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Unallocated Payments, Credits & External Payments

Not every dollar arrives neatly attached to an invoice. This page covers the three flavors of "money without a home" and how each is handled.

Unallocated Payments​

Money lands in the client's unallocated credit pool in three main ways: an advance payment (below), an overpayment (the client paid more than an invoice's balance), or a fee adjustment that left paid-for value uninvoiced (shown separately as Uninvoiced Credit on the billing summary — one click converts it into a credit).

The pool is visible as the Unallocated row on the client's billing summary. To spend it, open Add Payment and tick "Apply unallocated credit ($X)" — the breakdown shows the credit applied and any remainder to charge. (Launching Add Payment from the summary's Allocate action arrives with the checkbox pre-ticked.) With enough credit, the button becomes "Allocate $X Credit" and settles the invoice with no charge at all. Insurance payments have their own version of this on the insurance side (see Payments & ERAs).

Advance Payments & Credits​

Clients sometimes pay ahead — a deposit, a package of sessions, or simply "put $200 on my account." In Add Payment, select no invoices, enter the amount, and the button reads "Charge $200 as Credit" (card) or "Record $200 as Credit" (cash/check/external) — "Payment will result in a new credit of $200."

Two things to know about credits:

  • The credit pool is visible on the client's billing summary, so you always know what's available
  • Credit is applied to invoices only when you explicitly choose to apply it — invoicing never silently consumes a client's credit, so there are no surprises on either side

Payments Made Outside the Platform​

Collected a payment on an external platform (a legacy card reader, Venmo, a check deposited directly)? Record it so the books stay whole:

  1. Open the client's Billing tab → Add Payment
  2. Choose External card ("Record a payment collected using an external payment processor"), Cash, or Check — with a transaction reference or check number for your records
  3. Set the Payment date ("Date the payment was received — income reports count it in this period"), and apply it to the right invoice (or leave it as credit)

Recording external payments keeps client balances, statements, and your Billing Dashboard numbers truthful — the platform doesn't need to have processed a payment to account for it.