How to take an Advance Payment from a Patient
A Patient may choose to pay an Advance to the Clinic against a service before actually using the service. Similarly, an Advance Payment can be taken against a Product that may be out of stock. Alternatively, a general Advance Payment can be taken from the Patient without specifying which Service or Product this advance is for.
There are 3 ways by which an Advance Payment can be taken.
_Method 1: A general Advance that is taken without specifying a Service or Product._
If a patient comes regularly to the clinic, he may put down an advance to be adjusted later on with future billing. Such an advance can be accepted either as specified here or as explained below in Method 3. Either option is fine.
1. Go to Financials | New Advance | Search and Select the Patient and click to open.
2. An Advance Payment window will open | Enter Paid Amount | select Payment Mode | Save.
3. To view the advance taken from the Patient, click on New Bill and Search for the Patient.
_Method 2: Advance taken against a Service or Product._
For example, A Patient has paid an advance for an inventory item, Tetanus and service item, Consultation. He will come for the Consultation and to take the Tetanus, later in the day. Let us have a look at how to take an advance against the service and inventory item.
1. Go to New Bill under Financials and select a Patient.
2. A New Bill window will open, click on Advance | Advance Payment section will open |+Add Bill Items and select Use Advance Amount | Save.
3. The Patient returns to the clinic. Now when you go to Bill him, the system automatically shows those Services and Inventory which the Patient has given an advance for. Your Clinic Staff need not remember or turn over a single sheet of paper or click anywhere. Whenever an appointment or a bill is being made for a Patient who has given an advance, the system automatically brings up the items which are pending, i.e. items that have been paid for but not yet serviced.
Go to New Bill | select the Patient | a New Bill window will open, the Add Bill Items section will also open up on the right. You will see under Pending, Consultation, and Tetanus. Click on the +button to add an item to the bill. Save.
The Advance taken will also appear at the bottom of the bill. Once you save the bill, the advance will get reduced to the extent of the services taken.
4. Once saved, you will automatically be diverted to Search Bill and the bill will appear here.
_Method 3: Advance Payment taken without creating a Bill or specifying a Service or Product._
If a patient comes regularly to the clinic, he may put down an advance to be adjusted later on with future billing. Such an advance can be accepted either as specified here or as explained above in Method 1. Either option is fine.
1. Go to New Payment under Financials and select a Patient.
2. An Accept Payment window will open | Enter Paid Amount | select Payment Mode | Save.
3. You will automatically be diverted to Search Payment and the advance payments will show.
In either of methods of taking an advance, once you have saved the advance payment,s you can open up Financials | Tx History to see the net effect the advance has had on Patient Balance with the Clinic.
There are 3 ways by which an Advance Payment can be taken.
_Method 1: A general Advance that is taken without specifying a Service or Product._
If a patient comes regularly to the clinic, he may put down an advance to be adjusted later on with future billing. Such an advance can be accepted either as specified here or as explained below in Method 3. Either option is fine.
1. Go to Financials | New Advance | Search and Select the Patient and click to open.
2. An Advance Payment window will open | Enter Paid Amount | select Payment Mode | Save.
3. To view the advance taken from the Patient, click on New Bill and Search for the Patient.
_Method 2: Advance taken against a Service or Product._
For example, A Patient has paid an advance for an inventory item, Tetanus and service item, Consultation. He will come for the Consultation and to take the Tetanus, later in the day. Let us have a look at how to take an advance against the service and inventory item.
1. Go to New Bill under Financials and select a Patient.
2. A New Bill window will open, click on Advance | Advance Payment section will open |+Add Bill Items and select Use Advance Amount | Save.
3. The Patient returns to the clinic. Now when you go to Bill him, the system automatically shows those Services and Inventory which the Patient has given an advance for. Your Clinic Staff need not remember or turn over a single sheet of paper or click anywhere. Whenever an appointment or a bill is being made for a Patient who has given an advance, the system automatically brings up the items which are pending, i.e. items that have been paid for but not yet serviced.
Go to New Bill | select the Patient | a New Bill window will open, the Add Bill Items section will also open up on the right. You will see under Pending, Consultation, and Tetanus. Click on the +button to add an item to the bill. Save.
The Advance taken will also appear at the bottom of the bill. Once you save the bill, the advance will get reduced to the extent of the services taken.
4. Once saved, you will automatically be diverted to Search Bill and the bill will appear here.
_Method 3: Advance Payment taken without creating a Bill or specifying a Service or Product._
If a patient comes regularly to the clinic, he may put down an advance to be adjusted later on with future billing. Such an advance can be accepted either as specified here or as explained above in Method 1. Either option is fine.
1. Go to New Payment under Financials and select a Patient.
2. An Accept Payment window will open | Enter Paid Amount | select Payment Mode | Save.
3. You will automatically be diverted to Search Payment and the advance payments will show.
In either of methods of taking an advance, once you have saved the advance payment,s you can open up Financials | Tx History to see the net effect the advance has had on Patient Balance with the Clinic.
Updated on: 06/06/2023
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