Balance Owed Payments

Taking payment for balances owed

Sometimes the payment you received for an order is just not enough

  • the customer wanted to add items or options to the order
  • shipping was more expensive than anticipated
  • the customer requested additional services such as gift wrapping or insurance after completing their order

In cases like this, you must take another action to collect payment

Option 1: Invoice the Customer from your Payment Processor

Most credit card gateways and PayPal will allow you to send the customer a payable invoice. Keep the order in Pending status until the invoice has been paid.

This image shows the Square invoicing page:

Square invoice

Option 2: Take Payment through Your Cart Storefront

Create a $1 item in your store called “Pay outstanding balance” or something like that. Set the item to Free Shipping, and be sure the Free Shipping shipping module is enabled. Then place an order for the customer with the balance, buying as many of the $1 item as are needed to satisfy the amount owed. (Once the item is in the cart and the order is ready, you may need to ask the customer to login themselves and complete the order.)

Option 3: Take Payment through Your Admin (Authorize.NET CIM)

If this is a very common situation for your business, you may consider using Authorize.NET CIM for payment processing. CIM provides a mechanism for direct charges to a stored customer card if there is a balance owed (the “Get Money” button).

Option 4: Invoice through Quickbooks Online

If you use QBO for bookkeeping, you can create an invoice in Quickbooks Online. Your customers can pay by credit card, PayPal, Venmo or ACH.




Still have questions? Use the Search box in the upper right, or try the full list of FAQs. If you can't find it there, head over to the Zen Cart support forum and ask there in the appropriate subforum. In your post, please include your Zen Cart and PHP versions, and a link to your site.

Is there an error or omission on this page? Please post to General Questions on the support forum. Or, if you'd like to open a pull request, just review the guidelines and get started. You can even PR right here.
Last modified June 14, 2024 by Scott Wilson (cc337249).