Customer Debts

Not every customer pays in full when they place an order. Some pay a deposit. Some promise to pay later. Some pay in installments over time. Customer debts are how Catlog helps you track all of that without relying on memory, spreadsheets, or WhatsApp messages.

Most customer debts on Catlog are created automatically. When an order is partially paid — meaning the customer paid something but not the full amount — Catlog immediately creates a debt record for the outstanding balance. You don't need to do anything extra.

You can also create customer debts manually, independently of any order. This is useful when a customer owes you money for a reason that isn't tied to a specific sale.

Whenever a customer debt is created, Catlog automatically generates an invoice for it that you can share directly with the customer — so they have something clear and official to reference.

As a customer makes payments toward their debt, you record each one. You can link a payment to a specific transaction — if they paid through your payment link, bank transfer, or Catlog invoice — or record it manually.

Every payment updates the outstanding balance on the debt in real time, and the payment history on the original sale is updated too.

If you and a customer agree to a structured repayment schedule, you can set up an installment plan directly on the invoice. Each installment has a specific amount and due date, giving both you and the customer a clear, agreed-upon schedule.

This is especially useful for higher-value orders where customers need flexibility but you still want a documented repayment commitment.

Following up on unpaid debts manually is exhausting. Catlog handles this for you in two ways:

Reminders go directly to the customer's email, keeping the communication professional and documented.

Sometimes a customer simply won't pay. When you've exhausted your options and accept that a debt won't be recovered, you can mark it as a bad debt.

Marking a debt as bad creates a counter-expense to reflect the financial loss in your records. Importantly, this doesn't create an outflow — Catlog understands the difference between money you spent and money you wrote off, and keeps your cash flow figures accurate.

Across all your customers, Catlog gives you a view of:

This helps you spot patterns — like customers who consistently pay late, or periods where you're extending more credit than usual.

💡 The businesses that lose the most money to customer debt are usually the ones that aren't tracking it carefully. Catlog makes it easy to know exactly what you're owed and who owes it.