name to expand the row.
    3. Click Pay account balance.

      An expanded customer row with the Account tab selected. The tab displays information about the customer’s account balance.

    4. In the Amount field, enter the amount to pay off.
    5. Select the Payment type from the dropdown.

      If you’re paying off the On account balance using an integrated payment method, the amount won’t automatically trigger your payment terminal. You’ll need to manually process the payment using the terminal.

    6. Select the register you want to attach the payment to from the Register dropdown.

      The Pay account balance pop-up showing the Amount field, the Payment type dropdown and the Register dropdown.

    7. Click Pay balance.

    The customer’s total balance will be updated, and the payment will be applied to the oldest invoices first. You won’t be prompted to print a receipt for the transaction, but the balance will update when the page is refreshed.

Xero-integrated merchants may notice a delay of a few seconds while the invoices are being updated and synced with Xero.

Applying an On account payment during a sale

Applying On account payments during a sale is only available in Retail POS for web browser.

Customers can make a purchase and make a payment toward an On account balance at the same time. This allows you to use an integrated payment type without having to manually process and apply the payment later.

To apply an On account payment during a sale:

  1. Navigate to Sell > Sell.
  2. Add the customer to the sale.
  3. Add products to the sale.
  4. Click Pay.
  5. On the Sale page, in the unpaid account balance banner, click Add a payment.

    The Sale page with the unpaid account balance banner highlighted.

  6. Enter the value the customer wants to pay toward their account balance.

    The Add an account balance payment pop-up showing the Amount to pay field.

  7. Click Add payment. This will add the On account payment amount to the current sale amount.

    The Sale page showing the Sale total amount, the Account balance payment amount, and the total To pay amount.

  8. Process the sale using the customer’s preferred payment method.

    Sales with added On account payments must be processed using a cash or card payment. Store credit, Loyalty, layaway, and On account payments are not accepted for these transactions.

  9. Click Complete sale.

Adjusting On account limits using the Retail Imports Team

  1. Navigate to Customers > Customers.
  2. Use the available fields and filters to find your customer or customer group.
  3. Click Export list. A CSV file will download.

    The Customers page with the Export list option highlighted.

    You can only download 1,000 customers per CSV file. If needed, the Retail Imports Team can generate a special customer export for you, which may contain some additional data, including the customer_id column.

  4. In the export file, delete all the columns except for customer_code, first_name, last_name, and on_account_limit.

    You must include the customer_code for all the customers in your file. First and last names are required as a verification reference.

  5. Fill in the on_account_limit column with the values you want to adjust:
    • Type disable to set Not allow On account balance.
    • Type unlimited to set Unlimited On account balance.
    • Type in a specific amount. On account limits can only have positive values. Decimals and integers are accepted.
  6. Save your file as an XLSX (preferred) or CSV file.
  7. Review your file before submitting it to avoid issues that may cause the data import to fail:
    • Remove special characters, like ™, ☺, ©, etc.
    • Erase cells with N/A to ensure that the field is blank
    • Format scientific numbers (4.001E+11) as regular integers (40010000000).
    • Format all cells, including cells with numbers, as plain text. In Google Sheets, click Format > Number > Plain text.
    • Ensure that the only fields are customer_code, first_name, last_name, and amount.
  8. Submit your file to the Retail Imports Team.

What’s next?

Creating On account sales

Create an invoice for a sale that the customer can pay later.

Learn more

Setting On account limits

Set default and custom balance limits for your customers.

Learn more

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