You may encounter purchases with open balances that require payment collection for a variety of reasons. Understanding these scenarios can help you manage outstanding payments efficiently and maintain healthy cash flow.
Some common situations where a purchase may have an open balance include:
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A purchase made using deposit workflows either through your website or back office, where only a partial payment was collected upfront.
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A purchase created via the back office using the Pay Later payment method, which defers payment collection to a later time.
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A purchase processed in the back office with a credit card provided but the Do Not Charge Card Now option toggled on, delaying the charge.
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An online purchase that was manually accepted with the Do Not Charge Card Now option selected, meaning payment has not yet been taken.
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A purchase where additional charges or modifications have been made—such as adjusting guest count, adding extra fees, or switching experiences—but payment for those changes has not yet been collected.
It’s important to note that all collection of open balances is manual and can be initiated at your discretion. This gives you full control over when and how outstanding payments are collected, helping you manage your business’s financial operations effectively.
User Access: Admin, Reservationist or Reservationist Lite roles have access to collect balances in Xola.
Equipment Manager, Guide Manager or Guide roles can only view a balance due on the Roster, but cannot collect.
Accountant roles can only view balance dues in reporting and in the purchase tab through reporting, but cannot collect.
To grant access to users, click here.
What's covered in this article:
- Collect a Balance from the Dashboard/Roster
- Collect a Balance from Purchases
- Collect Balance from Pending Action Queue
Collect a Balance from the Dashboard/Roster
- As soon as a balance opens, a red balance icon will appear on the Dashboard.
- Click on the red balance icon. This will bring you to the Roster where you can scroll down and find the guest(s) with the balance due.
- Click on the red balance icon in the Roster.
- In the window that opens, select how you want to collect the balance, Now or by Invoice.
- Next, enter the amount you wish to collect in the Amount field. By default, Xola automatically sets this field to reflect the full balance due. If you are collecting the entire balance, simply select the payment method and click Collect.
- If you only need to collect a partial payment, simply type in the specific amount you want to collect, choose the payment method, and then click Collect to process the transaction.
- If you are collecting the balance via Invoice, you can enter the amount, choose a message template (optional), and click Send Invoice.
- You’ll immediately see the balance adjust in the purchase to reflect full or partial settling.
Pro Tip: You can collect a balance with multiple cards! Just add a new card when collecting the balance, by clicking on the Add New Card button, on the collecting balance window.
Collect a Balance from Purchases
- Go to the Purchases Tab and find your customer.
- Click Collect Balance in a purchase with an open balance.
- In the window that opens, select how you want to collect the balance, Now or by Invoice.
- Next, enter the amount you wish to collect in the Amount field. By default, Xola automatically sets this field to reflect the full balance due. If you are collecting the entire balance, simply select the payment method and click Collect.
- If you only need to collect a partial payment, simply type in the specific amount you want to collect, choose the payment method, and then click Collect to process the transaction.
- If you are collecting the balance via Invoice, you can enter the amount, choose a message template (optional), and click Send Invoice.
- You’ll immediately see the balance adjust in the purchase to reflect full or partial settling.
- Once you've collected the full balance you'll see the Payment Summary changed to "Paid".
Pro Tip: You can collect a balance with multiple cards! Just add a new card when collecting the balance, by clicking on the Add New Card button, on the collecting balance window.
Collect Balance from Pending Action Queue
The Pending Action Queue is conveniently located at the top left corner of your Xola account, represented by 
icon.
- A purchase with an open balance will remain in the Pending Action Queue until the balance has been fully collected.
- Click on the icon and find the purchase with the balance due.
- Click on the green Collect Balance
- In the window that opens, select how you want to collect the balance, Now or by Invoice.
- Next, enter the amount you wish to collect in the Amount field. By default, Xola automatically sets this field to reflect the full balance due. If you are collecting the entire balance, simply select the payment method and click Collect.
- If you only need to collect a partial payment, simply type in the specific amount you want to collect, choose the payment method, and then click Collect to process the transaction.
- If you are collecting the balance via Invoice, you can enter the amount, choose a message template (optional), and click Send Invoice.
- You’ll immediately see the balance adjust in the purchase to reflect full or partial settling.
- Once you've collected the full balance you'll see the Payment Summary changed to "Paid".
User Access: Reservationist Lite users do not have access to the Pending Actions Queue and therefore cannot collect open balances from this section.