By [verified author name], consumer-finance explainer with [verified years] covering small-business payment systems
Last reviewed: July 10, 2026

Invoice2go is a mobile and web billing service that connects an invoice with customer payment options, transaction history, remaining balances, receipts, refunds, and disputes. A customer submitting payment, an invoice being marked paid, and money reaching the business’s bank account are separate events. (invoice.2go.com)

That separation explains why a transaction may appear successful in one place while it remains pending somewhere else.

What Invoice2go handles after an invoice is sent

An Invoice2go invoice identifies the client, billed products or services, total amount, due date, and available payment methods. When supported online payments are enabled, the customer can open the invoice and use its payment option rather than arranging payment entirely outside the platform. (support.2go.com)

Invoice2go then connects the resulting transaction with the invoice. An online payment can be recorded automatically, while a cash, check, or other outside payment can be entered manually by the business. (support.2go.com)

The platform is performing two related jobs:

• maintaining the customer’s billing record;
• connecting that record with the available payment process.

It is not performing every stage alone. The payment provider handles authorization and processing. A financial institution handles the eventual bank posting. Card networks and issuing banks become involved when a charge is disputed.

The common confusion here is software status versus movement of funds. Invoice2go can show which invoice a payment belongs to, but the invoice screen is not the entire banking system.

Payment versus payout

A payment is the customer’s transfer or attempted transfer toward the invoice. A payout is the later movement of processed funds to the business’s linked bank account or other available destination.

No money moves when the invoice is created.

Consider a plumber who issues a $900 invoice. The customer submits a card payment on Tuesday. Invoice2go records the transaction against the $900 balance, but the provider must still process it before the funds are transferred and posted by the plumber’s bank.

For Invoice2go Money Card Payments, a customer payment is shown as pending until it has been processed. Once processing is complete, the payment is automatically transferred to the linked bank account. (support.2go.com)

Stripe follows its own payout route in countries where it remains the applicable Invoice2go processor. Invoice2go states that Stripe, rather than Invoice2go, controls processing and direct deposits for those transactions. The bank may take an additional two to three business days to post funds after Stripe sends them, particularly around weekends or holidays. (support.2go.com)

This matters more for cash planning than for document design. A paid invoice can remove a customer balance before the resulting money becomes available for rent, supplies, wages, or another outgoing payment.

Online payments and manually recorded payments

An online payment is processed through the enabled electronic payment route. A manually recorded payment tells Invoice2go that the business received money somewhere else.

A cleaning company might receive a check for a completed job. The owner can record that payment against the invoice, enter the payment date and method, and allow Invoice2go to update the customer’s balance. Invoice2go did not process the check merely because the transaction was entered into the application. (support.2go.com)

That distinction affects what the record proves.

An automatically recorded online transaction is connected with the applicable payment provider. A manual entry is based on information entered by the business. The supporting evidence for a manual entry may instead be a check image, cash receipt, bank deposit, or other outside record.

Invoice2go also allows an incorrectly entered manual payment to be removed. Its documentation gives examples including a cash payment that was refunded or an amount that was mistakenly marked paid. (support.2go.com)

Removing the entry changes the invoice record. It does not independently reverse a bank transaction that occurred outside Invoice2go.

Partial payment versus full payment

A partial payment reduces an invoice without closing its entire balance.

Suppose a freelance designer sends a $2,000 invoice and receives a $600 deposit. Invoice2go applies the $600 transaction and calculates a remaining balance of $1,400. If the customer later pays the rest, another transaction can be recorded and the invoice can move to fully paid status. (support.2go.com)

Online partial payments can be recorded automatically. Payments received by cash, check, or another external route can be entered manually with the amount, method, date, and notes. (support.2go.com)

A partially paid invoice remains an open receivable because money is still owed. That is why payment reminders can continue after one payment has been recorded.

The underlying commercial agreement matters. A $600 transaction might be a deposit due before work begins, the first installment of a payment plan, or an ordinary partial payment made after the invoice was issued. Invoice2go can record the amount without deciding the legal meaning of the arrangement.

Pending, processed, and available

Payment systems use several statuses because authorization, processing, settlement, and bank posting do not occur simultaneously.

A pending Invoice2go Money Card Payment means the customer payment has been received by the process but has not finished processing. Invoice2go says the payment is transferred automatically after it is processed. (support.2go.com)

A processed payment has moved beyond the pending stage, but the receiving bank may still need time to post the payout. Stripe-related timing depends on the country, transfer schedule, bank, weekend, and holiday calendar. (support.2go.com)

A useful analogy is a package passing through a delivery network. The customer hands it over, the carrier processes it, the local depot receives it, and the recipient finally sees it delivered. A tracking update at one checkpoint does not mean the last checkpoint has been reached.

The same idea applies to payment records:

• Submitted: the customer initiated payment.
• Pending: the provider is processing it.
• Processed: the transaction passed the relevant processing stage.
• Transferred: the payout was sent toward the linked bank.
• Posted: the bank made the money visible in the account.

Exact labels and timing vary by provider. The sequence remains useful because it prevents “paid” from being treated as one universal technical status.

The boundary in one line

An invoice records what is owed. A payment reduces that obligation. A payout makes processed funds available to the business.

Refund versus credit memo

A refund returns money that was already collected. A credit memo reduces or documents credit against the customer’s billing balance.

Invoice2go allows a credit memo to be created for items a customer returned or did not receive. Credit memos can also be included on a client statement, where their value is deducted from the invoice total shown on the statement. (support.2go.com)

A refund follows the payment processor’s route.

For a Stripe payment, Invoice2go documents a refund action from the paid invoice’s transaction history. It says the customer’s bank may take five to ten business days to display the refund after it has been issued. The original processing fees are not returned to the business. (support.2go.com)

Invoice2go Money Card Payment refunds use a different process. The business must contact Invoice2go support, and sufficient funds may be required in the Invoice2go Money account before the refund can be processed. (support.2go.com)

A $1,000 payment illustrates the distinction. If the business decides that a $150 charge was incorrect, it may need to return $150 through the payment route and make sure the customer’s billing records also reflect the adjustment. Creating a credit memo alone does not place $150 back on the customer’s card.

The common confusion here is documentary correction versus financial reversal. They can relate to the same mistake without being the same action.

Refund versus chargeback

A refund is initiated through the merchant’s payment process. A chargeback begins when the cardholder disputes the transaction with the card issuer or bank.

Stripe defines a dispute as a formal process triggered after a cardholder questions a payment with the issuer. The payment amount and applicable dispute fee are withdrawn through the card-network process while the business is given an opportunity to submit evidence. (docs.stripe.com)

Invoice2go’s Stripe guidance states that once a transaction has been disputed, the normal refund route is no longer available for that paid invoice. The customer’s bank has already returned or provisionally returned the disputed amount through the chargeback process. (support.2go.com)

A refund cannot unwind a dispute that has already started.

If the business accepts the dispute, no separate refund is required. If it contests the dispute, supporting evidence can be submitted through the processor’s procedure. Invoice2go says that when the business wins a Stripe chargeback case, the disputed amount and chargeback fee are returned to its bank account. (support.2go.com)

Stripe describes relevant evidence as material tied to the dispute reason, such as customer communications, receipts, delivery evidence, service records, or proof that a refund policy was disclosed. The issuing bank or card network ultimately determines the outcome rather than Invoice2go or Stripe alone. (docs.stripe.com)

Why customers can dispute a card charge

A cardholder may dispute a transaction because it appears unauthorized, the amount is wrong, the product or service was not received, a promised refund did not appear, or another billing problem is alleged.

For US consumer credit cards, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains that certain billing-error notices generally must reach the card issuer within 60 days after the charge appears on the statement. Regulation Z contains the federal billing-error resolution rules that issuers follow. (consumerfinance.gov)

That consumer protection process is separate from a business’s own refund policy.

A customer may first contact the seller. Another customer may go directly to the card issuer. The reason code and procedure are controlled by the issuer and network rules, while the merchant’s opportunity is usually to accept the dispute or provide evidence through the processor.

The distinction is jurisdiction-sensitive. Debit-card disputes, commercial cards, international transactions, bank transfers, and purchases outside the United States can follow different legal and network frameworks.

What each payment record proves

Invoice2go’s transaction history can show that a payment was recorded against an invoice. That record is useful, but it should be read together with the surrounding evidence.

The Internal Revenue Service lists invoices, receipts, deposit information, credit-card statements, canceled checks, and other proof of payment among the supporting documents that may be used for business records. It notes that a combination of records can be needed to establish all elements of a transaction. (irs.gov)

The records answer different questions:

• The invoice shows what the customer was billed.
• The transaction history shows what was recorded against the balance.
• The receipt confirms a recorded payment.
• The processor report shows fees, refunds, and disputes.
• The bank statement shows the net amount that posted.
• A credit memo documents a reduction to the customer’s billing account.

A $500 invoice followed by a $500 card payment may produce a bank deposit below $500 because a processing fee was deducted. The books may need to represent the full sale and the fee separately rather than treating the net deposit as the entire revenue amount.

That accounting conclusion depends on complete records, not the invoice status alone.

Where Invoice2go fits in the payment system

Invoice2go occupies the billing layer. It identifies the customer obligation and connects supported payments with the correct invoice.

The processor handles electronic authorization, transaction processing, refunds, and disputes. The cardholder’s bank handles the customer account. The merchant’s bank receives the payout. Accounting software or business books classify the sale, fee, refund, credit, and deposit.

One application can display information from several of those stages without replacing the organizations responsible for them.

This is why payment problems must be classified before they can be understood. An unpaid invoice is a customer-balance issue. A pending transaction is a processing issue. A missing bank deposit may be a payout or bank-posting issue. An incorrect manual entry is a recordkeeping issue. A chargeback is a formal dispute.

Invoice2go connects the chain. It does not make every link identical.

Invoice2go payments FAQ

Does Pay now mean the money is immediately in the bank?

No. Pay now begins the available payment process. The transaction may pass through pending, processing, transfer, and bank-posting stages before the funds become available. (support.2go.com)

Can Invoice2go record a cash payment?

Yes. A cash, check, or other outside payment can be entered manually against the invoice. The manual entry records the payment but does not process the underlying cash or check. (support.2go.com)

Can a customer make a partial payment?

Yes. Online partial payments can be recorded automatically, and outside partial payments can be entered manually. Invoice2go recalculates the remaining balance. (support.2go.com)

Is a credit memo the same as a refund?

No. A credit memo adjusts the customer’s billing balance. A refund sends previously collected money back through the applicable payment route. (support.2go.com)

How long does a Stripe refund take?

Invoice2go says the customer’s bank may take five to ten business days to display a Stripe refund after it is issued. (support.2go.com)

Can a payment be refunded after a chargeback begins?

Invoice2go says a disputed Stripe payment cannot be refunded through the normal paid-invoice process because the bank has already returned the disputed amount through the chargeback process. (support.2go.com)

Who decides a chargeback?

The issuing bank or applicable card-network process determines the dispute outcome. The business can submit evidence through its processor, but Invoice2go does not make the final decision. (docs.stripe.com)

Is Invoice2go transaction history enough for accounting records?

It is one useful source. The IRS identifies invoices, receipts, bank and deposit information, credit-card statements, and proof of payment as supporting documents that may need to be considered together. (irs.gov)