Concepts/Payment Reconciliation

conceptbillingCARE 3.0+

Definition

A payment reconciliation in Care records a payment that a patient or an insurer makes against an account. You can also record a credit note, which returns money to the payer and subtracts the amount from the balance. A payment can target one specific invoice, or stay as a general credit on the account.

Key Attributes

Components	What it captures
Account	The account that the payment belongs to. Every payment needs an account.
Target Invoice	The invoice that the payment settles. Leave it empty to record a general credit on the account.
Payment Method	How the payer pays the money: Cash, Credit Card, Credit Account, Check, Direct Deposit, or Debit Card.
Payment Type	The nature of the payment: Payment or Advance.
Issuer Type	Who pays the money: Patient or Insurer.
Location	The place where you collect the payment.
Amount Paid	The money that the payer gives. For a credit note, this is the Refund Amount.
Amount Received	The cash that you take from the payer. This applies only to cash payments.
Reference Number	The transaction number or receipt number for the payment.
Payment Date	The date of the payment.
Note	Free text about the payment.

Required fields

Account, Payment Method, Payment Type, Amount Paid, and Payment Date are always required. Issuer Type is required for every payment except a credit note. Location is required only if your facility's configuration asks for it.

📝 Note

The Payment Date cannot be in the future.

Cash payments

For a cash payment, enter the Amount Received. The Amount Received must be equal to or more than the Amount Paid. Care does not show the Reference Number field for cash payments.

Status

Status	Description
Active	The payment counts towards the account balance.
Cancelled	Someone cancelled the payment. It no longer counts towards the balance.
Draft	The payment is not complete.
Entered in Error	Someone recorded the payment by mistake.

Relationships

Every payment belongs to one account.
A payment can target one specific invoice. Without a target invoice, the payment stays as a general credit on the account.
A credit note subtracts its amount from the balance instead of adding to it.
You can move a payment from one account to another account. Both accounts must belong to the same patient.

Permissions

Care checks these permissions at the facility level.

Permission	What it allows	Roles
Can Write Payment Reconciliation	Record a payment, update a payment, and move a payment to another account.	Facility Admin, Admin, Staff, Doctor, Nurse, Pharmacist
Can Read Payment Reconciliation	View and list payments.	Facility Admin, Administrator, Admin, Staff, Doctor, Nurse, Volunteer, Pharmacist
Can Destroy Payment Reconciliation	Cancel a payment after the facility's free-cancel window ends.	Facility Admin, Admin

📝 Note

By default the free-cancel window ends immediately. You usually need the Can Destroy Payment Reconciliation permission to cancel a payment.

Pages that link here:

Concept: Concepts/Charge Item
Reference: References/Payment Reconciliation