---
key: correct-a-recorded-payment
title: Move or reverse a recorded payment
audience: staff
section: sales-billing/payments
routes: ["/payments/:drawerUid?"]
permissions: ["billing.payments.reverse", "billing.payments.update"]
features: ["billing.payments"]
since: 0.0.1
updated: 0.0.1
status: published
summary: Move a payment that went on the wrong invoice, or undo a payment or write-off recorded by mistake with a reversal that keeps the original in the history.
keywords: [wrong invoice, undo a payment, delete a payment, reverse payment, bounced cheque, NSF cheque, duplicate payment, reallocate, apply payment to another invoice, reverse write-off]
related: [record-a-payment, refund-a-payment, void-or-write-off-an-invoice, correct-an-invoice-with-a-replacement]
---

In the sidebar, open **Sales & Billing**, then **Payments**. The page address is `/payments`. Press a payment in the list to open its panel; the address then ends in that payment's own code.

## Before you start

- Moving a payment needs permission to update payments. Reversing one needs permission to reverse payments.
- A card payment taken through Nova Payments is refunded, not reversed. See [[refund-a-payment]].
- Nova never edits or deletes a recorded payment. It records a correction next to it, so your books always show what happened.

## Steps

To move a payment to another invoice:

1. Open the payment. The cards at the top show its **Amount** and how much is **Applied**, **Unapplied** and **Refundable**.
2. Under **Allocations**, check which invoices it is on now. **Open invoice** opens one.
3. Scroll to **Reallocate payment**. Choose the **Target invoice**, type the **Allocation amount**, and press **Save reallocation**.

To undo a payment recorded by mistake, such as a bounced cheque, a duplicate entry or the wrong amount:

1. Open the payment and scroll to **Reverse this payment**.
2. Press **Reverse payment**.
3. In the window, pick a **Reason category** and add a **Business explanation** if it helps.
4. Press **Reverse payment**. The invoice's balance goes back up by the reversed amount.
5. If the customer did pay, just not like that, record the right payment. See [[record-a-payment]].

To undo a write-off, open the write-off entry in **Payments**, press **Reverse write-off** under **Reverse this write-off**, and confirm with **Reverse write-off**. The bad-debt expense is removed and the amount is owed again. Do this before you record a late payment on that invoice.

## What you see

- After a move, Nova confirms "Payment allocations updated." and both invoices' balances change.
- After a reversal, the original payment stays in the list with its history, and the correction is recorded beside it.
- To find payments that are not fully on an invoice, open **Filters** on the list and set **Focus** to **Needs allocation**.
- A card payment taken through Nova Payments also shows **Fee and deposit**, for roles that can see bank deposits: the **Card fee**, **What you keep**, and **Expected in your bank** with the day the money should arrive ("About" means Nova worked the date out from your deposit schedule). Once the money is deposited it reads **In your bank** with the deposit date, which opens that deposit on the **Bank Deposits** page.

## If something looks different

- **Reverse payment** is greyed out: hover it to read why. Usually your role cannot reverse payments, or something already recorded against the payment has to be undone first.
- **Reallocate payment** says no invoices are available: the customer has no other invoice to move it to. Create the invoice first. See [[create-an-invoice]].
- **Refund this payment** shows instead of **Reverse this payment**: the payment was taken by card through Nova Payments. Press **Open refund workflow**.
- A write-off cannot be moved to another invoice: reverse it, then write off the right invoice. See [[void-or-write-off-an-invoice]].

[[route:/payments|Open Payments]]