# 7. Payment Log Report

The [Payment Log Report](https://autosoftware.company/payment_log_report.php) is the audit trail of every payment entry made in ARM: each time a payment is added to an invoice, changed, or deleted, a log line is written with the payment, the method, what the invoice owed at that moment, and when the entry was made. It lists those log lines for a date range, newest first, so you can see who paid what on which invoice, spot a payment that was deleted after it was taken, and explain why an invoice balance changed. Use it when a customer questions a payment, when the drawer does not balance and you suspect a payment was removed, or when reviewing how staff handle payments.

## How do I run the Payment Log Report?

1. From the Home Screen, click Reports → Sales & Financial Reports → Payment Log Report.
2. Click the From : … To : … date box and pick the first and last day. The report opens on the first day of the current month through today and selects log lines by the Payment Date of the payment they refer to. The × beside the box clears the dates.
3. Click Search to load the report, or Show All to reload it for the same dates in the default order.
4. Read Total above the table: it is the number of log lines in the range, not the number of invoices, because one payment can produce several lines.
5. Click any column heading to sort by it; click it again to reverse the order. Long lists are split into pages; use the page numbers under the table.
6. Click [Print](https://autosoftware.company/mpdf/payment_log_report_pdf.php) to open a PDF copy in a new tab, in the same sort order as the screen.

![Payment Log Report with filters and results](/images/s154_6584216f.png)
*Payment Log Report with filters and results*

## How do I check whether a payment on an invoice was deleted?

1. From the Home Screen, click Reports → Sales & Financial Reports → Payment Log Report.
2. Set the From : … To : … box to cover the payment date and click Search.
3. Click the Invoice No. heading to sort by invoice, then find the invoice. Look at its lines: a Payment Deleted line under Action means that payment was removed; its Date/Time Modified tells you when, and any Payment Added line after it shows what replaced it.
4. Open the invoice from Invoices on the main menu to see who made the change on its own log.

## How do I see the payments taken by a payment method for a period?

1. From the Home Screen, click Reports → Sales & Financial Reports → Payment Log Report.
2. Set the date range and click Search.
3. Click the Payment Method heading to group the lines by method, and read the Payment Amount of the Payment Added lines for that method, ignoring lines marked Payment Deleted.
4. For totals by method use the Payment Receive Report or the Detailed Sales / Payment Method Report in the same section; the Payment Log Report shows the individual entries behind them.

## About this screen

Each line is one log entry. Payment Date is the date the payment was dated on the invoice, Invoice No. is the invoice it was applied to, Payment Amount is the amount of that payment, Payment Method is the payment type used (Cash, a card type, Check, Fleet Charge and so on), and Check Number is the reference number entered with the payment, filled for checks and blank otherwise. Invoice Amount @ Payment Time is the invoice total as it stood when the payment was recorded, and Invoice Balance @ Payment Time is what was still owed on the invoice at that moment, before this payment was applied; the two together show whether the payment settled the invoice or left a balance. Date/Time Modified is the exact date and time the log entry was written, which can differ from the payment date when a payment is entered or deleted later. Action is what happened: Payment Added when the payment was recorded, Payment Updated when it was changed, and Payment Deleted when it was removed from the invoice. Notes shows the note typed with the payment, if any. A payment that was taken and later removed therefore appears twice, once as Payment Added and once as Payment Deleted, with the same invoice number and amount and a later Date/Time Modified on the deletion.

The report includes only payments on invoices that still exist; payments on deleted invoices are listed on the Deleted Invoice Report instead. The Add To Favorites switch beside the heading saves the report under Favorites on the Reports page. Which reports you see depends on your admin group permissions.