Payment methods define how a customer can settle an outstanding amount for products or services. They govern payment terms such as due dates, cash discounts, and payment targets, and are a central part of transaction processing.
In Xentral, you have comprehensive tools to configure payment methods flexibly and adapt them to your business requirements. You can define default texts, store multilingual texts, and use variables to insert dynamic information such as cash discounts or payment status into documents.
You can access the configuration via Smart Search using Payment methods and Payment terms, or centrally under Settings > Accounting > Payments & Business Accounts > Payment Methods and Payment Terms.
Payment method:
A payment method describes the specific way a payment is made. Examples include Invoice, Prepayment, PayPal, Direct debit, or Credit card. It defines the channel through which the amount is transferred from the customer to the business.
Payment term:
A payment term defines the framework conditions of a payment, such as due date, cash discount conditions, or payment targets. It describes when and under what conditions a payment is to be made, e.g. "Payable within 14 days with 2% discount if paid within 10 days."
Common payment methods include, for example:
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Payment by invoice (immediately, with payment target, or cash discount).
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Prepayment (payment before delivery).
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Direct debit (automatic account debit).
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Online payment methods such as PayPal or credit card.
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Cash payment or cash on delivery.
Type |
Xentral payment method |
|---|---|
|
kreditkarte |
Credit card: Automatically set to "paid" in order management as a prepayment method. |
|
rechnung |
Invoice: Used as a payment method with a payment target; controls dunning and cash discount calculation. |
|
nachnahme |
Cash on delivery: Payment is made at delivery; order payment status remains open until processed in payment management. |
|
vorkasse |
Prepayment: Order remains "open" until payment is received; no automatic shipping release. |
|
eckarte |
EC card payment: Set as immediately paid in the cash register or POS area. |
|
bar |
Cash payment: Immediately set to "paid" in the cash register or POS area. Also commonly used for store pickup. |
|
paypal |
PayPal: Automatically set to "paid" in order management as a prepayment method when confirmed via API. |
|
lastschrift |
Direct debit: Order is automatically included in the SEPA direct debit run; set to "paid" after collection. |
|
ratenzahlung |
Installment payment: Order remains open; payment status is updated manually or automatically after external reconciliation. |
|
amazon |
Amazon Payments: For marketplace orders; automatically set to "paid" when payment is confirmed. |
|
amazon_bestellung |
Amazon Vendor orders only: For Amazon Vendor orders; used for internal labeling of deliveries to Amazon. |
In Xentral, you can activate and individually configure various payment types. This includes:
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Defining specific default texts for each payment method.
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Maintaining multilingual texts for international communication.
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Automating payment targets and cash discount calculations for the Invoice payment type.
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Creating individual payment methods and defining their behavior.
In Xentral, you can flexibly activate, customize, or add new payment methods such as "Invoice", "Prepayment", or "PayPal" to tailor them to your business. You can also define specific conditions for each payment method, such as payment target or cash discount.
Tip
Xentral already includes standard payment methods such as Prepayment and Invoice. You can extend these with text templates or configure them individually.
You can also add new payment methods or create special B2B payment methods and assign a behavior such as 'Prepayment' to them.
Steps to create a new payment method:
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Click on Add payment method to create a new payment method.
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Select the desired payment method from the list, or select 'Custom' to define your own.
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Enter the relevant data and click on Save.
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The new payment method is now ready to use in your workflows.
Warning
Avoid duplicates of existing payment methods in Name and Type. A module can be used multiple times.
Tip
In Xentral you can configure a payment method individually and adapt it to special requirements such as particular payment types or online shop mappings. After saving, the payment method is immediately available in your workflows — e.g. in the dropdown in order documents. Make sure not to use existing names or types to avoid confusion and maintain clarity.
Note
Examples of custom payment types:
Behavior like Prepayment:
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Manual payment check – For orders that must be checked manually before release, e.g. due to complex price calculations or credit checks.
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Special prepayment – A variant of prepayment with a separate type name, e.g. "Prepayment for new customers". Order is only released after payment is received.
Behavior like Invoice:
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Framework contract billing – Billing after delivery of multiple items or partial deliveries from a framework contract.
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Payment on target – B2B variant with a fixed payment target, e.g. 30 days after invoice date. Delivery takes place before payment; dunning is active after the deadline.
Practical tip: If the name of a payment method differs from the standard "Invoice" or "Prepayment" but the behavior remains the same, you should still set the behavior accordingly in Xentral ("Behavior like: Invoice" or "Behavior like: Prepayment") so that dunning, payment check, and status indicator logic work correctly.
Field name |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Bezeichnung |
Name of the payment method in the dropdown in the Xentral interface. |
|
Typ |
Xentral type of the payment method, e.g. 'rechnung', 'vorkasse', 'paypal', 'nachnahme', 'lastschrift', 'kreditkarte', 'eckarte', 'bar', 'amazon'. |
|
Modul |
Setting for a specific module connection: Invoice, PayPalplus, Mollie, Klarna. |
|
Text auf Beleg |
Default text field for printing a description for this payment method, with the option to use the following variables: Variables: {ZAHLUNGBISDATUM}, {ZAHLUNGSZIELTAGE}, {ZAHLUNGSZIELSKONTO}, {ZAHLUNGSZIELSKONTOTOTAL}, {ZAHLUNGSZIELTAGESKONTO}, {ZAHLUNGSZIELSKONTODATUM}, {SOLL}, {SOLLMITSKONTO}, {SKONTOBETRAG}, {SKONTOFAEHIG}, {SKONTOFAEHIGNETTO}, {BELEGNR}, {NAME}, {STEUERNORMAL}, {GESAMTNETTONORMAL}, {STEUERERMAESSIGT}, {GESAMTNETTOERMAESSIGT}, {WAEHRUNG}, {TAGXMONAT} (with Module Tagxmonat) |
|
Projekt |
Optional: Project selection for payment methods that should only be displayed in a specific project, e.g. B2B or an additional branch. |
|
Autom. bezahlt (Rechnung) |
Sets the payment status of an invoice to 'paid'. This setting behaves as if an invoice is manually set to paid. |
|
Autom. bezahlt (Verbindlichkeit) |
Sets the payment status of a liability to 'paid' and moves it to the liabilities archive. This setting behaves as if a liability is manually set to paid. |
|
Verhalten wie |
Behavior of the payment method like Invoice, Prepayment, or Direct debit:
|
|
Aktiv |
Sets the payment method to active in the system. Payment methods that are no longer used can be deactivated. |
Under Settings > Accounting > Payments & Business Accounts > Payment Terms, you can define in detail which texts and variables should appear on your documents such as quotes, orders, invoices, and credit notes. Here you can customize payment terms, cash discount information, or other payment details and store them directly for the standard payment methods.
Note
If you do not define anything, Xentral displays the default for the respective payment methods.
Define individual texts for the following standard payment methods: 'Invoice', 'Prepayment', 'Cash on delivery', 'Direct debit', 'Cash payment', 'PayPal', 'Credit card', 'Amazon Payments', 'Installment payment', and 'EC card payment'.
Steps:
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Activate the checkbox for the payment method to override a condition individually.
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Enter your text and variables. The notice text for a cash discount amount greater than 0% can be entered and controlled separately for quotes/orders and invoices.
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Click on Save.
Caution
The new text is displayed in your documents that are currently being processed as well as in new documents. Archived documents with write protection remain unchanged.
Variable |
Description |
|---|---|
|
{ZAHLUNGSZIELSKONTO} |
Percentage of the cash discount granted (dynamically calculated on the total amount — cash-discount-blocked items are offset) |
|
{ZAHLUNGSZIELSKONTOTOTAL} |
Percentage of the cash discount granted (fixed value in the document, without taking cash-discount-blocked items into account) |
|
{ZAHLUNGSZIELTAGESKONTO} |
Number of days for which the cash discount is granted |
|
{ZAHLUNGSZIELSKONTODATUM} |
Date until which the cash discount is granted |
|
{SOLLMITSKONTO} |
Total amount minus cash discount (cash-discount-blocked items are taken into account) |
|
{SKONTOBETRAG} |
Amount the customer saves through the cash discount |
|
{SKONTOFAEHIG} |
Total amount (gross) of line items eligible for cash discount (excluding cash-discount-blocked items) |
|
{SKONTOFAEHIGNETTO} |
Total amount (net) of line items eligible for cash discount (excluding cash-discount-blocked items) |
Note
Cash discount – example text templates:
Rechnung zahlbar innerhalb {ZAHLUNGSZIELTAGE} Tage bis zum {ZAHLUNGBISDATUM}.
Rechnung zahlbar innerhalb {ZAHLUNGSZIELTAGESKONTO} Tage bis zum {ZAHLUNGSZIELSKONTODATUM}, {ZAHLUNGSZIELSKONTO}% Skonto ({SKONTOBETRAG} {WAEHRUNG} brutto): {SOLLMITSKONTO} {WAEHRUNG} brutto.
Bitte bezahlen Sie den Rechnungsbetrag von {SOLL} {WAEHRUNG} inkl. MwSt. innerhalb {ZAHLUNGSZIELTAGE} Tage bis zum {ZAHLUNGBISDATUM}.
Furthermore, the variables from the contact master data are available, whereby these must be made recognizable by the prefix "ADRESSE_", e.g., ADRESSE_INHABER.
Other variables you can use are {ZAHLUNGSSTATUS} and {BEZAHLT_AM}. {ZAHLUNGSSTATUS} displays the current status of the payment, i.e. if it has been paid or not and {BEZAHLT_AM} displays the date when the payment has been made.
You can use these variables like this, for example: {IF}{ZAHLUNGSSTATUS}="bezahlt"{THEN} The invoiced amount of {WAEHRUNG} {SOLL} was already settled with the down payment invoice on {BEZAHLT_AM}. {ELSE}The invoiced amount of {WAEHRUNG} {SOLL} has not yet been settled with the down payment invoice.{ENDIF}
The texts for payment methods can be output differently depending on the document type using so-called IF blocks. This allows you to store a separate text for quotes, orders, invoices, or credit notes.
Hinweis
Practical example: Different payment texts per document type
{IF}{BELEGART}="Angebot"{THEN}Bitte beachten Sie: Der Auftrag wird nach Zahlungseingang bearbeitet.{ELSE}{ENDIF}
{IF}{BELEGART}="Auftrag"{THEN}Zahlen Sie bitte den vollständigen Betrag innerhalb von 7 Tagen, um den Auftrag zu sichern.
{ELSE}{ENDIF} {IF}{BELEGART}="Rechnung"{THEN}Bitte überweisen Sie den Rechnungsbetrag bis zum {ZAHLUNGBISDATUM}.{ELSE}{ENDIF}
{IF}{BELEGART}="Gutschrift"{THEN}Gutschrift: Eine Rückerstattung erfolgt per Banküberweisung innerhalb von 5 Werktagen.{ELSE}{ENDIF}
Result:
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On a quote, a notice about advance payment is displayed.
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On an order, a clear payment deadline is shown.
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On an invoice, the payment target date is automatically inserted.
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On a credit note, the refund information is displayed.
All document types are automatically populated with the appropriate payment texts, without you having to adjust texts manually.
When you import orders from your shop into Xentral, each order is transferred with a specific payment type. For Xentral to recognize this correctly and automatically set the matching internal payment method, you must create the mappings in the shop module.
Note
When you link payment methods between your shop and Xentral, you can define three things:
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What happens if the shop does not send a payment type — in this case, you can store a default option that is set automatically so the document remains complete.
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You can define how the payment types used in the shop are automatically mapped to the appropriate payment methods in Xentral, so that e.g. "Credit card" or "Prepayment" from the shop is also set correctly in Xentral.
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You have the option to disable automatic shipping for certain payment types — for example, if you want to check the payment receipt before shipping.
Further information and the exact setup can be found in the Online Shop Integration section: Connect shop integration payment methods, e.g. Shopify payment methods
A payment method can be set as the default payment method in the General Settings. If a customer does not have a default payment method stored, this is used as the preset when creating a document. Settings > Accounting > Tax and Currency > Tax/Currency.
Note
For a payment method in Xentral to work with an external payment provider (e.g. Klarna), you must store the provider’s access credentials (API credentials) in the payment method settings. Only then can Xentral exchange payment information and receive status messages from the provider.
Translations can also be maintained for the various texts. Via the gray globe icon, the desired entries can be made in a separate window.
Click on the globe icon and add a translation in a language. Further information on translations can be found in the article: Translations.
You can store payment methods directly in documents, in customer or supplier addresses, and in projects, so that payment targets, cash discounts, and other conditions are automatically applied.
You can insert a payment method directly into a document. To do this, open the document, scroll to the free text area, and select the desired option from the Payment method dropdown field. Then click on Save.
If the selected payment method has additional input fields (e.g. payment target, cash discount, cash discount days), you will find these in the box to the right of the payment method selection.
You can store a payment method directly in an address. To do this, open the desired address record, select the appropriate option from the Payment method dropdown, and save the change. For some payment methods, additional fields such as payment target, cash discount, or cash discount days are available. The payment method can be set for both customers and suppliers.
Note
When you create a new order from a customer address, the payment method stored there is automatically applied.
Special case (only if you have stored a default payment method in the project): If the project in an existing order changes, the payment method stored in the project is loaded and replaces the one from the customer address.