Ledger and payments
The Settlement tab is the booking’s account. It answers three questions: what has the customer been billed, what have they paid, and what is still owed. Nothing on it is typed by hand. Every entry comes from an action on the booking.
Reading the Ledger
Section titled “Reading the Ledger”The Ledger lists every document and payment in the order it happened, with a running Balance.
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Date, Entry, Reference | When, what kind of entry (invoice, credit note, payment, bond) and its number |
| Detail | The lines the document carries, or how the payment was made |
| Payment Method | Online, Terminal, Stored card, Manual or Transfer |
| Payment Status | Where the payment stands with the card processor |
| Accounting Status | Whether the entry has reached the accounting system, and whether accounting has settled or voided it |
| Charges, Payments, Balance | Money billed, money received, and what is owed after this entry |
A last row marked UNBILLED shows changes made on the booking since the last document: a product added, a line waived, an extension. Positive means the customer owes more; negative means a credit is due. It is billed by the next Send for Payment.
How billing works
Section titled “How billing works”An invoice bills what changed since the previous document, not the whole booking again. The first invoice carries the whole booking; a later one carries only the difference. When the difference takes money away, Torque issues a credit note instead and sets it against the invoices it reverses. A document is a copy: it keeps what it said when it was issued, even if the booking changes again.
Send for Payment
Section titled “Send for Payment”Send for Payment on the booking is the one place money is asked for. The first step lists the unbilled changes and the figures Outstanding Balance, Credit and Due Now, then offers the methods that make sense right now.
| Method | When offered | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Payment Terminal | Something is due and the branch has a card reader | The amount is sent to the reader. The customer taps or inserts. The card is kept on file for the bond and for later charges |
| Payment Request | Something is due | A link and short code the customer opens on their phone to pay by card or buy-now-pay-later. Copy Link puts it on your clipboard, or send it in a message |
| Stored Payment Card | Something is due and a card is on file from an earlier payment | Charges the saved card without the customer present. Use it for agreed charges such as an extension |
| Invoice | There are unbilled changes | Issues the document with a Due Date and no payment. For account customers who pay by transfer |
| Bond | Charges are left owing and a bond is held | Takes what is owed from the bond. The last resort, offered last |
Terminal, Payment Request and Stored Payment Card can take the Full amount or a Partial Amount you type. Whatever is taken is recorded as a payment on the Ledger and the balance updates when the payment succeeds.
A bond is the security the customer gives for the hire. How much is set by the product sold, and only the highest bond among the products counts, so an extension never asks for a second one. The Bond Method on the Booking panel says how it is taken:
- Payment: the bond is invoiced on its own and paid like any charge. It is money in your account and is given back as a credit at the end.
- Pre-authorisation: a hold on the customer’s card, placed at the card reader or through a payment link. No money moves. The card network only keeps a hold for so long, so Torque renews it automatically while the hire runs, with no one at the counter.
A bond must be collected in full before Check Out will let the vehicle go. Collect it from the Payment step of Check Out, or earlier with Collect Bond on the Settlement tab. The Settlement tab shows Charged to Bond and Bond Remaining while it is held.
Accounting
Section titled “Accounting”Every document and payment is sent to the accounting system in the background. Accounting Status tells you whether it arrived. If the accountant voids a document or records a payment by hand there, the Ledger shows that too on the next synchronisation. Agents do not need to do anything in the accounting system.