Tracking payments so the record can be trusted

A payment record earns its keep on the day somebody disagrees with it. Everything else is preparation for that day.

Short answer. Every payment record needs six things: who, how much, for which period, on what date, by what method, and the proof. Miss any one and the record cannot settle a dispute — most commonly the period, which is not the same as the date paid.

The six fields

Field	Settles
Member	Whose payment it was
Amount	Whether it was full or part
Period	Which month it settles
Date received	Whether it was on time
Method	Transfer, wallet, or cash and who took it
Proof	The evidence, attached to this row

Proof, attached

Proof stored somewhere else is proof you will not find. A screenshot in a chat, a photo in a gallery, a PDF in an inbox — all fine on the day and useless in a year. The receipt has to sit on the row it belongs to.

The states a payment passes through

Owed — nothing sent.
Sent, waiting — the member has paid, nobody has checked it yet.
Approved — checked and counted.
Sent back — something was wrong, with a reason attached.
Excused — a decision was made not to collect it, by a named person.

Records that collapse "sent, waiting" into "owed" are the single most common cause of a member being chased for money they have already paid.

Reconciling

Once a month, compare the record against the account the money actually landed in. They will disagree occasionally — a transfer that never arrived, a duplicate, cash that was never recorded. Finding it within the month is routine; finding it in December is an investigation.

Common questions

Why record the period separately from the date?

Because they differ constantly. Somebody paying October on 3 November has paid October, late. One date cannot express that, and every month-end reconciliation depends on the difference.

How long should payment history be kept?

Indefinitely. Questions about money surface years later, usually when somebody is deciding whether to join something.

Laqfiz is free, and runs in your browser Start a community, invite the people in it, and every payment leaves a receipt everyone can see. No card, no download unless you want one.