Glossary
Payment tracking
Keeping a record of every payment received from a client, so the total paid and the amount still outstanding are always known.
What it means
Payment tracking means recording each payment as a distinct event — an amount, a date, and usually a note about what it covered — rather than keeping a single running total you adjust as money arrives.
The distinction matters more than it appears to. A running total tells you where you are but not how you got there, which means an error is invisible and a client query cannot be answered with evidence. A series of entries can be read back, checked against a bank statement, and shown to the client.
Good payment tracking also derives its summary figures rather than storing them. If the paid total is calculated from the entries every time it is displayed, it cannot drift out of step with them. If it is typed in separately, eventually it will.
Three entries, one balance
A consultant agrees $80,000 for a project. Payments arrive as $30,000 on 4 March, $25,000 on 2 April and $10,000 on 18 April.
Tracked as three entries, the record shows a paid total of $65,000 and a balance of $20,000 — and also shows that payments have been arriving roughly monthly, which is useful context for deciding whether to chase.
Tracked as a single figure that was edited three times, the record shows $65,000 and nothing else. If it had been typed as $56,000 by mistake, nothing would reveal it.
Illustrative example. Names and amounts are made up.
How this works in Umikflow
- Each payment is its own record with an amount, a date you set explicitly, and an optional note.
- Paid and outstanding totals are computed from the entries every time they are shown, so there is no stored figure to become stale.
- Removing a mistaken entry recalculates the balance immediately, and the removal is reversible.