Record payments and check receipts
Record money received, review allocation and verify the issued receipt.
Checked on 29 October 2026
Overview
Payment entry records an actual receipt against a family. Review the allocation preview and notification choices before the issue action; a preview is not a receipt.
Get to know the screen
Practice example: all names, records and amounts are fictional. Options vary with your school’s curriculum, currency and access.
Phone example
Interface labels are shown in English. Follow the translated steps below to find each control. Follow the sequence, review the recorded information and choose the next step.
Who can use this feature
Use your own authorised school account. Live Finance requires the School Finance module and a finance officer, administrator, owner, co-owner, director or head-teacher role. Publishing fees and deciding money adjustments require an owner, co-owner or director; a person cannot approve their own adjustment request.
Before you start
Check the school, live or sample mode, currency and reporting period. Have approved source records ready and confirm who may save, approve or send this record. School subscription invoices belong to the separate Administration guide.
Have the actual payment evidence, correct family, currency, method and received date. Check whether the payment was already recorded or imported from PayBill.
Required and optional fields
| Field | Requirement | Format or example | Prerequisite |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family, payment method and amount | Required in this form | Choose the actual family and offered payment method. Amount must be 0.01–9,999,999 with at most two decimal places. Check the configured currency; a payment record documents money received and does not collect it by itself. | Actual payment evidence and the saved family invoice or receipt. |
| Payment reference and received date | Required when applicable | A reference up to 120 characters is required for M-Pesa, bank and cheque. Check the receipt date, which cannot be in the future. Do not substitute a family name for the payment reference. | Actual payment evidence and the saved family invoice or receipt. |
| Evidence and receipt notifications | Optional | Where offered, evidence is optional: JPG/JPEG/PNG/PDF up to 5 MB. Optional SMS/email receipt choices can send messages when the receipt is issued. Check the authorised recipient, contact, channel and any credit requirement first. | Actual payment evidence and the saved family invoice or receipt. |
Picklist prerequisites
| Choice | Options come from | Earlier selection | If missing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Families and open invoice lines | Saved family accounts, academic membership and issued invoices. | Complete the academic import and family assignment; select the family before reviewing allocation. | Check school, family status, filters and live mode. A family without open invoices may leave a payment unallocated. |
Desktop walkthrough
Check the workspace and choose the required options.
Screen walkthrough · 0:45Download GIF ↓- Open Finance → School fees → Payments, or the separate Payments page. Check the selected family explicitly; the separate page may select a first account by default.
- Choose the actual payment method and enter amount, reference and received date. Attach optional evidence only when approved.
- Review open invoice lines, the configured allocation rule and any unallocated remainder. In School fees, Preview allocation first; if choosing lines manually, enter the amounts and preview again.
- Review the payment and any offered notification choices. In School fees, confirm the amount was received and the allocation is correct before Post payment; on the separate Payments page use Issue receipt. These actions save the payment and can send selected notifications.
- Wait for confirmation and check receipt number, family, payment reference, allocation and updated balance. Download the receipt where offered; use the reversal/approval route for corrections.
Mobile walkthrough
Check the workspace and choose the required options.
Screen walkthrough · 0:45Download GIF ↓On a phone, use Finance → School fees → Payments for the step-by-step form shown here. Select the family, preview allocation and check the confirmation before posting. The separate Payments page uses a receipt preview and Issue receipt.
On a phone, open Finance and swipe the section tabs to find the named feature. Work through one panel at a time; scroll wide records or use landscape. Close the keyboard to reach the final controls.
Make prerequisite selections before later fields. Check the selected family and period again after changing filters. Use a larger screen for fee matrices and bulk billing; the written steps remain available.
Wait for confirmation, reopen the saved record and compare it with the source. If a request may have succeeded, inspect the receipt, run or history before retrying.
Save and verify
The saved receipt and actual source payment match, with the intended invoice allocation and any unallocated amount accounted for.
Troubleshooting
An error appears after issuing a receipt
Check the saved family statement and receipt history before retrying. Preserve the payment reference; repeating the entry can create a duplicate if the first request succeeded.
A record or choice is missing
Check live mode, school, permissions, year and filters. Complete the earlier family, fee-version or setup task first. An empty sample view or a loading error is not proof that a live record does not exist.
The action did not complete
Read the validation or access message. Check the saved state and any partial completion before retrying. Keep source references and ask the authorised finance lead to resolve a locked record or approval restriction.
