Why Payments may not be automatically matched to Sales Invoices
When processing payouts from Payment Service Providers (PSPs) such as Mollie, Shopify Payments, Stripe, or Pay., it’s possible that individual transactions within those payouts are not automatically matched (also known as reconciled) with open sales invoices in your accounting system.
This article explains how Combidesk integrations attempt to match payments to sales entries and outlines the most common reasons why this matching may fail.
How does Payment matching work?
Combidesk integrations use several references to automatically match incoming payments to open sales invoices. The key identifiers are:
Payment reference or payment ID: A unique identifier generated when the payment is created.
Order number: Often included in the payment description.
Ideally, these references should also be included when the sales invoice is created (e.g. in the reference field or description) to allow a successful automatic match.
Common reasons why matching fails
Below are the most frequent causes of failed reconciliation:
1. Mismatched References
The references in the sales invoice and the payment do not align. For example:
The payment includes an order number, but the invoice only contains a customer or invoice number.
The payment reference does not match what’s recorded on the sales entry.
2. Missing or Incorrect Payment Reference
The unique payment ID is missing from the sales entry or has been recorded in the wrong field.
3. Incorrect Fields Used in the Sales Entry
Relevant references (such as the order number or payment ID) were not filled in correctly in the designated fields of the sales invoice.
4. Sales Entry Not Yet Available or Processed
The payment is processed before the corresponding invoice exists:
The invoice is still in draft.
The sales order has not yet been converted into a final invoice.
The sales entry does not exist at the time of booking the payment.
5. Payment Amount Does Not Match
The payment amount differs from the invoice amount, due to:
Partial payments
Rounding differences
Discounts or surcharges
Tips to Improve Automatic Matching
Ensure the payment reference or order number is stored when creating the sales invoice.
Process sales invoices promptly, so they are available when the payment is recorded.
Maintain a consistent approach to using reference fields (e.g. invoice number, order number, customer reference).