A store account lets a customer buy now and pay later. Charge sales to the account with the Store Account payment type, set credit limits per customer, take payments against the balance, and email statements or run store-account reports.

Regulars and business customers often want to say "put it on my account." A store account is exactly that: a built-in charge account where the customer buys now and pays the balance later. Every charge and every payment is tracked against their customer profile, so you always know who owes what.

Turn on store accounts

1. Open Store Config in the left menu.
2. Type store accounts in the search bar at the top to jump to the Store Accounts section.
3. Tick Customers Store Accounts.
4. Click Save at the bottom of the page.

From then on, Store Account appears as a payment type at checkout, and customer profiles gain a Store account balance and Credit limit.

Every Store Accounts setting

All of these live in Store Config → Store Accounts (all are off or empty by default unless noted):

• Customers Store Accounts — the master switch for customer credit accounts.
• Default Credit Limit — the credit limit applied to customers who don't have their own. Leave blank for no default limit.
• Disable store account when over credit limit — when a charge would put the customer over their limit, block it outright instead of just warning the cashier.
• Do not allow charge to store account greater than amount due — prevents charging more to the account than the sale actually needs, which keeps balances honest.
• Customers with negative store account balances must keep balance at or below 0 — for customers you use the account as prepaid store credit (a negative balance), payments can never push the balance above zero.
• Do Not Allow Store Payment more than their Balance — a store account payment can't exceed what the customer owes, so no accidental overpayments.
• Require Payment to be against a Store Account Charge — every payment must be applied to a specific outstanding charge (the register shows a Select Store Account picker), so you always know which sale a payment settled.
• Do not prompt to use balance when negative — normally, when a customer with store credit (a negative balance) checks out, the register suggests using the available credit; this turns the prompt off.
• Create Invoices for customer store account charges — automatically creates an invoice for every store-account charge; see invoices and billing.
• Automatically E-Mail Invoice — emails those auto-created invoices to the customer.
• Subject Line Override for Store Account Charge — custom email subject for those invoice emails.
• Store Account Statement Message — text printed on customer statements.
• PayPal.me Username — adds a PayPal.me payment link so customers can pay balances online.
• Suppliers Store Accounts and Create invoices for supplier store account charges — the same mechanics for balances you carry with vendors; see suppliers.
• Hide Store Account Payments In Reports, Hide Store Account Charges In Reports, Hide store account payments from report totals — control how account activity shows in reports, useful to avoid double-counting revenue (the sale) and the later payment.

One related setting lives with the receipt options: Hide store account balance on receipt — by default the customer's new balance prints on the receipt after an account charge; see customizing receipts.

Set a customer's credit limit

1. Go to Customers → Customers and click Edit on the customer.
2. Enter a Credit limit — this overrides the Default Credit Limit. The field is only editable with the Can Set Credit Limit permission, so only employees you trust can extend more credit.
3. The Store account balance on the same form shows what they currently owe; editing it directly requires the Edit Store Account Balance permission.
4. The Terms dropdown sets the default due-date terms used when invoices are created for this customer.

See permissions and templates for assigning permissions.

Charge a sale to a store account

1. Ring up the sale as usual and attach the customer — the payment can't be added without one, and the customer's current balance shows right under their name in the customer panel.
2. At payment time choose Store Account as the payment type. It works alongside other tenders, so a customer can pay part in cash and put the rest on account — see payment types, tips and split payments.
3. Complete the sale. The customer's balance goes up by the amount charged, and the receipt shows the new account balance (unless hidden in settings).

If the charge would exceed the customer's credit limit, the cashier sees "Customer is over credit limit. Are you sure you want to complete sale?" — or, with Disable store account when over credit limit turned on, the charge is refused entirely.

Take a payment on a store account

Receiving account payments requires the Receive Store Account Payment permission on the Sales module.

1. Open Sales in the left menu.
2. Click the green Sale button at the top of the register and choose Store Account Payment (the option appears only while the sale is empty). The register switches modes: the item search is disabled and a single Store Account Payment line sits in the item queue.
3. Attach the customer who is paying.
4. Click the amount on the Store Account Payment line in the item queue and enter how much they're paying.
5. If Require Payment to be against a Store Account Charge is on, pick the specific charge in the Select Store Account prompt.
6. Take their money with any payment type — cash, card, check — and complete the sale. The payment is recorded and the balance drops.

Pay off specific charges

You don't have to type an amount at all. In Store Account Payment mode, when the attached customer has store-account sales that aren't fully paid off, the register lists them in a table under the payment line — one row per sale with its Sale ID (linked to the receipt), Date, Total Charge (what's still owed on that sale, oldest first), and Comment:

• Click Pay on a row. A "Please enter payment amount" prompt opens prefilled with the row's full remainder — accept it, or lower it to record a partial payment — and the amount is added to the Store Account Payment line.
• A paid row highlights green and its button flips to Remove Payment, which takes that row's amount back off the line.
• Next to the payment line, a Pay All button marks every listed charge paid in full at once; as soon as any row is selected it becomes Remove All, which clears every selection and zeroes the payment line.

Paying by rows also fills the sale's comment with "Pays sales" plus the IDs of the sales being settled, so the receipt records exactly which charges the payment covered. Then take the money and complete the sale as usual.

Two shortcuts: on the customer's profile, the Pay button jumps straight into a Store Account Payment sale for that customer, and payments received outside the register can be handled from reports by marking sales paid.

Store credit and negative balances

A negative store account balance means the store owes the customer — effectively store credit, for example after a refund placed on account. When such a customer checks out, the register points out the available credit ("Customer account balance is negative; please consider using available credit before proceeding.") unless you've disabled the prompt. The at-or-below-0 setting above keeps those prepaid accounts from ever flipping into debt.

Statements, invoices and outstanding balances

• Statements: Reports → Store Account Statements produces a printable statement per customer with balances, and an Email statement action sends it directly — ideal for monthly billing runs. The Store Account Statement Message setting adds your standard remittance text. Statements can also be emailed on a schedule; see emailed reports and statements.
• Invoices, automatically: with Create Invoices for customer store account charges on, every account charge generates an invoice (optionally emailed automatically, with your custom subject line).
• Invoices, in bulk: on the Customers → Customers list, select customers and click Create Invoices. Choose One invoice for all transactions or One invoice per transaction, set the charge date range, pick the due date from terms or a custom date, and then choose what happens next: nothing, email invoices, download invoices or print invoices. See invoices and billing.
• Outstanding sales: report views show which sales still carry a balance, and you can mark sales paid or unpaid from there when money arrives outside the register.

Store-account reports

Reports → Store Accounts (gated by the Store Accounts report permission) covers account activity over a date range, current balances by customer, and payments received. A supplier version exists under Store Accounts (Suppliers). Run them before month-end so nothing slips through. The Excel export of customers also includes each customer's balance and credit limit — see customer profiles.

Common questions

Why don't I see Store Account as a payment option? Three things must be true: Customers Store Accounts is enabled in Store Config, a customer is attached to the sale, and the register isn't in a mode that hides it. No customer, no account charge.

How does the customer pay their balance later? Switch the register to Store Account Payment mode (green Sale button → Store Account Payment), attach the customer, enter the amount — or click Pay on the listed unpaid charges, or Pay All for everything — and take their payment with any tender. Or click Pay on their profile.

Can a customer pay off more than they owe? Only if you allow it. Turn on Do Not Allow Store Payment more than their Balance to cap payments at the outstanding balance.

What happens when a customer hits their credit limit? By default the cashier gets a warning and can proceed. With Disable store account when over credit limit enabled, the charge is blocked with "Customer is over store account limit and cannot charge any more to account."

Can I use store accounts as prepaid store credit? Yes — a negative balance is credit the customer can spend. The register prompts cashiers to use it, and the at-or-below-0 setting stops prepaid accounts from going into debt.

How do I send a customer a statement of what they owe? Reports → Store Account Statements, then print or use Email statement. For recurring monthly statements, see emailed reports and statements.

Who can change a customer's balance or credit limit by hand? Only employees with Edit Store Account Balance (balance) and Can Set Credit Limit (limit) on the Customers module. Everyone else sees the values read-only.