A prompt payment discount is a fixed or percentage amount discounted from an invoice, it will have a date where it expires (typically before the due date) and on that date the discount is automatically removed from the invoice, so that the invoice total is back to the original amount.

The discount can be applied in two ways:

1. All new invoices

If you use the first option then Paidnice will apply the discount to new invoices as they arrive (typically takes a few minutes) and then after applying the discount you can send a discount notification (see below) to let the customer know they have a discount available. This is the default option.

2. Only unsent invoices

If you use the second option, then when the discount is applied it will check if the invoice has been sent to the customer in Xero or Quickbooks and if it has, the discount will not apply. This way the invoice won't be changed after it has been sent.

To use this option, do not. send the invoice right away in Xero. The discount will be added in the background (typically less than 5 minutes later) and then you should see the discount on the invoice, and you can send it to your customer from Xero.

Note: If you edit an invoice - changing the amount or due date after the discount is applied, the discount will not re-calculate and will still be applied at the original date. We recommend duplicating the invoice using the Copy to option in Xero or the Duplicate option in QuickBooks to quickly make a new version of the invoice to update the amounts or dates. This way the discount will be re-calculated on the new invoice.

Getting started

To set up a prompt payment discounts go the the prompt payment discounts menu option:

And click the button to create a new discount:

Then configure the prompt payment discount policy:

Choose a name, decide if it should be a fixed amount or a percentage, decide how many days before due date the discount expires, and which account and amount to use.

You can customise the messaging on the invoice line and there are also advanced options:

Lastly don't forget to assign the discount policy to a customer group (either the default group or a specific group).

Once created preview the discount on any existing invoice using the 'Preview actions' option for an invoice.

By default a new discount policy is not retroactively applied to old invoices, only to new invoices going forward, and only if those invoices are eligible. You can force a discount to be applied by processing specific older invoices using the 'process now' option for the invoice.

If you make changes to a discount policy (for example changing the amount of the discount or the number of days to keep the discount) then these settings only apply on a going forward basis, already applied discounts will not change.

You can configure a discount email template and send your customer a discount email when the discount applies. This is useful if you have the discounts applying to new invoices even if they've already been sent to the customer.

To do this first create a template (or use our sample to get started):

It could look like this:

Then select this template when cresting a new email policy for when a discount applies:

Make sure you select the email in the same group as the discount:

The discount email will send when the discount is applied to the invoices for this group.