🚨 Important: This article relates to the old version of the account screen, which is no longer widely available. All legacy functions (and more) can be completed using the new account screen.
The Account tab shows all invoices and payments relating to this patient.
Invoices
Invoices raised by charging treatment from a treatment plan are shown at the top of the screen. They will show the date that the invoice was created, alongside the invoice number.
This invoice number is a link, which will allow you to display and then print or email the invoice.
📝 Please note: Users on certain versions of Dentally will also see 'Practitioner' and 'Payment Plan'/'Fee Schedule' columns in the 'Payments' section (the wording will vary depending on your region). If the 'Practitioner' column is visible, it shows the practitioner who was assigned to the payment when it was first processed (not necessarily the practitioner to whom payment should be allocated).
On the right-hand side of the screen, you will see the total amount and the status of the invoice. If there is an outstanding amount to pay, this will be shown in Orange.
Once an invoice has been marked as paid, it will state this in green, showing when the payment was made.
An invoice can be deleted if there are no payments associated with it and all of the items on it are on open treatment plans. To do this, use the Bin icon to the right of the invoice. If there is a padlock by the invoice, there are either payments explained/allocated against it, or not all of the items on the invoice are on open treatment plans.
If an invoice has been sent to the patient, you can indicate this when printing or emailing it and the invoice will show with an arrow to the right of it.
Once an invoice has been paid in full, clicking on the Invoice number will show it as a Receipt, stating when the payments were made against it. Again, this can be printed or emailed as before.
Payments
All payments are shown at the bottom of the screen. They will be shown with the amount, method and a summary of what was done with that money - ie which invoice it was used to pay.
If payment has not been used to pay an invoice, it will be shown as ‘Unexplained’ or 'Unallocated'. Click on the orange question mark and state which invoice you wish to explain/allocate the payment against.
The bin icon next to an explained/allocated payment (with a green tick) will remove the explanation. Clicking the bin by an unexplained/unallocated payment will remove the payment.
Statement of Account
The Statement of Account allows you to give the patient a statement style run down of their debits and credits over a time period.
Once the option has been selected, choose a date range and then select whether the statement is to be emailed or printed using the envelope and printer options.
Can I create an invoice from the 'Account' tab?
You may wish to create an invoice outside of a treatment plan, such as for sundries or FTA fees. To create an invoice for non-treatment items:
In the patient's record, go to the 'Account' tab.
Click the 'New invoice' button in the top right corner.
In the invoice window that opens, complete the fields as needed.
When you have finished, click 'Save'.
The invoice will now appear in the list of the patient's invoices.
You can then complete other account actions as normal.
How to process a payment using the legacy account screen
🚨 Important: We have an improved workflow for processing payments, which is available to those on the new account screen. The steps below are only applicable if you are still using the legacy account screen.
From a patient’s 'Account' tab you can see invoices and payments.
There are two stages to taking a payment:
Take the payment
Allocate the payment to an invoice
💡 Top tip: Payments need to be explained/allocated - this can be done automatically or manually.
How do I take a payment?
Select your patient
Go to their 'Account' tab.
To make a payment, click on the ‘Take payment’ button and enter the payment information (if you are on the new account screen, the button will say '+ Payment').
To pay - enter the amount of payment. If there is an outstanding amount on the account, the full amount will automatically be filled in on this field (only on balances of less than £1000). You can change the amount by typing it in the field.
Payment Method - choose the payment type the patient will use.
Date - the date will automatically be today's date. If the payment was taken on another date, change the date here to the correct one.
Location - if your practice has multiple sites, select the site where the payment was taken.
Transaction Number - usually used for inputting a credit card transaction reference in (eg the number printed on a receipt). You can leave blank if not applicable.
If a payment has been taken incorrectly, you will need to delete the invoice and recharge - you cannot "undo" the charge, but you can refund the patient.
📝 Please note: Users on certain versions of Dentally may see a 'Practitioner' field. If this field is visible, you may select the practitioner for the payment (or you can choose to leave it blank) - however if you do select a practitioner, and then you later need to amend this, you will have to delete and redo the payment. It is possible to turn this feature off if you wish, by going to your practice settings, the 'Other' tab and then the 'Payments' section.
How do I delete a payment from within the patient record?
💡 Top tip: In order to delete a payment, you must either have Permission Level 4 access or have 'Can delete payments?' turned in your user settings.
To delete a payment:
Navigate to the patient’s account tab
Click the bin icon on the corresponding payment
If the payment is explained/allocated against an invoice and has a green tick, you will need to remove the payment explanation before you’re able to delete the payment.
Clicking on the link/unlink icon next to the tick will remove the explanation and return the invoice to unpaid.
You can then click on the bin by the unexplained/unallocated payment icon to delete the transaction entirely and adjust the patient’s balance accordingly.
📝 Please note: If you have integrated Dentally with your Xero account, you will have the payment locking option activated, which prevents payments from being removed once the payment date has passed.
How do I take a deposit?
Go to the patient's record, navigate to their 'Account' tab and click 'Take Payment'.
Enter the deposit amount in the 'To pay' field and choose the payment method
If this is a Debit or Credit card enter the 'receipt number' from the card receipt if you so wish.
Click 'Save' to finalise the deposit payment.
How a deposit will appear
The deposit payment will show in the payments section within the patients 'Account' tab and in the 'Summary' column you will see 'This payment needs explaining/allocating' (wording may vary).
💡 Top tip: Leave the payment unexplained/unallocated so when the treatment is charged through in the future it can be allocated automatically 🎉
📝 Please note: You may see these unexplained/unallocated amounts on your reports but as and when the treatments are carried out and the invoices are charged through these will then appear as an allocated/explained amount.
Allocating a deposit
Although not recommended, If you would rather these deposits do not show as unexplained/unallocated amounts on your reports in Dentally then you can explain/allocate them by following the below instructions:
When on the patients 'Account' tab, and a deposit has been taken.
Click on the 'Explain'/'Allocate' orange question mark icon, to the right of the payment.
Add in your notes against the deposit and click 'Save'.
This will explain/allocate the payment for the time being so it no longer appears as unexplained/unallocated on your financial reports.
You can delete an explanation by clicking the 'Delete' 🗑️ bin icon next to the green tick on your patients 'Account' screen.
🚨 Important: Once the work has been carried out and the invoice raised, you will need to delete the payment explanation and point the payment to the invoice instead.
How to generate a statement of account using the legacy account screen
It is sometimes easier to show a patient their payment history as a statement. This will show a chronological list of invoices and payments for the patient over a time period.
In the patient’s accounts tab, select the Statement of Account button at the top. This allows you to enter a date range for transactions and gives you the option to email or print the resulting statement.
Pressing the Envelope button will take you to the patient’s correspondence tab and open a new email to the patient with the statement attached.
Clicking the Printer button will print the statement as shown on screen.
An example statement of account:
For help with emailing and printing individual invoice and receipts, look at our WEb page - Print and email an invoice or receipt