Record Payment for an Invoice

When a student pays by cash, bank transfer, card, or any offline method, you record the payment as a receipt in Kampus SIS and then allocate it to the relevant invoice. This two-step process keeps payment records separate from invoices, allowing a single receipt to cover multiple invoices and giving you full control over how funds are applied.

How Payment Recording Works

Kampus SIS separates the concept of a receipt (the record of funds received) from an invoice (the record of what is owed). To apply a payment to an invoice you must first create a receipt to record the incoming funds, then allocate some or all of that receipt to one or more invoices.

When a receipt is allocated to an invoice, the invoice’s balance due is reduced by the allocated amount. If the allocation covers the full outstanding balance, the invoice status changes to Paid. If only part of the balance is covered, the status changes to Partially Paid.

Step 1 — Create a Receipt

You can start a receipt directly from the invoice you are recording payment for, or from the Receipts list.

From the Invoice

1. Open the invoice from Finance → Invoices.
2. Click Record Payment in the invoice action bar. This opens the receipt creation form with the student pre-filled.
3. Fill in the receipt details as described below.
4. Click Create Receipt.

From the Receipts List

1. Go to Finance → Receipts.
2. Click New Receipt.
3. Fill in the receipt details as described below.
4. Click Create Receipt.

Receipt Fields

When creating a receipt, enter the following details:

• Receipt Number: Auto-generated based on your receipt numbering settings (e.g., REC-26-0001). If your organisation uses manual numbering, enter a unique number.
• Student: The student making the payment. Leave blank if the payment comes from a third-party payer not linked to a student record.
• Payment Method: Select from cash, card, bank_transfer, or gateway.
• Currency: The currency in which payment was received. Only active currencies are available.
• Total Amount: The full amount received in this payment, to two decimal places.
• Date Received: The date the payment was actually received. Defaults to today.
• External Reference: Optional. Enter a cheque number, bank transaction ID, or gateway reference for reconciliation.
• Payer Name: Optional. Name of the person who made the payment if different from the student (e.g., a parent or guardian).
• Notes: Optional internal notes about this payment.

Pro Tip: When creating the receipt from within the invoice, you can optionally select an invoice and allocation amount directly in the create form to allocate the receipt in one step. This is the fastest way to record a full payment against a single invoice.

Step 2 — Allocate the Receipt to the Invoice

After the receipt is created, allocate it to the invoice to reduce the balance due.

1. From the receipt detail page, scroll to the Allocations section.
2. Click Allocate to Invoice.
3. In the allocation form:
   • Invoice: Search and select the invoice. Only invoices with an outstanding balance that match the receipt currency are shown. If the receipt was created from a specific invoice, that invoice is pre-selected.
   • Amount to Allocate: Enter the amount to apply to this invoice. Leave blank to allocate the lower of the remaining receipt balance or the invoice balance due.
4. Click Allocate.

The invoice balance due is immediately recalculated. If the allocation clears the full balance, the invoice status changes to Paid. If a partial amount is allocated, the status changes to Partially Paid.

Important: The allocation amount cannot exceed the remaining receipt balance or the invoice’s outstanding balance. The receipt and invoice must be in the same currency.

Online Payments

If your organisation has a payment gateway configured, students can pay invoices directly through the student portal without any manual action from your finance team.

When a student completes an online payment:

1. The payment gateway notifies Kampus SIS via webhook.
2. Kampus SIS automatically creates a posted receipt with payment method gateway and the gateway transaction ID recorded as the external reference.
3. The receipt is automatically allocated to the relevant invoice.
4. The invoice status updates to Paid or Partially Paid as appropriate.

Finance officers can view all gateway receipts in Finance → Receipts filtered by payment method Gateway. If a gateway payment was processed but the invoice has not updated, check Finance → Webhooks for any failed webhook events that may need to be retried.

Note: Gateway receipts are created and allocated automatically. Do not manually create a duplicate receipt for the same payment.

Reverse an Allocation

If a receipt was allocated to the wrong invoice, or if you need to reallocate funds, you can reverse the allocation.

1. Open the receipt detail page from Finance → Receipts.
2. In the Allocations section, find the allocation you want to reverse.
3. Click Unallocate next to the allocation.
4. Enter a reason for the reversal.
5. Click Confirm.

The allocation is reversed. The invoice balance due is restored to its previous value and the receipt amount becomes available for reallocation to the correct invoice.

Important: Reversing an allocation does not void the receipt. The receipt remains in Posted status and its funds can be reallocated. To cancel the payment entirely, void the receipt instead.

Partial Payments and Split Allocations

Kampus SIS supports splitting a single receipt across multiple invoices. This is useful when a student makes one payment to cover several outstanding charges.

To split a receipt across invoices:

1. Create the receipt with the total amount received.
2. From the receipt detail, click Allocate to Invoice and select the first invoice. Enter the amount to apply to that invoice.
3. Click Allocate.
4. Repeat for each additional invoice until the full receipt amount is allocated.

The receipt detail page shows all allocations and the remaining unallocated balance at a glance.

Note: An invoice can also receive allocations from multiple receipts. If a student pays in several instalments, each payment becomes its own receipt, and each receipt is allocated to the same invoice until the balance is cleared.

Scenario: A student named Jordan has two outstanding invoices — one for tuition of LKR 150,000 and one for a library fee of LKR 5,000. Jordan pays LKR 155,000 by bank transfer. The finance officer creates a single receipt for LKR 155,000, then allocates LKR 150,000 to the tuition invoice and LKR 5,000 to the library fee invoice. Both invoices move to Paid status and the receipt balance is fully allocated.

Next: Apply Adjustments