FAQ: Balance Problems

Q: Why does my customer balance not match the sum of unpaid invoices?

A: The customer balance includes more than just unpaid invoices. It may also include:

• Outstanding (unallocated) payments the customer has made but not yet assigned to invoices.
• Credit memos or refunds issued to the customer.
• Unallocated prepayments or advances.
• Discrepancies from currency conversion if the customer's country is different from your home country.

Open the customer's profile to see the detailed breakdown of what makes up their balance. Check the invoices, payments, and credit sections separately.

Q: Can a balance be negative?

A: Yes. A negative customer balance means the customer has overpaid—they have given you more money than they owe. This creates a credit on their account that you can use to pay future invoices.

A negative vendor balance means you have overpaid the vendor—you owe them a refund or credit. This credit reduces your accounts payable.

To use a customer's negative balance (credit), allocate it to a new invoice when you create it. To settle a vendor's negative balance, issue them a refund or wait for them to send a bill you can apply it against.

Q: What happens to a balance when I delete an invoice or bill?

A: When you delete a document, the balance updates immediately:

• Customer: If you delete an unpaid invoice, the customer balance decreases by that invoice amount.
• Vendor: If you delete an unpaid bill, the vendor balance decreases by that bill amount.

Deleted documents cannot be recovered. If you delete something in error, ask your administrator if a backup can be restored, or re-create the document manually.

Q: Why does the balance change when I do not record any new transactions?

A: The balance can change for these reasons:

1. Exchange rate fluctuation. If the customer or vendor has transactions in a currency other than your home currency, the displayed balance in your home currency may change as exchange rates shift. The balance in their original currency remains the same.
2. Accounting adjustment. A user with administrator privileges may have made an adjustment entry that affected the balance.
3. Data sync. If you are viewing the page from two different devices or windows, changes made in one may not show immediately in the other. Refresh the page to see the latest balance.

Q: How do I know if a payment was recorded correctly?

A: After you record a payment, check these things:

1. The customer or vendor balance has decreased by the payment amount.
2. The payment is listed in the contact's Payments section.
3. If you assigned the payment to specific invoices or bills, those documents now show the payment applied.
4. In the Transactions report, you can see the debit (money in/out) and credit (balance reduction) entries.

If any of these do not match, the payment may not have been saved correctly. Contact your administrator.

Q: What is the difference between an "advance" and a "balance"?

A:

• Balance: The total amount a customer owes you (or you owe a vendor). It is the sum of all unpaid invoices, credit memos, and unallocated payments.
• Advance (or prepayment): Money that a customer has paid to you before you issued an invoice, or money you have paid to a vendor before they sent a bill. An advance is a type of balance, but it has not yet been assigned to a specific invoice or bill.

When you create an invoice and allocate an advance to it, the advance becomes part of the invoice payment. The balance decreases accordingly.

Q: Can I allocate a partial advance to an invoice?

A: Yes. When you are creating or editing an invoice, you can choose how much of the available advance to allocate. If you allocate only part of the advance, the remaining balance stays available as a credit on the customer's account for future invoices.

Q: Why can't I allocate an advance if both the advance and invoice are in the same currency?

A: Even in the same currency, an advance may not be available for allocation if:

1. It is already allocated to another invoice.
2. It is marked as cancelled or reversed.
3. The contact record is inactive.
4. There is a system issue (try refreshing the page).

Open the contact's profile to check the status of the advance. If it is not showing, see the troubleshooting article "An advance isn't available for allocation."

Q: What if a customer claims they paid an invoice but I see it as unpaid?

A: Check these things:

1. Payment records: Go to the customer's profile and look at the Payments section. Is their payment listed? If so, is it allocated to this invoice?
2. Payment method: Did they pay in cash, by check, or by bank transfer? Make sure you recorded the payment in Usystems. A payment made outside the system will not update the invoice status.
3. Invoice status: Open the invoice. Does it show Paid, Partially Paid, or Unpaid? If it shows Paid but you see it in the unpaid list, refresh the page.
4. Timing: If they just paid (today or yesterday), there may be a delay before the payment is recorded and the invoice status updates.

If the payment is recorded but the invoice still shows unpaid, ask your administrator to check the transaction record.

Q: How do I fix a balance if it is off by a small amount?

A: Do not manually delete or adjust records to force the balance to match. Instead:

1. Identify the missing or extra amount.
2. Check the payment records to see if a payment or refund is missing, unallocated, or recorded twice.
3. Use the Transactions report to see all debit and credit entries and find the discrepancy.
4. Once you identify the cause, fix the root problem (re-allocate a payment, reverse a duplicate, etc.).
5. The balance will then be correct.

If you cannot find the cause after a thorough review, ask your administrator to audit the account.

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