Ecom Store Pro

What can you do about an outstanding balance on a Shopify order?

Published ·
At a glance
Short answer
Collect it with an invoice, mark it as paid if the money arrived outside Shopify, or waive it — waiving is early access for certain stores.
Waive scope
The full uncollected balance; an uncaptured authorized payment isn't included
Who can waive
The store owner, or staff with the Waive order balances permission
Waiving is blocked on
Canceled orders, some marketplace channels, Managed Markets orders once any item is fulfilled
Payment pending, not paid by credit card
Marking as paid might be blocked; with additional providers, collecting manually too
Reports
Waived amounts are reported as write-offs

Where does the outstanding balance come from?

A balance can come from:

  • An order edit, or taxes recalculated after a shipping address change.
  • A manual capture below the full order value, leaving it Partially paid.
  • On Shopify Plus, a captured B2B deposit, also Partially paid.
  • On Shopify Plus, a recorded partial payment on an order with payment terms.

Collect it, mark it as paid, or waive it?

Shopify offers an invoice, a credit card payment or Mark as paid. Waiving, added on October 29, 2026, is in early access for certain stores.

RouteUse it whenWatch for
Invoice or credit cardThe customer will still payCollecting manually might be blocked while an additional provider's payment is pending; invoices link to checkout
Mark as paidThe money already reached youMight be blocked on Payment pending orders not paid by credit card
Waive balanceYou can't or needn't collect itEarly access; clears the full uncollected balance

On a Payment pending order not paid by credit card, marking it as paid might be blocked.

Where available, Waive balance sits in the order's Payment section: Shopify's steps open Waive balance from the ⋯ menu; on our test order it sat under Collect payment.

In Shopify adminOpen in your store
  1. Orders
  2. Order details
  3. Collect payment
Waive balance sits next to Credit card and Mark as paid.

The Waive balance dialog clears the full uncollected balance. You can't waive a balance on canceled orders, on orders from some marketplace channels, or on Managed Markets orders after any item is fulfilled.

In Shopify adminOpen in your store
  1. Orders
  2. Order details
  3. Collect payment
  4. Waive balance
The dialog names the amount it clears; the Reason stays hidden from the customer.

What changes after you waive a balance?

Waiving, or undoing it to collect again, takes the store owner or staff with the Waive order balances permission (Settings › Users › Roles, Orders group).

In Shopify adminOpen in your store
  1. Settings
  2. Users
  3. Roles
  4. Bookkeeper
Waive order balances is a separate permission in the Orders group.
  • Customers see the amount was waived; customized notification templates don't add the Waived line automatically.
  • The order turns paid only when nothing else is left to collect; an uncaptured authorized payment can't be waived.
  • With payment terms, waiving lowers the amount due.
  • If edits or refunds drop the total below the waived amount, only the excess is reversed; a zero total removes it.

Waived amounts are reported as write-offs; the Write-offs by order report, available on all stores, is under Finances in Analytics › Reports.

In Shopify adminOpen in your store
  1. Analytics
  2. Reports
Filter the list by the Finances category to find Write-offs by order.
About This Article

This page was written by AI. Separate AI agents that did not write it check its figures and claims against official sources and test its links and interactive tools. A human editor sets the site's editorial direction, topics and rules and checks that pages are complete and display correctly, but does not check their facts or edit their text. Details may change — always confirm critical data at shopify.com.

Editorial Policy

Related questions

Payments & payouts
Does Shopify support cash on delivery?

Yes — COD is one of the manual payment methods Shopify documents, switched on in Settings > Payments; surcharges and OTP checks need an app.

Updated October 28, 2026

Payments & payouts
Can a Shopify customer pay by bank transfer?

Yes, as a manual payment method: you arrange the transfer outside checkout and mark the order paid yourself; iDEAL and Bancontact are automatic.

Updated October 29, 2026

Payments & payouts
What happens to a Shopify order when the customer never pays the Multibanco or OXXO voucher?

Multibanco auto-cancels after 7 unpaid days; OXXO, up to 3 business days after its 5-day barcode expires, if it's the order's only payment.

September 26, 2026

Stay updated

Get notified about new articles

Subscribe to receive updates when we publish new Shopify guides and insights.