Payment on account: credit limit, checkout and My Account

The credit limit is the highest amount a customer may have open. The limit is hard: an order that would take the open amount over it cannot be placed on account. This guide shows what the limit means, what the customer sees at the checkout and in their account, and how you place an order in the admin.

1. How the limit works

• Open amounts are counted in the base currency. For a company they are counted over all its users together.
• Open and overdue receivables count towards the limit. A paid or written-off receivable no longer counts.
• The check runs on the server just before the order is created and locks the customer (or the company), so two orders placed at the same moment cannot pass the limit together. It holds for every checkout and for orders in the admin.
• A customer without a limit (empty, or No credit limit) can be unlimited.

2. Set the limit

Stores › Configuration › Magelan › Payment terms

In the Credit limit group set Default credit limit (base currency), if you like Rules by customer group, and Note at the checkout. The note is shown under the payment method, for example "Invoice is payable by bank transfer." A special limit for a customer or a company goes on their Payment terms tab.

3. What the customer sees at the checkout

1. Under Payment on account they see their term, for example "Payment is due 30 days after the invoice", the remaining credit ("Remaining credit: ...") and your note.

2. If you require a purchase order, they enter the Purchase order number; without it the checkout asks them to enter it.

3. If the order would go over the limit, they get a message that the remaining credit limit is too low for this order and that they should pay another way or settle the open invoices. They can still choose another payment method.

The term, the purchase order number and the state later also show in the order view, the e-mails and the PDF.

4. What the customer sees in their account

My Account › Open items

The link is shown to a customer who may pay on account or still has open items. At the top are the cards Open, Of which overdue and Remaining credit (or No limit), below is a table with the order, date, amount, due date, days overdue and state. The states are open, due soon, overdue and paid. A company administrator sees all the items of the company and an extra column showing who placed the order; everybody in the company sees the shared amounts and the shared limit.

5. An order in the admin

Sales › Operations › Orders

When you create a new order for an approved customer, Payment on account is available as a payment method. If the order would go over the limit, the admin rejects it with the same message.

Common problems