In most cases, it's a matter of personal preference where you receive payments, either Novi AMS or QuickBooks Online. Receiving a payment in one system will automatically post it to the other.

There are a few special cases where it would be advantageous to use one system over the other.

Duplicate Transaction Numbers

Novi AMS does not support receiving payments where there is a duplicate transaction number for the outstanding invoice. In this case, you'll want to receive the payment inside of QuickBooks Online.

Stripe - Processing Credit Cards

If your organization uses Stripe to process credit card payments and you need to process a credit card as part of receiving the payment, you'll want to receive the payment inside of Novi AMS. QuickBooks has no direct interaction with Stripe, so you'll be unable to process a credit card if you receive payment in QuickBooks.

One Payment for Multiple Customers (in the same family tree)

If your association receives a single check or credit card payment covering invoices that are tied to multiple customers within a single family, then you'll want to use Novi AMS. This will allow you to "Show invoices for related members" on the Receive Payment screen.

Here's an example:

You issue invoices to the following: ACME Western Division, ACME Eastern Division, and Sally Smith (ACME's CEO).

ACME sends one check for all three invoices.

In this case, it will be easier to process the payment in Novi AMS and click the "Show invoices for related members" link in the payment modal.

One Payment for Multiple Customers (in different family trees)

If your association receives a single check or credit card payment covering invoices that are tied to multiple unrelated customers (meaning they are not in the same family), you can use the "Receive Payment" option under Batch Actions on the Transactions tab.

Example 1:

You issue invoices to the following: Violet's Boutique, Wilson Consultants, and Sally Smith (The Bagel Shop's CEO).

At an event, you collect cash payments for all three invoices.

In this case, you can go to the Transactions tab in Novi AMS and post the entire amount at once. See steps below...

Example 2:

You have a program where an outside company (ABC Inc.) collects fees for services they offer to your members, as well as collecting membership dues on behalf of your association.

Each month, ABC Inc. sends a check to your association for the total amount of dues collected.

Since this check will cover invoices for customers that are not connected to each other, you'll need to use the Batch Action on the Transactions tab in Novi AMS.

Please Note:
Posting a single payment to unrelated customers is rare!

Steps to Receive Payment:

Go to Accounting > Transactions

Use the Filters to narrow down the results - All of the invoices you need to select must be listed on page 1 of the Transactions list (you can display up to 300 rows by clicking on the gear icon and changing the setting).

Select all of the invoices that are covered by this single payment (check the boxes in the first column).

Click the Batch Actions button and select Receive Payment (this will open a modal).

The Payment Date is automatically set to the current date, but you can edit this if needed.

Select the Payment Method - cash, check, card, etc. Note: Available payment methods pull from the payment methods that are set up in your QuickBooks Online account. If you are receiving payment by credit card, the system will ask for credit card information.

Feel free to include a Reference Number (optional). This is a great place to note the check number (if applicable).

The Deposit To field will automatically set to Undeposited Funds. Check out this article to learn why we highly recommend that you use Undeposited Funds.
Confirm the Amount Received is correct.

Select the Invoice(s) to apply the payment to (if not already done) by checking the boxes in the first column.

Enter a Memo (optional). This is a great place to note the name on the check (if applicable).

Click Save & Close or Save & Add New.
- When receiving multiple payments, if you select Save & Add New, Novi will remember the Payment Method and Date from the first payment when the modal refreshes.

The "Receiving Payment" message will display at the top of the list as the payments are created in the background. You can navigate away from this page before the process is done.

Items of Note:

Posting a single payment to unrelated customers is rare!

The batch action can be used on all types of invoices (dues, events, etc.) as long as the invoices are open.

All types of payments can be processed as well (check, credit card, cash).

If the batch action to Receive Payment is grayed out (unavailable), you may have selected invoices that do not have an Open status.

All of the invoices you need to select must be listed on the same page of the Transactions list, because batch actions only apply to items selected on the page you're viewing.

If you need to search by Invoice numbers (maybe because you can't get them all on the same page of the Transactions list), you can receive the payment in QuickBooks Online instead of Novi.

Overpayments & Underpayments:

If you need to account for overpayments or underpayments related to the batch payment process above, use the "Add funds to this deposit" area in QuickBooks Online. Learn more in this QuickBooks help article.