Manage a client's account balance

To view a client’s account balance, click the Search at the top of the screen, enter the client’s name, and select their name in the list.

• To view and adjust the client’s current account balance, click Account > Billing & Account Balance.

• To view an itemized ledger of the client's account balance history and generated statements, click Account > Balance History & Statements.

A client’s account balance represents the credit or debit they have with your business. A positive balance (credit) indicates that the client has funds available to use toward future purchases. A negative balance (debit) indicates that the client owes money for previous purchases or failed automatic payments that used their account as the payment method.

View a client’s billing information and account balance on the Billing & Account Balance page of their client profile. From here, you can manage the client’s account balance, saved credit cards, and saved ACH account information, or redeem gift cards for the client.

You can also review an itemized ledger of all account balance activity and view generated statements on the Balance History & Statements page.

How account balance activity is processed

Account credits and debits follow a first-in, first-out (FIFO) structure, ensuring that all payments and adjustments are tied to the correct purchases:

• Credits

  • When you credit a client’s account, the amount is automatically applied to the oldest unpaid purchase. When there are no unpaid purchases, the credit is applied as general account credit.
    ​

• Account payments

  • When a client makes a payment to their account, the amount is automatically applied to the oldest unpaid purchase. When there are no unpaid purchases, the payment is added to the client’s account balance as a general credit.
    ​

• Debits

  • When a client makes a purchase using Account as the payment method, the client’s account is debited for the amount.

  • When you debit a client’s account and there is no associated purchase, the debit is recorded as a standalone account debit.
    ​

• Failed payments

  • If a payment fails, the amount owed is added to the client’s account balance, keeping outstanding charges visible and maintaining clear records.
    ​

• Refunds

  • When you refund a purchase to a client’s account, any unpaid purchases are paid down starting with the oldest. If the refund exceeds the amount owed, the remaining balance becomes general account credit.
    ​

• Gift cards

  • Service and dollar gift card purchases are reported under accrual accounting. When a gift card is used to pay off a negative account balance, the payment is attributed to the correct outstanding items.

Key tips

• When a client makes a payment using an integrated payment method such as a credit card, and you refund the transaction to their account balance, the refund is final. The amount refunded to the account balance can't be transferred back to the client’s initial payment method.
  ​

• Your clients can sign in to the Client Portal or the Achieve Client App to add money to their account if your business has merchant processing set up and if client account payments are enabled in your store settings.
  ​

• Staff members must have these permissions to complete specific actions:

  • Manage client billing information to view a client’s Billing & Account Balance section.

  • Manually adjust client account balances to debit or credit a client's account balance.

  • View client account balance history and generate statements to view the Balance History & Statements page and generate account statements.

• When your business uses the same merchant processor account for all locations, all saved payment methods for a client are displayed regardless of the location selected.

Update a client’s account balance

You can pay off a client’s account balance in part or in full by making a payment on their Billing & Account Balance page. You can also manually adjust a client’s account balance by crediting or debiting the account, which doesn’t require a payment method.

It’s important to distinguish between payment methods and manual adjustments. Payments involve selecting a payment method to settle the balance, while manual adjustments (credits or debits) modify the balance directly, without using a payment method.

Apply a payment to a client’s account balance

To apply a payment toward a client’s account balance in full or in part:

1. Click Search at the top of the screen, enter the client’s name, and click their name in the list, then click Account > Billing & Account Balance.
   ​

2. Under Account Balance, click Make a Payment.
   ​

3. Select each payment method the client wants to use. In most cases, the total payment is split between the selected payment methods equally, but you can adjust the amounts as required.

   • When surcharges are enabled in your store settings, and you select Virtual Terminal or Card Swiper for the account payment, the surcharge is applied to the transaction.

   • If you select Virtual Terminal and select a saved payment method, you can make the payment in installments through a payment plan:

     1. Set Apply payment plan to ON.

     2. Under Payment Plan, select the number of payments you want the amount divided into.

     3. Under Repeat Every, select how often you want payments to occur.

     4. Under Start, select when you want the payments to begin.

     5. Under Comment, add a comment to the transaction if necessary.

4. Click Complete.

   • To generate a receipt, select one of the following options:

     • Click Email receipt to send an email receipt to the client’s associated email.

     • Click Print receipt to print a receipt from your computer.

     • Click Receipt printer to print a receipt from a receipt printer.

Adjust a client’s account balance

To credit or debit a client’s account:

1. Click Search at the top of the screen, enter the client’s name, and click their name in the list, then click Account > Billing & Account Balance.

2. Under Account Balance, click +Credit or -Debit to add or remove funds from a client’s balance.
   ​

3. Enter the amount to add or remove.
   ​

4. Under Note, add a note to the transaction if necessary.
   ​

5. Click Credit account or Debit account to complete the transaction.

View a client's balance history and statements

The Balance History & Statements page shows an itemized ledger of all account activity and a history of generated statements. Staff members must have the View client account balance history and generate statements permission to access this page.

To open the Balance History & Statements page:

1. Click Search at the top of the screen, enter the client's name, and click their name in the list.
   ​

2. Open the page using one of the following methods:

   • Click Account > Balance History & Statements.

   • Click Account > Billing & Account Balance. Under Account Balance, click View Balance History & Statements.
     ​

3. From here, you can:

   1. Generate a new statement for the client. For more information, see Generate a statement.
      ​

   2. View the client’s Balance history or Statement history by selecting the tabs at the top of the page.
      ​

   3. Make a payment to the client’s account balance by clicking Make a payment.
      ​

Balance history tab

The Balance history tab shows every credit, debit, refund, and adjustment applied to a client's account. This tab helps you track how the client's balance changed over time and which purchases or actions each entry relates to.

For clients who pay on behalf of their relationships, an Include relationships' account activity toggle appears above the summary cards. When this toggle is set to ON, a Recipient column appears in the balance history table showing the name of the client who received the item or account adjustment. Click a client's name to open their profile.

Summary cards on the Balance history tab

Columns on the Balance history tab

Statement history tab

The Statement history tab shows all account statements generated for the client. The default date range is the Year to Date. You can search for a statement by its number using the search field.

Columns on the Statement history tab