Payments that find their own invoice
When money arrives through Stripe, QuickBooks Online or Xero, Invoice My Clients proposes the invoice it settles, scores the proposal, and applies it on its own only when the payment identifies the invoice. Everything else waits in a short review list.
01 / Automatic Payment Matching
What is automatic payment matching?
Payment matching, also called cash application, is tying each incoming payment to the invoice it pays. Done by hand it means reading payment memos, guessing which of three open invoices a transfer covers, and sending reminders to clients who already paid.
Invoice My Clients runs every incoming payment through a matching ladder. The strongest signals, such as our invoice id on a Stripe payment or the exact balance from the client the invoice was issued to, are applied automatically. Weaker signals become ranked suggestions you confirm with one click.
- Stripe payments, plus payments imported from QuickBooks Online and Xero.
- Every proposal shows its score and the rule behind it.
- Applied automatically only when the payment identifies the invoice.
- Short payments are applied, and the remainder stays open and flagged.
02 / Capabilities
Matching you can check
It proposes, it explains, and it acts on its own only when the evidence is an identifier rather than a guess.
A matching ladder
Our invoice id on the payment, a payment already linked to the invoice, the exact balance from the same client, the invoice number in the memo with the exact amount: strongest signal first. Each candidate keeps the rule that produced it.
Confident, or it asks you
A client matched only by name, or an invoice number quoted with a different amount, is a suggestion, not a match. Those go to the review list instead of marking an invoice paid.
Ambiguity and overpayment stop it
Two equally good candidates, or more money than the invoice owes, hold the payment for you whatever the score. An invoice in a different currency is never a candidate.
Short payments handled
A payment for less than the balance is applied, the remainder stays open, and the shortfall is raised in the escalation queue so it gets chased or resolved.
Review, apply, split or reject
The Unapplied payments list, reached from the AR dashboard, shows each unmatched payment with up to five ranked candidates. Apply one, split the payment across several invoices, or reject it.
Checked on the server
Applying or splitting re-reads the payment and the invoice, confirms both are yours, and recomputes the balance from the invoice's own payments before anything is written.
03 / Process
How payment matching works
Money arrives
A client pays through Stripe, or a payment recorded in QuickBooks Online or Xero is imported. Each payment is recorded once, even if it is seen twice.
Candidates are scored
The payment is compared with your open invoices in the same currency, and each candidate is ranked by the strongest rule it meets.
Confident matches apply
When the top candidate is identified by the payment itself and no other candidate is close, the payment is applied and the invoice balance updates.
You confirm the rest
Anything below that line waits in Unapplied payments with its candidates and reasons, so you decide with the evidence in front of you.
04 / FAQ
Payment matching FAQs
Which payments does it match?
Payments received through Stripe, including ones that arrive without an invoice reference and partial payments, and payments imported from QuickBooks Online and Xero. There is no bank-feed import; money received any other way is recorded on the invoice by hand.
Could it mark the wrong invoice paid?
It is built to avoid that. It applies a payment on its own only when the payment carries an identifier (our invoice id, an already linked payment, the exact balance from the client the invoice was issued to, or the invoice number with the exact amount), and it holds anything ambiguous or overpaid for review. We do not publish an accuracy rate; you can see the rule behind every match.
What happens with a partial payment?
It is applied, the invoice stays open for the remainder, and the shortfall appears in the escalation queue so a reminder or a conversation can close the gap.
Can one payment cover several invoices?
Yes. From the review list you can split a payment across several invoices; each part is checked against that invoice's balance before it is applied.
Which plans include it?
Professional and up, alongside the AR dashboard it lives in. Remittance advice, which shows a client how a payment was applied, is on every plan.
Stop matching payments by hand
Stripe, QuickBooks and Xero payments applied to the right invoice, with the reason shown.
No credit card required to start.