If a Client submits a payment for more money than was required, you can enter this amount into the system in a few different ways. The money can be applied to Retainer, against other open Invoices/Proposals or applied entirely to the Document it was received against.
In the example below the Client issued a check for $1,300.00 for an Invoice which had a balance due of only $1,254.00. This leaves a $46.00 discrepancy. Below are instructions for each of the options of entry.
Please note that in all examples, the Amount field is the Total amount of the Payment that is being received and the Difference field will always be zero in order to allow the Receipt to be entered.
Apply the Over Payment as a Retainer
When doing so, the amount will remain on the clients account to be applied to future work. This option leaves the most flexibility. The money can easily be applied to another document or refunded using the Returns/Credits.
1. Enter a new Cash Receipt. On the Cash Receipt Window, tag the Invoice/Proposal that the client is paying, then also tag the top line for Use to enter retainer for this Project
2. Click the Pencil to the right of the Use to enter retainer for this Project and enter in the amount of the over payment. In this example, $46.00. Then Click OK
3. With both of these entries still tagged, click OK at the bottom of the Cash Receipt Window. The over payment will now be in Retainer and can be used at a later point using one of the methods detailed here.
Use the Over Payment Against an Unpaid Invoice/Proposal as a Partial Payment/Deposit
This approach is probably the most efficient way of closing out the over payment as it will not leave any money sitting in Retainer to be applied in the future; instead the over payment is used to pay down another document (Invoice/Proposal).
In the example below, the $46.00 over payment will be applied to one of the other open Invoices.
1. Enter a new Cash Receipt for the full receipt amount. Tag the $1,254.00 invoice to be paid.
2. Also tag another open invoice to partially pay. Click the Pencil on that invoice to Edit the This Payment amount. Change the amount to equal the overage, then click OK.
3. With both Invoices tagged, click OK to record the payment. The $1,254.00 Invoice will now be paid in full. The partially paid invoice can be reprinted (select to show payments) to reflect the new Balance due, or a Statement can be run to show the remaining balance due on the Invoice.
Apply the Over Payment Against the Invoice the Client has sent the payment for
This will result in a Credit amount due on the Invoice.
1. Enter a new Cash Receipt. On the Cash Receipt Window, tag the Invoice being paid.
2. Click the Pencil and change the amount field to equal the full amount of the Payment received. Select OK to record the payment. In the example below $1,300.00 will be applied to a $1,254.00 Invoice.
Once posted, this overage can be applied to another document/retainer using the instructions you can find here.
The Invoice can be reprinted (select to show payments) to reflect the credit due to the client, or a Statement can be run to show this credit.