The payments panel is the same component in three places, so learning it once covers all three: Copay & balance during check-in, Collect payment at check-out, and Collect a payment on the patient's Billing tab.
Know the number before you type it
Across the top are the numbers that matter:
- Copay: $25.00 — or Copay: not verified if no eligibility check has run
- Open balance: $140.00
- Collected this visit: $0.00
Under them, quick-fill buttons that save you typing: Copay $25.00, Full balance $140.00, and Both $165.00. Press one and the amount fills in.
Copay: not verified deserves a pause. It means nobody has checked with the payer, so the copay you're about to collect is an assumption. Verify copay (270/271) is right there.
Recording a payment
The form is four fields: the amount, a type (Copay, Balance, Self-pay, Deposit, Other), a method (Cash, Card, Check, Other), and a reference whose placeholder follows the method — Check # for a check, Card last 4 for a card.
Fill the reference in. Six weeks later, "which check was that?" is answerable only if somebody typed the number.
Press Collect $25.00. You'll get back the receipt number: Collected $25.00 — receipt RCPT-20260726-0007 · $25.00 applied to open balances.
The card terminal
Choose Card as the method and, if your practice has a terminal, the single button splits in two:
- Charge terminal $25.00 — Push the amount to the card terminal — the patient taps/dips on the device
- Record manually — Record a card payment taken outside the terminal (e.g. imprint / standalone reader)
Press Charge terminal and watch the status chip: Sent to terminal → Awaiting card… → Completed. Cancel clears the amount off the device if the patient changes their mind.
When it completes you get Terminal payment completed — $25.00 and the ledger row appears. You do not record it again.
In a demo or training practice the processor is simulated, and the footer tells you the rules: amounts ending .61 decline and amounts ending .62 stay on the device until cancelled. That's how you practise the unhappy paths without a real card.
Receipts
Print receipt opens a printable receipt — practice name, patient, the date, and a table of receipt number, when, type and amount, with a Total collected row. It opens a new window and prints, so pop-ups need to be allowed in your browser.
In a training or demo practice the receipt is stamped SYNTHETIC DEMO — not a bill. If you see that on a receipt you're about to hand a real patient, you're in the wrong practice.
Voiding
Every payment row has Void — Void this payment (wrong amount / duplicate). Press it and a reason box appears: Why void? Type a short reason and Confirm.
You'll get Payment voided — balances restored. and the row is marked
· VOIDED — wrong amount.Screenshot pending capture
The reason is required for the same reason cancellation reasons are: a voided payment with no explanation looks like something being hidden. "Wrong amount", "duplicate", "patient changed to card" — five words is enough.
What usually goes wrong
Double-recording a terminal payment. The device's completion writes the row. Recording it again gives the patient a credit they didn't pay and your biller a puzzle.
Leaving the reference blank. Then a cheque number or card's last four is gone for good.
Taking a second payment to fix a wrong one. Void and retake.
Collecting an unverified copay without saying so. If it says not verified, either verify it or tell the patient the amount is provisional. Refunding a copay is much more expensive than a ten-second check.
Blocked pop-ups swallowing the receipt. If nothing prints, that's your browser, not ChartVoyant.