Open a client and go to the Billing tab. It holds everything about how this client pays, separate from the Payments tab where money actually moves.
The balance strip
Across the top: the Patient balance (with "$X credit on account" beside it when the client has money held as credit), Unpaid charges, and the Last payment, with these actions:
- Collect payment: take a payment now (card, cash, check, insurance) or send a request; see Take patient payments.
- Adjust balance: record a write-off, discount, courtesy, insurance adjustment, or correction with a required reason, on the whole balance or on one open charge (Charge (optional)). Each one is a row in the adjustments ledger, counts as settled on the charge it is tied to, and shows in the financial reports. A negative correction adds an amount back. Against a charge, the amount can be at most the client's share still open on it; a draft invoice billing that charge follows the new amount, and one already sent has to be voided first (open it from the Invoices card and use Void; see Invoices). See Charges and the Billing tab.
- Apply credit: shown when the client has credit on account and a balance. It puts as much of the credit as the balance allows against the oldest open charges and invoices. Owners, admins, practice managers and billers can use it; see Client credit and Apply credit.
When there is a balance and no card on file, an amber nudge offers Request card.
The Billing profile card
Click Edit to open the profile. Sections:
| Section | Fields |
|---|---|
| Billing type | Self-pay, Insurance, or Sliding scale. |
| Client rates | Add rate: a service, the client fee, From and Until dates, and a note. See Set client fees and rates. |
| Default rate | One amount for any service without a client rate; blank uses practice and provider prices. |
| Insurance amounts | Copay, Coinsurance %, Deductible, and Deductible met. The payer, plan, member and group IDs, and verification status live on the Insurance card of the Overview tab and are edited in the client form. Nothing is billed to insurance from here. |
| Statements and superbills | Superbill: On request or Every month. Statement: On request or Every month. Deliver by: Email or Client portal. |
| Autopay | Add card or Replace card (needs Stripe connected), Remove, and the autopay switch for this client, available once a card is saved ("On · charged when a visit is completed"). See Card on file and autopay. A decline shows here until the card is replaced, and a warning appears if the location's autopay switch is off. |
| Cancellation and no-show fees | Exempt this client from late-cancellation and no-show fees, with a note. See Cancellation and no-show fees. |
| Billing notes | Internal notes; never shown to the client. |
The card summarises all of it: type, default rate, copay, autopay state, client rates, statement preferences, and the last autopay failure if any.
Guarantor
The Guarantor card records the responsible party for a minor or dependant: name, relationship, phone, email, and address. Superbills name the guarantor as the person reimbursement goes to. The same fields are on the client form.
Charges and superbills
Below the profile, a toolbar with a date range, Add charge, and New ▾ (Superbill or Invoice) sits above the client's charges, their Invoices (click one to record a payment, void it, or edit a draft) and their issued superbills; see Charges and the Billing tab and Create and send superbills.
Good to know
- The Billing tab does not need Stripe. Only saving a card and taking card payments do; the Payments tab itself appears once the location takes payments through Stripe.
- Practices connected to athenahealth keep their read-only insurance tab and athena's billing instead of this profile.
- Rate changes, card changes, and exemptions are written to the HIPAA Audit Log, and card and autopay changes also show in the History tab (both under Settings → Account Activity).