Customer Pre-Payments

A customer pre-payment is how you handle deposits and advance payments — money the customer sends before you issue an invoice. Posting it increases your bank balance immediately and parks the amount as customer credit in CifraHQ. When the invoice is ready, you apply that credit instead of requesting a new payment, so the customer is never asked to pay twice.

How to create a Customer Pre-Payment

1. Go to Sales > Pre-Payments.
2. Click the + Data Entry button and select New.
3. Select the Customer.
4. Select the Financial Institution (bank account) the payment is coming into.
5. Enter the Amount and, optionally, a Bank Fee and Payment Method.
6. Set the Posting Date (defaults to today).
7. Add a Reference Number if you have one (e.g., the customer's wire transfer reference).
8. Post the pre-payment — the bank balance is increased and the customer's credit balance is increased.

Field reference

• Financial Institution — the bank or account the advance is received into. This also determines the currency; choose the account that matches the currency the customer paid in.
• Amount — the advance amount; editable only before posting.
• Bank Fee — any processing fee charged by your bank. Recorded separately so the full deposit amount stays visible and your Bank Reconciliation stays clean.
• Payment Method — optional; e.g., Wire Transfer, Check, ACH. Useful for your cash receipts register and bank matching.
• Reference Number — optional; enter the customer's payment reference or your bank's transaction ID so this pre-payment can be matched against your bank statement.

Document lifecycle

What happens next

When the invoice is ready and you want to apply the pre-payment:

1. Open the Invoice.
2. Click Pay → Apply Credit.
3. CifraHQ creates a credit payment using the customer's available credit balance — no additional bank receipt required.

Tips

• The pre-payment currency is determined by the selected financial institution. If a customer pays in USD, make sure you select your USD bank account so the currency is recorded correctly.
• You can see the customer's current credit balance on the Customer Pre-Payment detail page (shown as Credit under the customer fields) before posting, so you know what's already on account.
• If the pre-payment is larger than the invoice, the remaining credit stays on the customer's balance and applies automatically to future Invoices — you don't need to do anything extra.

Related: Invoice Payments · Invoices · Customers · Bank Transactions · Audit Trail · Account Priming