# Allocate and Reallocate

Applying a receipt to the right invoices, and moving it when you got that wrong.

Allocation is the forgiving part of this module. The payment itself is a fact; what it settles can be changed as often as you need.

## Allocate a payment

- **Open the payment**

  Its unallocated balance is shown against the customer's open invoices.

  ![A customer payment record showing its number, date, mode and amount, the customer and the invoice it has been applied to, with an activity panel at the right.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/inventory/payments-received/payment-detail.png)
- **Enter an amount against each invoice**

  Part of an invoice is allowed. That invoice then reads **Partially Paid** and keeps its remaining balance due.
- **Save**

  The invoices move to paid or partly paid, and any remainder stays as an unallocated credit.

## Reallocate one

- **Clear the wrong allocation**

  The invoice returns to outstanding and the payment's balance returns to unallocated.
- **Apply it where it belongs, then save**

  The payment record, its date and its amount are untouched throughout.

> **Note:**
>
> **Reallocating is not a correction that needs explaining**
>
> Nothing about the money changed: the same amount arrived on the same day. Only the bookkeeping decision moved, which is why the payment itself has no edit history to answer for.

## Reading an account

- **Unallocated payments**: Money you hold that has not been placed against anything. It reduces what the customer owes overall while individual invoices still look unpaid.
- **Partially paid invoices**: Something arrived and did not cover it. Worth checking against the delivery: a short payment often follows a short delivery.
- **Paid in full**: Balance due is zero and the invoice is out of the way.

> **Tip:**
>
> **Clear unallocated credits before chasing an account**
>
> A customer with an overdue invoice and an unallocated payment on the same account has usually already paid. Chasing them is avoidable and irritating.