If the patient is being seen today, you can use the right-mouse button from the appointment and select "Add patient to Payment Log" option.
This will pop-up the Payment Log and pre-populate the patient onto that log:
You can leave this window up throughout the day if you wish.
BEST PRACTICE: At the end of the day, reconcile all cash, credit card receipts and checks you have collected against the totals at the bottom and then Mark the payment log as "Closed" with the "Mark Closed" button at the top. This will alert our billing team to post these payments appropriately.
If the patient is not on the schedule, then you can always click into the cell that says [Select patient here] and it will bring up the patient search box so you can find the appropriate patient. This is handy when a patient mails in a check or phones in a payment.
Only use the Payment Log for Patient payments and NOT payor payments.