Most debts don't close in one go. A 1,000 loan gets paid back as 200, 300, 500 over a few months. If you don't record those payments properly, the remaining balance becomes something to argue about.
The wrong way: overwriting the amount
The most common habit is to cross out the amount after each payment and write a new one: 1,000 → 800 → 500. The result:
- You lose which payment was made when.
- If you write one number wrong, there's nothing to check it against.
- When the other person says "I paid 400, not 300", you have no proof.
The right way: original amount + payment records
The debt's original amount never changes. Each payment is added as its own entry, and the remaining balance is calculated from them:
| Date | Entry | Amount | Remaining |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 March | Debt | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 5 April | Payment | 200 | 800 |
| 10 May | Payment | 300 | 500 |
| 12 June | Payment | 500 | 0 |
Every line has a date and history is never overwritten. Fixing a mistyped payment is easy too: edit that one entry and the remaining balance updates itself.
Practical tips
- Record the payment the day you receive it. "I'll do it tonight" becomes next week.
- Watch for overpayment. Anything paid beyond the remaining balance is now owed back to the other person; open a separate record for it.
- Paid in another currency? Keep the record in the debt's own currency (multi-currency debt tracking).
- Don't delete settled debts. A record whose balance reaches zero stays as settled, so you can always look back.
Partial payments in Sudeb
In Sudeb you add a payment from inside a debt or receivable; the amount field starts with the remaining balance and you can change it. Every payment is kept with its date, the remaining balance is calculated for you, and the record closes when it reaches zero. In a shared list the payment reaches everyone at once (when a shared debt list helps).