The customer is blocked, but they paid

Go down this list in order. Nearly every case is a receipt the credit check cannot see yet, another branch, the oldest-bill rule, a credit hold, or a limit of 0.

CRM Troubleshooting

4 min read

Updated October 20, 2026

For Credit controller Sales staff Accountant

Look at the dialog first: the reason (Over credit limit, Past credit days or Credit hold) tells you which checks below apply.

Over credit limit

Is the receipt posted?
Where
Accounting > the receipt
What changes
A receipt waiting for approval is not posted yet, so the balance has not dropped. Once it is approved, save the sale again.
Was it posted to this customer?
What changes
A receipt posted to another customer (a parent company, a duplicate customer) does not lower this one's balance.
Was it posted in the same branch as the sale?
What changes
The limit uses the balance in the sale's branch. A receipt taken in branch A does not lower the balance in branch B. Compare the ledger report for the sale's branch.
Needs
Where limits are kept per business unit, the same applies to the business unit.
Is it a cheque in hand?
What changes
A post-dated cheque is not money received until the receipt is posted.
Is the limit 0 with Block?
What changes
Then any amount left owing blocks. Set the action to Ignore, or give a real limit (Customer details in Accounting that CRM uses).

Worked example: "they paid 40,000 this morning"

ABC Traders has an Amount limit of 100,000 with Block. In the branch of the sale it owes 85,000. A salesperson saves an invoice of 30,000, so the balance after is 115,000 and the sale is blocked. The customer says it paid 40,000 this morning. What the 40,000 turns out to be decides:

What happened to the 40,000	Balance in the sale's branch	Balance after the 30,000 invoice	Result
The receipt is waiting for approval	85,000	115,000	Still blocked. Approve the receipt, then save again
It was posted to another customer (a parent company)	85,000	115,000	Still blocked: it does not lower this customer's balance
It was posted in another branch	85,000 in the sale's branch	115,000	Still blocked. The limit uses the balance in the sale's branch
It is a post-dated cheque in hand	85,000	115,000	Still blocked: the cheque is not money received until its receipt is posted
It is a posted receipt of this customer in the sale's branch	45,000	75,000	Allowed

Past credit days

The rule blocks when either the document gives more days to pay than the Day limit, or the oldest unpaid bill is at least Day limit days old.

The oldest bill is counted from its bill date, not its due date, and payments settle the oldest bills first (by amount, across all branches). Paying the newest invoice does not clear the oldest one's age: the customer must pay enough to clear their oldest bills.
"The document allows N days to pay": the invoice's due days are more than the customer's Day limit. Lower the due days on the invoice.
"The customer's oldest unpaid bill is 0 days old; the credit term is 0 days." means the Day limit is 0 with Block: every credit invoice and delivery note is blocked. Set the action to Ignore, or a real number of days.

Worked example: paying the new invoice does not clear the old bill

ABC Traders has a Day limit of 30 with Block. It has two unpaid bills: bill 1 of 20,000 dated 62 days ago and bill 2 of 30,000 dated 20 days ago. A new credit invoice is blocked: "The customer's oldest unpaid bill is 62 days old; the credit term is 30 days."

The customer pays	How the payment is settled	Oldest unpaid bill	Result
10,000	Against the oldest bill first: bill 1 has 10,000 left	Bill 1, still 62 days old	Still blocked
20,000 instead	Bill 1 is paid in full	Bill 2, 20 days old	The day rule passes

The customer must pay enough to clear its oldest bills. Paying the newest invoice first does not help, because payments settle the oldest bills first.

Credit hold

The customer is on hold whatever they paid. The hold stays until a credit controller lifts it (Credit hold). The reason is in the message.

A release was approved, but the sale is still blocked

A release lets through only a sale of the person who asked, for the same customer and branch, at most its approved amount on credit, before its end date, for the same kind of document, and once. A colleague cannot use it, and a second invoice cannot use it (Credit releases: ask, decide, use).

The customer pays at the counter

Take the receipt with the invoice so the sale is paid in full. A sale paid in full is never blocked; a cash mark alone does not count (What counts as a cash sale).