> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://orgo.space/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Recording a Payment Made Outside Orgo

> Mark an invoice as paid when a member pays by bank transfer, cash or cheque

Not every payment goes through the platform. Members pay membership fees by bank
transfer, hand over cash at an event, or send a cheque. Recording those payments
in Orgo keeps membership status, payment history and reporting correct.

Payments taken outside Orgo are recorded against an **invoice**, not against the
member directly.

***

## Recording the payment

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Invoices">
    **Invoices** in the main menu. If the invoice already exists, find it in the
    list. If it does not, create it first, then come back to this step.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open the invoice">
    Click the invoice series or number to open it. You will see the full detail
    view, including the amount and who it belongs to.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Mark it as paid">
    Use **Mark as paid**. The invoice moves to paid immediately.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  Opening an invoice requires organisation administrator rights. A local
  administrator can see a member's fee status but cannot open the invoice to record
  a payment against it.
</Note>

***

## What happens when you mark an invoice as paid

Four things happen, and one of them is visible to the member.

1. The invoice status becomes **paid**, and Orgo records which administrator
   marked it, so the action is attributable later.
2. A **PAID** badge is added to the invoice document itself, so the stored and
   downloadable copy shows it too.
3. A payment is recorded against the member, which is what updates their
   membership status and their payment history.
4. **The paid invoice is emailed to the member automatically.**

<Warning>
  Point 4 catches people out. Marking an invoice as paid sends the member an email.
  If you are correcting historical records or tidying up test data, the member will
  still be emailed. Do the tidying on invoices that belong to a test account rather
  than a real one.
</Warning>

***

## Event registration invoices

An invoice raised for an event registration behaves slightly differently. As well
as the four steps above, marking it as paid links the payment to the person's
attendance, so they appear as a paid attendee and their ticket is issued. That
linkage is what makes check-in and attendee reports correct, so always record
event payments against the event invoice rather than creating a separate one.

***

## Getting it wrong

If you mark the wrong invoice as paid, do not delete it. Cancel or void the
invoice instead so the trail of what happened stays intact, then record the
payment against the correct one. Deleting removes the history that explains why
the member's balance changed.