Credits & Customer Debt Management
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Module 07 — Credits & Customer Debt Management
Audience: Customer Success & Sales Agents
Goal: Help customers understand how to record credit sales, track customer payments, and manage outstanding debt.
1. What Is a Credit in SmartSell?
A credit is a sale where the customer takes the goods immediately but pays later. SmartSell tracks the full amount owed, any partial payments made, and the outstanding balance — all linked to the customer by phone number.
Credits are branch-specific — each branch manages its own credit book.
2. Recording a Credit Sale
Credits are created from the POS screen, not from the Credits list.
Steps:
1. Open the POS for the correct branch
2. Add all items to the cart as normal
3. Instead of tapping Checkout, tap Credit
4. The Credit modal opens — fill in:
- Customer phone (required — this is how SmartSell identifies the customer)
- Customer name (optional but recommended)
- Credit terms (optional — e.g. "Pay before end of month")
- Payment schedule (optional)
5. Tap Proceed
The credit is saved and the customer's debt is recorded. The cart is cleared.
Agent Note: The customer's phone number is mandatory for credits. Without it, the credit cannot be created. If the customer refuses to give their number, the cashier must process it as a regular cash/card sale or not complete the transaction.
Offline note: Credits can be created while the POS is offline. They are stored locally and synced to the server when the internet is restored, just like regular sales.
3. Viewing the Credits List
From the Business Detail screen, tap the Credits Unpaid KPI card at the top, or navigate to Credits from within the business menu.
If the business has multiple branches, a branch selector appears first — tap the branch whose credits you want to view.
The Credits List screen shows all credits with filters:
Status filter
Filter credits by their current status:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| All | Show all credits regardless of status |
| Not Paid | No payment has been made yet |
| Partially Paid | One or more payments made, but balance remains |
| Paid | Fully settled |
| Written Off | Debt declared unrecoverable and closed |
| Cancelled | Credit cancelled before any payment |
Credit cards
Each card in the list shows:
- Credit reference number
- Customer name
- Total amount of the credit
- Amount already paid
- Remaining balance
- Status badge
- Date the credit was created
Tap a credit card to open its full detail.
4. Credit Detail Screen
The Credit Detail screen gives the full picture of a single credit:
Customer section
- Customer name
- Phone number
- Email (if recorded)
- Date the credit was created
Financial summary
- Total credit amount
- Total paid so far
- Remaining balance
Items section
- List of products included in the credit
- Quantity and unit price for each item
Payment history
Every payment recorded against this credit is listed with:
- Amount paid
- Payment method (cash, card, or mobile)
- Date of payment
- Name of the employee who recorded it
5. Recording a Payment Against a Credit
When a customer comes in to pay off their debt (in full or partially):
- Open the Credit Detail screen for that customer's credit
- Tap Add Payment
- A modal appears with:
- Amount (required — enter the amount the customer is paying now)
- Payment method (cash, card, or mobile) - Tap Save
The payment is recorded, the paid amount updates, and the balance recalculates automatically.
If the payment fully covers the balance, the credit status automatically changes to Paid.
Agent Note: A customer can make multiple partial payments over time. Each one is recorded separately and visible in the payment history. This gives the business owner a clear timeline of when and how much was paid.
Validation: The amount field must be a number greater than zero. If the customer enters a letter or leaves it blank, an error is shown and the payment is not saved.
6. Credit Statuses Explained
| Status | When it occurs |
|---|---|
| Not Paid | Credit was just created, no payment recorded yet |
| Partially Paid | At least one payment recorded but total paid < total owed |
| Paid | Total paid = total credit amount (can be automatic or manual) |
| Written Off | Manager/owner marks the debt as unrecoverable |
| Cancelled | Credit was voided before any goods were actually given |
Agent Note for support: If a customer says "I marked a credit as paid by mistake," they should contact support. Status changes like Write Off and Paid are intentional actions — reversing them requires admin intervention.
7. Searching for a Customer's Credit
The Credits List does not currently have a customer name search bar on mobile. To find a specific customer's credit:
1. Filter by status to narrow down the list
2. Scroll through the credits — they are ordered by most recent first
3. Look for the customer name or phone number on the credit cards
Agent Note: For businesses with many credits, the web portal offers more powerful search and filter tools. Direct high-volume customers to manage credits from the web portal.
8. Common Credit Scenarios
| Scenario | What to do |
|---|---|
| Customer wants to buy on credit but refuses to give phone number | Explain that a phone number is required to record the credit. Without it, process as cash only. |
| Credit shows as Not Paid but customer says they paid | Open the credit detail and check payment history. If no payment is recorded, add it now. |
| Business owner wants to see all outstanding debt | Open Credits List, filter by "Not Paid" and "Partially Paid". |
| Cashier created a credit with wrong amount | Contact support — credit amounts cannot be edited after creation. |
| A customer's credit is on Branch A but they're paying at Branch B | The payment must be recorded on Branch A where the credit was created. |
Summary
| Task | Where |
|---|---|
| Create a credit sale | POS → Credit button |
| View credits list | Business Detail → Credits Unpaid card |
| Filter by status | Credits List → status filter chips |
| View credit detail | Credits List → tap a credit |
| Record a payment | Credit Detail → Add Payment |
| Check payment history | Credit Detail → Payment History section |
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