How do I use an overpayment on the customer's next invoice?

Open the receipt and select Allocate to invoices, or select Allocate beside it under Available credits when you record the next payment.

Where can I see how much a customer has on account?

Each receipt's row on the account's Receipts tab shows its Unapplied amount.

Does unapplied money reduce what the customer owes?

On the account, yes: Outstanding counts it as customer credit. Each invoice keeps its Balance due until you allocate the money to it.

Can I choose the date of the allocation?

Yes, from the receipt's date up to today. The payment rows on the invoices take that date.

Why is Allocate to invoices missing?

It needs Invoice Edit set to All records, and the receipt must be Active with money unapplied. A security deposit is allocated with Allocate deposit to invoices instead.

Can I move unapplied money to another customer?

No. It belongs to the account that paid. Refund it, or void the receipt if it was recorded on the wrong account. See Receipts.

Use unapplied money

Copy for AI

Money a receipt did not use on any invoice is unapplied. It stays on the customer’s account until you allocate it to an invoice or pay it back. This page covers both.

Before you start

Unapplied money comes from a customer paying more than the invoices you ticked, paying before you invoice, or a payment you removed from an invoice. The receipt shows it as Unapplied, and so does its row on the account’s Receipts tab.

To allocate it, you need Invoice Edit set to All records.
To refund it, you need Invoice Edit on the receipt.

Steps

To allocate it to invoices:

Open the receipt from the account’s Receipts tab, or from its number in an invoice’s Payments and credits.
Select Allocate to invoices at the top.
Check the Allocation date. It starts at today; you can move it back as far as the receipt’s date.
Tick the invoices and adjust the Allocate amounts, or select Oldest first.
Select Allocate.

You can also allocate it while recording a new payment: the earlier receipt appears under Available credits in the Record payment dialog, with its own Allocate.

To refund it:

Open the receipt and select Refund unapplied in the ··· menu.
Enter the Refund date, Method, Amount refunded and Reference. For a foreign currency, also fill in what left your bank in your base currency, such as Amount in SGD. It starts at today’s automatic rate; change it to the bank’s figure. The refund cannot be recorded without it.
Select Record refund.

What happens next

Allocating adds payment rows to the invoices, dated on the allocation date, and they move to Partial Paid or Paid. No new receipt or number is created, and Unapplied on the receipt shrinks.

A refund takes its own number, starting RF-, and appears under Refunds on the receipt and on the account’s Receipts tab. It has no PDF. A foreign-currency refund also shows its exchange gain or loss on the receipt.

Rules to know

Unapplied money is allocated or refunded, never both. Neither can exceed what is left.
A refund is allowed even when the customer still owes on other invoices; you are warned first.
To void a refund recorded in error, select Void on it in the receipt’s Refunds list and give a reason. Its amount returns to the receipt. Money that really came back is a new receipt.
A receipt that has had money refunded cannot be voided until the refund is voided.
If no answer comes back while allocating, close the dialog and check the receipt before allocating again. A refund retried after a dropped connection is recorded once.
A security deposit is used differently — see Deposits and prepayments.

Why it works this way

The money stays on the receipt it arrived on. Allocating later adds payments to the same receipt rather than creating a new one, because no new money has arrived. Your receipts still match your bank deposits, and the customer’s receipt still shows the one payment they made.

The allocation date is when you used the money. An invoice is paid on the day the credit is put against it, which can be after the money arrived. That is why the date starts at today and can go back only as far as the receipt’s own date.

Unapplied money belongs to the whole account. It can pay any of the customer’s invoices in that currency, whoever raised them, so allocating it needs All records. A role limited to its own records cannot see every invoice the money could pay.

You decide between using it and paying it back. A refund is allowed even when the customer still owes on other invoices, because they may have asked for the money back. easySales warns you first, so you do not refund money you could have set against an unpaid invoice by mistake.

Work faster

Use it as part of the next payment. When you record the customer’s next payment, the earlier receipt shows under Available credits; select Allocate there. See Record a payment.
Spot customers with money on account. With Invoice View set to All records, the account’s Invoices tab shows a note counting unapplied payments and receipts held as customer credit. See Account details.
Let the split follow due dates. Oldest first fills the oldest invoice before the next.
Pay it back when the customer asks. Refund a customer covers refunds from receipts and credit notes, and voiding one made in error.

Examples

Harbour Café’s receipt RCT-10000014 left SGD 365.00 unapplied. On 12 October Lim & Co issues INV-10000061 to the café for SGD 327.00 (SGD 300.00 plus GST of SGD 27.00).

Mei Tan opens RCT-10000014, selects Allocate to invoices and keeps today as the Allocation date. INV-10000061 is the café’s only open invoice, so the dialog gives it SGD 327.00 and Left unapplied reads SGD 365.00 − SGD 327.00 = SGD 38.00. She selects Allocate: INV-10000061 reads Paid.

The café then asks for the SGD 38.00 back. Mei selects Refund unapplied, enters 38.00 paid by bank transfer, and selects Record refund. RF-10000003 appears under Refunds, and the receipt has nothing left unapplied.

Credit on account and a new transfer together. Receipt RCT-10000020 left SGD 145.00 unapplied. Harbour Café’s next invoice, INV-10000075, is SGD 545.00 (SGD 500.00 plus GST of SGD 45.00), and the café transfers SGD 400.00 with a note to use the credit for the rest. Mei opens INV-10000075 and selects Record payment. Under Available credits she selects Allocate beside RCT-10000020 and allocates SGD 145.00 to INV-10000075 straight away. Back in the dialog, Amount received has followed the new balance: SGD 545.00 − SGD 145.00 = SGD 400.00. She records the SGD 400.00, and the invoice reads Paid.

Common questions

How do I use an overpayment on the customer’s next invoice? Open the receipt and select Allocate to invoices, or select Allocate beside it under Available credits when you record the next payment.
Where can I see how much a customer has on account? Each receipt’s row on the account’s Receipts tab shows its Unapplied amount.
Does unapplied money reduce what the customer owes? On the account, yes: Outstanding counts it as customer credit. Each invoice keeps its Balance due until you allocate the money to it.
Can I choose the date of the allocation? Yes, from the receipt’s date up to today. The payment rows on the invoices take that date.
Why is Allocate to invoices missing? It needs Invoice Edit set to All records, and the receipt must be Active with money unapplied. A security deposit is allocated with Allocate deposit to invoices instead.
Can I move unapplied money to another customer? No. It belongs to the account that paid. Refund it, or void the receipt if it was recorded on the wrong account. See Receipts.