How do I track part-cash, part-card payments as a sole trader?

Understanding part-cash, part-card payments (and why they matter)

As a sole trader, it’s common to get paid in more than one way for the same sale. A customer might pay a deposit by bank transfer, settle the rest in cash, or split a bill between card and cash because that’s what they have on them. These “split payments” (also called part-payments or mixed-method payments) are completely normal in day-to-day trading—but they can become a bookkeeping headache if you don’t track them consistently.

The good news: tracking part-cash, part-card payments doesn’t need complicated accounting software or a drawer full of receipts. What you need is a clear method you apply every time, and a simple tool that makes it easy to record the payment breakdown, match it to the invoice, and keep your records tidy.

That’s exactly the kind of workflow invoice24 is designed for. If you’re using invoice24 to create invoices, you’re already most of the way there: you just need a reliable process for recording multiple payment methods against one invoice, and a habit of reconciling regularly so you always know what’s paid, what’s outstanding, and what landed in cash versus your card processor.

What “tracking” really means for split payments

When people say “track part-cash, part-card payments,” they usually mean four things:

1) Recording the payment split accurately (e.g., £40 cash and £60 card on a £100 invoice).

2) Linking the split to the correct invoice or sale so your customer balance and invoice status are correct.

3) Making your totals agree with reality: the cash you physically have, and the deposits you see from your card processor or bank.

4) Keeping evidence (card receipts, till reports, notes, or customer confirmation) so you can explain the transaction later if needed.

Split payments can cause confusion when one part is immediate (cash) and the other part arrives later (card settlement, bank transfer clearing). If you don’t track the split properly, you can end up accidentally marking an invoice as fully paid when it isn’t, or double-counting income when the card processor payout arrives.

The solution is to treat the invoice total as one fixed number, then record each payment component as its own line entry against that invoice, with its own date and method. invoice24 makes that approach feel natural—create the invoice once, then record payments as they happen.

Why sole traders often get split payments wrong

Most mistakes happen because sole traders are busy, not because they’re careless. Here are the most common ways split payments get muddled:

Marking the invoice “Paid” too early. If a customer hands you some cash and says they’ll “tap the rest,” it’s easy to treat the sale as finished. But if the card part fails or never happens, your records show income you didn’t actually receive.

Recording only the total, not the breakdown. If you simply write “£100 paid” and don’t note that it was £40 cash and £60 card, your cash totals won’t match your actual cash drawer, and your card takings won’t match your processor payouts.

Confusing card sales with card payouts. Card processors usually pay you out later (and may deduct fees). If you track the payout as the “payment,” you might lose the link to the invoice date or payment date. You also risk treating fees incorrectly.

Mixing personal and business money. With cash especially, it’s tempting to spend it or bank it without noting what it was for. Then it becomes difficult to show which invoices were actually paid in cash.

Not keeping a consistent rule for deposits and part-payments. Some sole traders record deposits as “income” but forget to track the remainder, or record the remainder without linking it back to the original invoice.

All of these problems go away when you commit to one consistent approach: invoice first, then attach each payment component with method and date, and reconcile routinely. invoice24 supports that simple discipline by keeping invoices and payment tracking in one place.

The simplest method: one invoice, multiple payment entries

If you take one thing away from this article, make it this: do not create multiple invoices for one sale just because the customer paid in different ways. Create one invoice for the full amount, then record multiple payments against it.

This keeps your customer communication clean (“Here is your invoice total”) and makes it easier to prove what happened later (“Here are the payment entries that settled it”). It also stops your sales figures being split across multiple documents that you then have to reassemble.

In invoice24, the ideal workflow looks like this:

Step 1: Create the invoice for the full amount (including VAT/sales tax if applicable in your situation).

Step 2: When the customer pays part in cash, record a payment entry for the cash portion with the payment date and method “Cash.”

Step 3: When the customer pays the remainder by card, record a second payment entry for the card amount with the payment date and method “Card.”

Step 4: The invoice should automatically show the remaining balance after each part-payment until it reaches zero.

Step 5: Reconcile: check that cash on hand and card processor totals match your recorded breakdown.

This method is easy to understand and easy to maintain. More importantly, it scales: you can do it for one invoice a week or fifty invoices a day.

Cash vs card: what counts as the “payment date”?

When a customer gives you cash, the payment date is straightforward: it’s the day you received the cash.

Card payments can be slightly trickier because there are often multiple dates involved:

Card transaction date: when the customer taps/inserts the card and the payment is authorised.

Settlement date: when the transaction is actually settled by the card network (often the next day).

Payout date: when your payment provider transfers the money to your bank account (which might be 1–3 business days later, sometimes longer).

For day-to-day tracking, it’s usually most helpful to record the card payment against the invoice on the transaction/authorisation date, because that’s when the customer effectively paid and when you want the invoice balance to reduce.

Then, separately, when you reconcile your bank deposits, you match the provider payout to a batch of card transactions rather than treating the payout as a new customer payment. This is exactly why having the payment breakdown stored clearly on each invoice in invoice24 makes reconciliation easier: you can quickly filter or review what you expected in card takings versus what landed in your bank after fees and batching.

How to track the split when the customer pays at different times

Not all split payments happen in the same moment. A very common pattern is:

• Customer pays a deposit by card today.

• Customer pays the remainder in cash when the job is completed next week.

Or the reverse:

• Customer gives some cash today.

• Customer pays the remaining balance by card later.

In both cases, the rule stays the same: one invoice, multiple payment entries, each with its own date and method.

In invoice24, you want your invoice to show an accurate “amount due” at all times. That means after the first payment, the invoice shouldn’t show “Paid” unless it’s actually settled. Instead, it should show “Partially paid” (or similar), with a clear outstanding balance.

This is particularly important if you have multiple customers or multiple jobs in progress. When you can quickly see which invoices are partially paid, you reduce awkward conversations, avoid chasing the wrong person, and protect your cash flow.

Tracking tips for real-life scenarios

Let’s make this practical. Below are common scenarios sole traders encounter, and how to record them cleanly.

Scenario 1: Customer pays £30 cash, £70 card on a £100 invoice

Record the invoice total: £100.

Add payment entry #1: £30, method “Cash”, date today.

Add payment entry #2: £70, method “Card”, date today (or the card transaction date if different).

Invoice balance becomes £0 and the invoice is fully paid. Your records show the breakdown so your cash and card totals match reality.

Scenario 2: Customer pays £50 cash today, promises £50 card tomorrow

Create the invoice for £100.

Record payment entry #1: £50 cash today.

Leave invoice as partially paid with £50 outstanding.

Tomorrow, when the card payment completes, record payment entry #2: £50 card tomorrow.

If the card payment doesn’t happen, your invoice remains outstanding and you have an accurate record of what was actually received.

Scenario 3: Deposit by card, remainder in cash after delivery

Create the invoice for the full amount. If you prefer, you can note “Deposit paid” in the invoice notes, but the key is the payment entry.

Record the deposit as a card payment entry with the deposit date.

On completion/delivery, record the remainder as cash with that date.

This approach keeps your accounts clean and your customer communication simple: one invoice, one story.

Scenario 4: Customer splits payment across two cards and some cash

It happens—especially with larger bills.

Create the invoice once.

Record each component as its own payment entry: cash amount, card #1 amount, card #2 amount. If you can’t store card identifiers (and you generally shouldn’t store full card details), simply label them as “Card” and keep any merchant receipt references separate. The essential part is that the payment totals match the invoice and the methods are recorded.

How to track card processing fees without distorting your invoice records

One of the biggest sources of confusion is fees. Let’s say you take £100 by card, but your payment provider deposits £97.10 into your bank after fees. If you record only the payout, it looks like the customer underpaid. If you record both the customer payment and the payout as “income,” it looks like you got paid twice.

A cleaner way to think about it is:

The customer paid £100. That settles the invoice.

The provider fee is a cost/expense. It reduces what you receive in the bank, but it doesn’t change the fact the customer paid the invoice total.

So in your tracking, you record the invoice payment as the customer’s full card amount. Then you record fees as expenses (or allow for them in whatever bookkeeping system you use). Even if you keep things simple, you can at least note total monthly card fees separately so your profit calculation is realistic.

invoice24 helps with this separation of concerns: invoice and customer payment tracking stays clean, while fees can be handled in your expense tracking workflow (whether that’s a spreadsheet, an accountant, or a bookkeeping tool). The crucial point is you don’t want fees to make it look like customers haven’t paid you.

How to avoid double-counting income when your card payouts hit the bank

If you’re new to card payments, you might be tempted to treat the bank payout as the payment event. But if you do that, you’ll often lose the connection to the original invoice and confuse the timing of your income.

Here’s a simple discipline that prevents double-counting:

Record the customer card payment against the invoice when the customer pays.

When the payout arrives, treat it as a transfer of funds from your payment provider to your bank, not a new sale.

In practical terms, that means your invoice record is tied to the customer and the sale, not to the provider batch payout. When you reconcile, you simply confirm that the sum of card payments (minus fees, if fees are deducted) matches the deposits that arrived.

When you do this consistently, invoice24 becomes a reliable “sales truth” and your bank statement becomes a “cash movement record.” They serve different roles, and you stop mixing them up.

Practical reconciliation: making sure your records match reality

Tracking split payments isn’t only about entering numbers—it’s about checking that everything adds up. A basic reconciliation routine can be short and painless, but it protects you from small mistakes that become big problems later.

A simple weekly routine looks like this:

1) Check cash totals. Add up the cash payment entries you recorded for the week (in invoice24) and compare it to the cash you banked plus the cash you still hold (minus any legitimate business cash spending you recorded separately).

2) Check card totals. Add up the card payment entries for the week (in invoice24) and compare them to your payment provider’s transaction list for the same period.

3) Match payouts. If your provider pays out in batches, compare each payout to the set of transactions it represents. Expect small differences if fees are deducted before payout.

4) Check partially paid invoices. Review invoices that are not fully paid. Make sure the outstanding balances make sense and follow up where needed.

Reconciliation is where the split-payment breakdown really pays off. If you only recorded totals, you’d have no clean way to explain why you have “too much” cash or “too little” card income. With invoice24 keeping payment method information alongside invoices, the weekly check becomes straightforward.

Recordkeeping habits that make split payments easy

Sole traders thrive on simple habits. Here are habits that reduce mistakes with part-cash, part-card payments:

Enter the split immediately. If possible, record the cash and card amounts on the invoice right after payment. The longer you wait, the easier it is to forget the breakdown.

Always record the method. Don’t just record “paid.” Record “paid by cash” or “paid by card.” The method is half the value of tracking.

Use consistent naming. If your system lets you pick methods, keep them consistent: “Cash,” “Card,” “Bank transfer,” etc. Don’t alternate between “card,” “visa,” “terminal,” and “stripe” unless you genuinely need that level of detail.

Keep a simple reference note for card receipts. You generally don’t want to store sensitive card data, but it can help to note a receipt number or transaction reference from your terminal/provider in your own records.

Separate business cash from personal cash. Even if you’re a sole trader, cash becomes confusing when it mixes. A dedicated cash tin or envelope for business takings helps, and banking regularly reduces risk and confusion.

Don’t “fix” mismatches by guessing. If your bank doesn’t match your card totals, it’s usually batching or fees. Check the provider report rather than forcing your invoice numbers to match a payout.

How invoice24 can streamline split-payment tracking

invoice24 is built to make invoicing simple for sole traders, and split-payment tracking fits naturally into that simplicity. Instead of juggling multiple apps or trying to remember which payment covered which job, you can keep your workflow centred on invoices:

Clear invoice status. When you record payments against an invoice, you can keep an accurate status: unpaid, partially paid, or paid. This gives you a quick overview of your cash flow.

Payment method visibility. Being able to see how customers paid (cash vs card) helps you reconcile faster and understand your business patterns. For example, you might notice that certain locations or customer types lean heavily toward cash, which affects how often you bank and how you manage change.

One place for customer and payment history. When a customer queries what they paid, you can check the invoice and see exactly what happened—without searching through texts, bank statements, and scraps of paper.

Professional communication. One invoice with a clear balance is more professional than sending separate invoices for each payment type. It reduces confusion for your customers and makes you look organised.

Fewer spreadsheets. You can still export or summarise if you want, but day to day you’re not forced to maintain a separate “payment split” sheet. invoice24 can be your primary record for what was invoiced and how it was paid.

What if you don’t issue invoices for every sale?

Some sole traders don’t invoice every transaction—especially in retail-style work or quick jobs—yet split payments still happen. Even in that case, the same principle applies: you need a single “sale record” and multiple payment entries against it.

If you use invoice24, you can still create an invoice (or an invoice-like record) for many small sales, especially when a customer needs proof of purchase. Over time, this habit can be surprisingly valuable. It creates a paper trail, reduces disputes, and makes it easier to prove income and payment methods if you ever need to review your figures.

If invoicing every tiny sale genuinely isn’t practical for you, consider at least using invoice24 for larger jobs, deposits, repeat customers, and any transaction where part-payments are likely. Those are precisely the transactions that become messy when they aren’t documented properly.

Handling refunds and adjustments on split payments

Refunds are where good tracking becomes essential. If a customer paid part in cash and part by card, you should ideally refund using the same split (or at least record clearly what happened). In the real world, you might not be able to refund cash if you no longer have it on hand, or a customer may prefer the refund to go to their card.

Whatever you do, keep your records clear:

If you refund by card: record a negative card payment or a refund entry (depending on your system) and link it to the invoice or sale record. Keep the date and amount.

If you refund by cash: record a negative cash entry and note the reason.

If you do a partial refund: make sure the invoice balance reflects the new reality—either by issuing a credit note/adjustment or updating the invoice totals properly, depending on how you manage documentation.

The key is consistency. When invoice24 holds the original split-payment record, it becomes much easier to explain and track refunds later.

Tracking split payments for deposits, milestones, and staged work

Many sole traders work on projects with staged payments: an upfront deposit, a mid-point payment, and a final balance. Often, those stages are paid in different ways depending on what’s convenient at the time.

To handle this smoothly:

Create one invoice for the full project if you want the simplest customer story, then record each milestone payment against it as it happens.

Alternatively, create separate invoices per stage if that matches your workflow better (for example, if each stage is a distinct deliverable). Even then, each invoice can still have split payments recorded against it.

Whichever approach you choose, don’t mix them randomly from one job to the next. Consistency makes your tracking predictable.

invoice24 supports a clean invoice-led workflow where you always know what’s outstanding and what’s been received, even when payments arrive in mixed forms.

Common questions sole traders ask about part-cash, part-card payments

Do I need to create two receipts if the customer pays two ways?

You don’t usually need two separate receipts for the same sale. One invoice or receipt for the total is enough, as long as your record shows the payment breakdown. The customer generally cares that the invoice is settled; you care about the method breakdown for your own tracking and reconciliation.

What if the card payment fails after the customer has left?

This is exactly why you shouldn’t mark the invoice fully paid until the card payment is confirmed. Record the cash portion immediately. If the card fails, your invoice remains partially paid and you have a clear outstanding balance to follow up on.

What if I bank cash and it becomes impossible to link to specific invoices?

This is a common pain point. The cure is to link cash to invoices at the moment you receive it, not later. If you do that in invoice24, you can bank cash as often as you like and still know where it came from. Your bank statement won’t show invoice references for cash deposits, but your invoice records will.

Should I track tips separately?

If you receive tips (especially cash tips) alongside a split payment, decide on a consistent rule: either include tips on the invoice (if appropriate for your work) or track them separately as other income. What matters is that you don’t accidentally mix tips into the invoice payment amount, because then your invoice appears overpaid and your reporting becomes confusing.

What if the customer overpays because of rounding?

Small rounding differences happen, especially when customers pay odd amounts in cash. The cleanest approach is to record exactly what you received and then decide how you handle the overpayment: treat it as a small tip, apply it to another invoice, or refund it. Your invoice record should reflect whichever choice you make, rather than leaving unexplained extra money floating around.

A simple split-payment checklist you can use every time

When a customer pays part-cash, part-card, run through this quick checklist:

1) Confirm the invoice total. Make sure you and the customer agree on the final amount.

2) Record the cash amount. Enter it immediately with method “Cash” and today’s date.

3) Take the card payment.