Set a credit limit or put a customer on hold
Limit how much a customer can owe, choose whether going over warns or stops, and hold a customer so nothing new is sent.
- Who can do this
- Owners, and staff with Edit customers, set limits and holds. Only owners send past a limit or a hold
- Where
- Sales, then Customers
On this page
A credit limit is the most a customer may owe you. A hold stops new invoices and quotes for a customer from being sent.
Set a credit limit
- Open Customers and select the customer's name.
- Select Edit.
- Enter Credit limit. Leave it blank for no limit.
- Select Save changes.
Setting a limit needs Edit customers. Credit limit is also on the new customer form and in More details on the quick-add panel, for people with Edit customers only.
The Credit card on the customer's page shows what they owe against the limit, the credit still available, and any amount over the limit. A customer with no limit never gets a warning, and the card shows Set a limit to people with Edit customers.
What counts as owed
What a customer owes is their open invoices, less payments and credit notes not yet applied, in the customer's currency. It is the same figure as the balance on their statement, except that an invoice dated after today counts as soon as it is sent. Draft invoices and quotes are not counted. An invoice or quote in another currency is not measured against the limit, and the note on the form says so.
Choose what happens over the limit
- Open Settings, then select Documents.
- Select Payments.
- Under Credit limits, choose When an invoice goes over a credit limit.
- Select Save changes.
| Choice | What happens |
|---|---|
| Warn and allow | The invoice or quote can be sent. A note saying how far over the limit it went is kept in its activity. This is the starting choice. |
| Save as a draft until an owner sends it | The invoice or quote stays a draft. An owner can send it with a reason, or someone can raise the limit. |
This setting needs Manage business settings, roles & permissions.
Put a customer on hold
- Open the customer's page.
- On the Credit card, select the Hold new invoices and quotes switch. The words under it say On hold or Not on hold.
- Enter a reason under Why? if you want one, up to 150 characters.
- Select Put on hold.
The card then shows who put the customer on hold, when and why, and the change is kept in the customer's activity. Select the switch again to take the hold off. Both need Edit customers. People without it see the hold and cannot change it.
While a customer is on hold, their new invoices and quotes save as drafts and cannot be sent, whatever the limit and whichever choice the business made above. Payments, credit notes and statements still work. An invoice that was already sent can still be emailed again, and a quote can still be converted; the draft invoice it creates is stopped when someone tries to send it.
On the invoice and the quote
A note under Customer on new and draft invoices and quotes says when the customer is on hold or the total would take them over their limit, and it changes as you edit the lines. A quote that was already sent has no note. The invoice form's main button is Save draft only while the invoice cannot be sent: while the customer is on hold, or while the total is over the limit when the business saves those as drafts.
On the saved draft:
- Owners see Mark sent anyway on an invoice. Enter a Reason, up to 150 characters, then select Mark sent anyway. Like Mark Sent, it posts the invoice to Accounts receivable and does not email the customer. On a quote, select Send quote; the send window asks for the Reason, and Send anyway emails the quote. The reason and the owner's name are kept in the document's activity.
- People with Send invoices or Send quotes who are not owners see Ask an owner. It emails the business's owners a link to the draft with why it was stopped.
- Marking a draft quote accepted is checked the same way. Owners enter a Reason in the Mark accepted window; other people do not see Mark accepted until the quote can be sent.
The mobile app cannot send a stopped invoice. An owner sends it from the web.
Recurring and bulk invoices
A recurring invoice set to send is still created when it is stopped. It is saved as a draft, the schedule's run history says why, and the owners are emailed once. See Make an invoice recurring.
A Bulk invoices run that posts its invoices leaves the stopped ones as drafts and posts the rest. The run page shows Draft beside a stopped invoice and says why it was not posted. Nothing is emailed for that invoice. Open its draft to ask an owner to post it with a reason. See Create bulk invoices.
Post and Email on Invoices use the same check: a stopped invoice stays a draft and is listed with the reason. The old Send Selected address also keeps stopped invoices as drafts and never emails them.
Find customers who need attention
On Customers, a customer over their limit has an Over limit tag under their outstanding amount, and a customer on hold has an On hold tag beside their status. Select Over credit limit or on hold under Quick Filters to list only those customers.
Next, review a customer statement.