Prepaid Balance and Top-Ups
Let customers pay in advance — top up a prepaid balance that automatically settles future invoices, with credit that only activates once the top-up is actually paid.
A prepaid balance lets a customer pay money in before they owe anything. The balance sits on their account as credit and automatically settles future invoices.
This matters because invoices are only raised at or after the service — a customer can't pay at booking time. When a customer wants to pay upfront anyway ("can I just pay for the month now?"), top up their prepaid balance: the money comes in immediately, and their booking invoices settle themselves from the credit as they arrive.
Where the Balance Lives#
Open the customer's billing account. The Account Information card shows two numbers side by side:
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Account Balance | The net position across everything — open credits minus unpaid charges. |
| Prepaid Balance | The open credit available to spend on future invoices, shown separately so it is never hidden behind unpaid charges. |
Next to the prepaid balance sits the Top Up button.
Top Up an Account#
- On the account, select Top Up. The charge form opens already locked to the prepayment flow.
- Enter the amount the customer wants to load.
- Post the invoice. The customer pays it like any other invoice — card, or an external payment you record.
Because this is a top-up rather than a normal sale, the form behaves differently:
- The charge type is fixed to Prepaid Account Balance — a charge that is automatically added to the account balance to pay for future purchases.
- The invoice option is locked to Invoice Now — a top-up can't wait for the next bill date.
- No VAT is charged on the top-up itself. Tax is calculated later, on the real invoices the credit pays for.
- Vouchers don't apply — discounts belong on actual services, not on moving money into the wallet.
You can still raise an ordinary charge from the same account with Add Charge — the top-up flow only takes over when you enter through Top Up.
The Payment Gate#
Every top-up creates a pair of invoices:
- A charge invoice for the top-up amount — this is what the customer pays.
- A Prepaid Credit credit invoice — this becomes the spendable balance.
The credit starts out pending and only opens once the top-up charge is actually paid — whether by card, an external payment you record, or a successful collection retry.
No payment, no credit. The prepaid balance never activates from an unpaid top-up, and a top-up charge can never be "paid" using the account's own credit — money must genuinely come in.
Spending the Balance#
Nothing else changes in your day-to-day flow. When future invoices are raised on the account — booking invoices after a groom, subscription renewals, once-off charges — the open prepaid credit settles them automatically before any card is charged. The Prepaid Balance on the account drops as it's consumed, and each invoice shows how it was paid.
Revenue and VAT are recognised on those real invoices, not on the top-up — your reporting stays clean.
Prepaid credit is for spending, not withdrawing. It settles future invoices on the account; treat it as money committed to your parlour rather than a balance you pay back out. If a service the credit paid for goes wrong, refund that invoice instead.
Prepaid balances suit customers who want to pay upfront: load R1,000 once, and the next few grooms simply draw it down. Pair this with the Account Wallet article to understand stored cards vs stored credit.