# Apply an Advance

Applying is the moment held money becomes earned revenue.

Until you do it, the invoice looks unpaid, the balance looks like a liability, and both are technically correct and practically annoying.

![An advance invoice, RT-00001 for Brackenridge Engineering Ltd, in Draft. A Record Payment button sits in the header, and an Advance Draw Status reads Awaiting Payment. A single service line for 1,500 pounds is shown, with a balance due of the same amount.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/advance-invoices/advance-invoice-detail.png)

*Advance Draw Status is the field to watch. Nothing can be applied until the advance is paid.*

## Apply it

- **Deliver, then invoice normally**

  Raise real invoices for the work as you complete it, at full value. Do not reduce the invoice by the deposit.
- **Open the invoice and choose Apply advance**

  Available balances on the customer are listed, oldest first.
- **Choose how much to apply**

  Up to the invoice total or the available balance, whichever is smaller.
- **Save**

  The invoice total stays the same. The amount due drops by what was applied, and the liability reduces by the same amount.

> **Note:**
>
> **The invoice total never changes**
>
> Applying an advance is a settlement, not a discount. The invoice still shows the full value, which is what makes your revenue figures and your customer's records agree.

## Splitting an advance

A single advance can be applied across several invoices until it runs out, and one invoice can draw on more than one advance. That flexibility is what makes retainers work: one balance, many invoices, drawn down over months.

| Advance held | Invoice raised | After applying |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1,000 | 1,000 | Invoice paid. Balance zero. |
| 1,000 | 400 | Invoice paid. 600 still held as a liability. |
| 1,000 | 2,500 | Invoice shows 1,500 due. Balance zero. |
| 1,000 across two advances | 1,000 | Apply both. Balance zero, two allocations recorded. |

## Watching what is unapplied

Unapplied advances are a liability on your balance sheet, so they matter at period end in a way unpaid invoices do not. Review them before you close a period and apply anything that has actually been earned.

- The customer overview shows advance held, separate from unapplied credit.
- An advance that has been sitting for a year usually means the work was delivered and invoiced without applying it.
- Applying late is not an error, but it moves revenue recognition into the later period, so do it before the close rather than after.