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Retainers

Applying a retainer to an invoice

Use money a client paid up front on an invoice from the same project.

Written By Timothy Murenzi

Overview

Once a retainer’s money is received, apply it to invoices on the same project as they come due.

Watch it: the Finances lesson in Campus, step 4, “Invoice and get paid”, chapter 4, “Record a payment” (starts at 1:00) and chapter 7, “Retainers” (starts at 2:36).

Before you start

  • The invoice and the retainer are on the same project.

  • The retainer has money received.

Steps

  1. Open the invoice’s Payments tab, or its side panel’s Payments tab, and click Record payment.

  2. Set Payment method to Apply Retainer.

  3. Under Apply from retainer, pick the pool to draw from. Each shows what is available.

  4. Enter the Amount, and under Apply to pick the schedule row it pays.

  5. Click Record payment.

Record payment dialog with Apply Retainer chosen and $8,800 available

What happens next

  • The invoice’s balance drops like any other payment.

  • On the retainer, Applied goes up and Available goes down, and the invoice is listed under Applied to invoices.

A retainer’s pool: received, applied, refunded and available

Good to know

  • You can’t apply more than is available, or more than the invoice owes.

  • To undo it, delete that payment on the invoice’s Payments tab.

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