Record a payment your customer handed you in cash or by paper check, then track it through to your bank deposit.
When a customer pays a driver in cash at the back door, or hands a rep a check across the counter, that payment happens outside Pepper. Recording it in the app closes the invoice the moment you take the money, sends the customer a receipt, and keeps a running list of what you are still carrying so you can reconcile it against your bank deposit slip at the end of the run.
Availability
Recording cash payments and recording check payments are two separate settings, and a distributor can have either, both, or neither. Both are off until Pepper turns them on.
Both settings can be applied to the whole distributor or to a single customer account, and an account-level setting overrides the distributor-level one.
Note: Recording cash and check payments is available to distributor users in the Pepper app. Customers ordering through Pepper do not see these options and cannot record a payment against their own invoice.
Note: This is a mobile app feature. It is not available on the web.
If it is not turned on for you, the payments wallet shows your usual payment options with no Record cash payment or Record check payment entry, and Bank deposits does not appear in the payments screen menu.
Collected and deposited
Collected is the moment you take the money and record it. The invoice is paid, the customer has their receipt, and the cash or check is in your hand or your truck. Pepper counts it as paid immediately.
Deposited is the moment you hand that money to the bank and record which deposit slip it went in. It changes nothing about the invoice, which was already paid. It is how you close out what you were carrying.
Everything you have collected and not yet deposited sits on the Undeposited tab of Bank deposits. Everything you have deposited is grouped by deposit number on the Deposited tab.
The three ways a check can reach you
The app now offers three separate check paths and they do different things. Choosing the wrong one is the most likely mistake in this release.
Record check payment is for a paper check you have physically taken and will deposit at your bank yourself. You enter the check number. Pepper records the payment and closes the invoice. Pepper never sees the check and never moves the money.
Check (photo), covered in Mobile Check Deposit, is for depositing a check through Pepper. You photograph the front and back, and Pepper processes and settles the funds to your account.
Process Checks in PMC, covered in Processing Checks, is the back-office scanner workflow for checks that arrived by mail.
Only the first of these puts a payment on the Bank deposits screen, because it is the only one where you are the one making the deposit.
Recording a cash payment
Open the customer's unpaid invoices and select the invoices you are collecting against.
Tap Pay.
In the payments wallet, tap Record cash payment.
Review the amount. The review screen shows Cash as the payment method.
Tap Pay followed by the amount to confirm.
The invoice is marked paid straight away and the customer is emailed and texted a receipt.
Recording a check payment
Open the customer's unpaid invoices and select the invoices you are collecting against.
Tap Pay.
In the payments wallet, tap Record check payment.
Enter the number from the check in the Check number field. The pay button stays disabled until you do.
Tap Pay followed by the amount to confirm.
The payment appears everywhere afterwards as Check # followed by the number you entered, which is how you match it back to the physical check later.
Note: The check number is required and is the only way the payment is identified after the fact. Enter the number printed on the check, not the invoice number.
Reviewing what you are carrying
Bank deposits shows every cash and check payment you have recorded and not yet deposited.
Go to the Payments tab.
Tap the menu icon in the top right of the screen.
Tap Bank deposits.
The Undeposited tab opens by default.
Each row shows the payment method, the invoices and credit memos it covers, the date you collected it, and the amount. At the bottom, Total cash and Total checks are split out, because your bank deposit slip asks for them separately.
Note: Bank deposits shows only the payments you recorded. A colleague's collections are on their own Bank deposits screen, and there is no combined view.
Marking a deposit as deposited
Do this after you have handed the cash and checks to the bank and have the deposit slip in front of you.
On the Undeposited tab, tap Mark as deposited.
Enter the number from your bank deposit slip in the Deposit number field.
Tap Confirm deposit.
Everything on the Undeposited tab is deposited together under that one deposit number. There is no way to deposit some payments and hold others back.
The list clears, and the deposit appears on the Deposited tab as Deposit # followed by your number, with the count of cash payments, checks, credit memos and invoices inside it.
Note: Marking a deposit does not change any invoice. Those were paid when you recorded them. This records where the money went.
Recording a payment vs the other ways to take one
| Record cash or check | Check (photo) | Payment terminal |
Where the money goes | Straight to you | Pepper deposits it for you | Pepper collects it |
Who makes the bank deposit | You | Pepper | Nobody, it is electronic |
Where | Pepper app, mobile only | Pepper app, mobile only | PMC or the terminal itself |
When the invoice closes | Immediately | On submission | On authorization |
Tracked in Bank deposits | Yes | No | No |
Fee to the distributor | None | Flat fee per check | Card processing fee |
Reach for Record cash payment or Record check payment when the money is already in your hand and you will bank it yourself. Reach for Check (photo) when you want Pepper to deposit the check. Reach for a terminal when the customer is paying by card.
Things to know
The invoice is paid before the money reaches the bank. Recording a payment closes the invoice immediately. The deposit step is separate and does not gate it. A customer who checks their balance right after paying you in cash will see it settled.
Bank deposits is per person. You see only what you collected.
Mark as deposited is all or nothing. Every undeposited payment goes into the deposit you are recording.
A recorded payment carries no processing fee, because Pepper is not moving the money.
Cash and checks recorded this way never reach your Pepper payout. They are already in your hands. Nothing about this appears in your Pepper settlement.
Frequently asked questions
I don't see Record cash payment in the wallet. Your distributor has not turned it on, or it is turned off for this particular customer account. Contact your Pepper customer success rep.
What is the difference between Record check payment and taking a photo of the check? Record check payment is for a check you will deposit at your bank yourself. Pepper just records it. Check (photo) hands the check to Pepper to deposit for you. Only the first appears in Bank deposits.
Can the customer record their own cash payment? No. Only distributor users see these options.
Does the customer get anything when I record a payment? Yes. Pepper generates a receipt and sends it by email and text, the same as any other payment.
I marked the deposit but the invoice still shows the old status. Marking a deposit does not change invoices. They were marked paid when you recorded the payment.
Can I deposit just some of what I collected? No. Mark as deposited takes everything on the Undeposited tab into one deposit.
Does this cost anything? No. Pepper is not processing the payment, so there is no processing fee.
For distributors
Recording cash payments and recording check payments are turned on by Pepper, separately, for your whole account or for individual customers. Contact your customer success rep. Your team needs to be on the Pepper mobile app, and your distributor has to be set up for Pepper payments.