When a family makes a payment online, brightwheel will typically apply it to an open invoice automatically and mark it as paid. Sometimes a payment won't apply to an invoice on its own and will appear as a credit on the child's account instead.
This can happen when:
The payment was made outside of brightwheel (such as cash, check, Venmo, or Zelle)
The payer who submitted the payment is different from the payer assigned to the invoice
The payment was submitted after the invoice was already posted.
In these cases, you can manually apply that credit to the right invoice in just a few steps.
Apply a payment or credit to an invoice
When a payment is not applied to an invoice, it shows as an available credit on the child's account. You can apply that credit directly from the child's billing profile by following the steps below.
Log in on the web > Go to Billing
Select a student, then click the Available credits & payments tab
Next to the unapplied payment, hit Actions > Apply to invoices
Enter the amount to apply, then click Save & Apply
Unapply a payment and credit from an invoice
If a payment was applied to the wrong invoice, you can unapply it. Once unapplied, the payment will return to the account as an available credit and can be reapplied to the correct invoice. If there are no open invoices at that time, the credit will automatically apply to the next invoice once it's posted.
Log in on the web > Go to Billing
Select a student, then click the All transactions tab
Next to the invoice, select Actions > View/Edit
In the individual payment row, click Actions > Unapply
FAQs
Why didn't a payment automatically apply to an invoice?
Why didn't a payment automatically apply to an invoice?
A payment may not apply automatically for a few reasons.
A family pays with cash, Venmo, or another method outside of brightwheel.
It may have been made after the invoice was already posted. Payments made before an invoice is posted will apply automatically.
The payer who submitted it may be different from the payer assigned to the invoice.
The payer may have submitted a general payment without selecting a specific invoice to apply it to.
A student shows a $0.00 balance, but there's still an open invoice and a credit for the same amount. How do I fix this?
A student shows a $0.00 balance, but there's still an open invoice and a credit for the same amount. How do I fix this?
This usually means there's an available payment or credit that hasn't been applied to the open invoice yet. To resolve it, apply the available credit to the open invoice using the steps above. If there are no open invoices, the credit will stay on the account and automatically apply to the next invoice once it's posted.
Can a family make a payment even if there's no open invoice?
Can a family make a payment even if there's no open invoice?
Yes. Families can submit a payment at any time, even when the account balance is $0.00. That payment will create a credit on the account, which will be available to apply to an existing or new invoice.
What happens if a payment is left unapplied?
What happens if a payment is left unapplied?
If you don't apply a payment to the invoice, the invoice will stay open as unpaid. Once a new invoice is posted, the unapplied payment will automatically apply to the next posted invoice once it is generated.