Payments, the ledger and what is overdue

Step by step

1. Record every receipt against its invoice Date, amount, and how it came. Part payments are ordinary; the balance is what is outstanding.
2. Read the four figures Billed this month is what you issued. Received is what arrived. Outstanding is the sum of balances still owed. Work not yet billed is time logged against no invoice.
3. Chase from the overdue list Invoices past their due date with a balance. It is a list, not a number, so you can act on it.
4. Void rather than delete A payment entered by mistake is voided, which keeps the record of the mistake and releases the work again.

Worth knowing

• Outstanding counts only invoices that were actually issued, and only balances above zero — an over-payment on one matter never nets off a debt on another.