Payments
The Payments page is a ledger of every recorded payment across your business. It gives you a single view of what has been collected, how customers paid, which invoices the payments are tied to, and which completed Stripe payments can be refunded.
Open Payments from the main navigation.
When to use Payments
Use Payments when you need to:
- See what your business has collected over a given period.
- Look up a specific payment by customer name.
- Verify how a customer paid (card, cash, check, or bank transfer).
- Find which invoice a payment is linked to.
Before you start
- Invoices must exist first. Payments are never created directly on the Payments page — they are recorded through the invoice payment flow.
- Stripe must be connected for card charges and pay links. Go to Settings → Integrations → Stripe to connect or verify your Stripe account. Cash and check payments do not require Stripe.
- At least one invoice must be in a payable state (Sent or Draft) before a payment can be recorded against it.
- Refund access requires Stripe write permission and a verified email address. Refunds return the full completed Stripe charge; partial refunds are not currently offered in ToolbagCRM.
The payment list
The payment list opens with a header showing the total collected amount and completed-payment count.
Status tabs
Use All, Pending, Completed, Failed, or Refunded to filter the payment list.
Search
Search by customer name to find specific payments.
What each row shows
- Customer name
- Amount — the payment total
- Payment method — Credit Card, Bank Transfer, Cash, or Check
- Check # — the check number for a manually recorded check payment; otherwise an em dash
- Status badge — Completed, Pending, Failed, or Refunded
- Date — when the payment was recorded
- Invoice link — View invoice to open the linked invoice detail
- Refund — opens the matching charge in Settings → Integrations → Stripe for confirmation; shown only for completed Stripe payments to team members with Stripe write access
How payments are recorded
Payments are not created directly from this page. They are recorded through the invoice payment flow:
| Method | How it works |
|---|---|
| Charge Card | From the invoice detail, click "Charge Card" to charge the customer's card on file through Stripe. |
| Pay Link | Send the customer a pay link from the invoice detail. They pay by card through Stripe. |
| Record payment | From the invoice detail, record a cash or check payment collected outside Stripe. Enter any positive amount up to the remaining balance. |
Each method records a payment entry that appears in this ledger. Payments are not created here, but eligible completed Stripe payments can be opened from Refund and refunded after confirmation.
Payment methods
ToolbagCRM records payments in four method categories:
| Method | Typical source |
|---|---|
| Credit Card | Stripe card charges (online or card-on-file) |
| Bank Transfer | ACH or bank transfer through Stripe |
| Cash | Manual Record payment action on the invoice |
| Check | Manual Record payment action on the invoice; requires the check number and matching amount confirmation |
Tips
- Use the status tabs to focus on failed or refunded payments when investigating issues.
- Select View invoice on any payment to see the full invoice detail and payment history.
- Use a partial cash or check payment when the customer pays only part of the balance; ToolbagCRM leaves the invoice open for the remainder.
- Review the customer, amount, and charge in the Stripe refund dialog before confirming. ToolbagCRM issues a full refund and refreshes the Stripe transactions after it succeeds.
Troubleshooting
The page shows "No payments recorded yet"
This is the normal empty state when no invoices have been paid yet. Create an invoice, send it to a customer, and record a payment through the invoice detail page.
A payment shows "Failed" status
Failed payments typically mean the customer's card was declined by Stripe. Open the linked invoice and try charging the card again, or send a fresh pay link. Check your Stripe dashboard for detailed decline reasons.
Payments are not appearing after a customer paid
Payments recorded through pay links appear in the ledger once Stripe confirms the charge. If a payment is missing, verify in your Stripe dashboard that the charge actually completed. Pending payments may take a moment to appear — use the Pending status tab to check.
Refund is not shown for a payment
The Refund action appears only for a completed Stripe payment that has a Stripe payment reference. Your role also needs Stripe write access. Cash, check, pending, failed, and already-refunded payments cannot be refunded from this page.
ToolbagCRM could not look up the charge to refund
On the Stripe page, select Retry in the warning to look up the charge again. Review the matched charge before confirming the full refund. If the lookup still fails, do not refund a different transaction; verify the payment in Stripe or contact ToolbagCRM support.
A check payment is rejected
Enter a check number and type the payment amount again in Confirm amount (USD). The confirmation must exactly match the payment amount, and the payment cannot exceed the invoice's remaining balance.
"Charge Card" button is disabled on an invoice
The Charge Card action requires a connected Stripe account with charges enabled. Go to Settings → Integrations → Stripe and complete the onboarding process. The button is also disabled if the invoice has no card on file for the customer.