import { Callout } from "zudoku/ui/Callout";

# Payment Groups

## Business Value

In many industries – such as associations, store networks, franchise systems or group structures – a **central customer** (the payment group's central account) settles the open invoices of several **member customers** with a single **collective payment**. In standard Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, however, a payment reconciliation line can only be applied to entries of a **single** customer. Collective payments across multiple customers therefore had to be split and applied manually, one by one.

With **Payment Groups** in 365 business Banking you reconcile such a collective payment through the **familiar standard actions** of the payment reconciliation journal – just like any other payment. The payment is posted on account to the central customer and, in the same posting, automatically distributed to the open invoices of the member customers.

<Callout type="tip" title="Good to know">
No separate button and no dedicated worksheet are required. Payment group collective payments behave like any other line in the payment reconciliation journal and are processed through **Apply Automatically**, **Apply Manually**, **Accept Application** and **Remove Application**.
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## Feature Description

A **payment group** consists of a **central account** (the central customer that makes the collective payment) and any number of **member customers** whose invoices are settled through the central account.

When a payment reconciliation line is applied, 365 business Banking recognizes a collective group payment by the fact that open invoices of the group's member customers are **referenced** in the line's transaction text (by document number or external document number). In that case:

1. the line is assigned to the **central customer** (on account, without a specific entry reference), and
2. the referenced **member invoices** are pre-selected for application – technically as regular applied payment entries that point to the central account, but internally carry the real member customer number.

When the reconciliation is **posted**, the payment is first posted **on account to the central customer** and then – in the **same transaction** – distributed to and applied against the open invoices of the member customers. After posting, the member invoices are closed and the central customer's balance from the collective payment is settled.

<Callout type="note" title="Standard compliance">
The distribution is performed through regular customer applications. The application can therefore be reversed through the standard **Remove Application** action.
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### Setting up a payment group

1. Open the **Payment Groups** list.
2. Use **New** to create a payment group and assign a **Code** and a **Description**.
3. Set the **Account Type** to **Customer**.
4. In the **Central Account No.** field, select the central customer that makes the collective payments.
5. Add the **member customers** of the group in the lines.

<Callout type="tip" title="Good to know">
The central account is not a member itself. The central account's own invoices are still settled directly through the standard process and are not handled by the distribution.
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### Applying a collective payment automatically

1. Retrieve the bank transactions or import the bank statement into a **payment reconciliation journal**.
2. Choose the **Apply Automatically** action (or **Apply Selected Automatically** for individual lines).
3. Lines whose transaction text references invoices of group members are automatically assigned to the central customer, and the referenced member invoices are pre-selected.
4. Review the result and post the reconciliation as usual.

### Applying a collective payment manually

1. Select the relevant line in the payment reconciliation journal and choose **Apply Manually**.
2. On the **Payment Application** page, the open invoices of the referenced group members are shown as additional proposal lines (visually highlighted).
3. Set the **Applied** toggle for the desired member invoices. You can select invoices of **several different member customers** on the same line.
4. Close the page and post the reconciliation.

### Removing an application

Once a collective payment has been posted, you can reverse the application on the customer ledger entries through the standard **Remove Application** action. The applies-to ID on the member entries is reset as usual.

<Callout type="note" title="Scope">
The current version supports **customer** payment groups (incoming collective payments). Support for vendor payment groups (outgoing collective transfers) and the integration into Quick Apply will follow in a later version.
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