Retainer Invoices NOT treated as a Receivable

Retainer Invoices NOT treated as a Receivable

When I issue a Retainer Invoice to a customer, it is an amount I expect to be paid and when not yet paid it is therefore a Receivable. Zoho Invoice does not treat Retainer Invoices as a Receivable and does not include them within Receivables on the Dashboard. This behaviour is fundamentally wrong.

When chatting with support, the explained the systems behaviour as to why they do not treat a Retainer Invoice as a Receivable because if I issue an Invoice and then use the Retainer balance to pay this Invoice, then I would be duplicate recognising the Receivable. Again, this is fundamentally wrong, and a lack of understanding of account principle.

For example, if I issue a $1000 Retainer Invoice to a client then it is an amount to be paid and a Receivable. If it is unpaid, then Receivables has $1000 owing.  If I issue an Invoice for $500 (same or different client), then Total Receivables is $1500.  But my Receivables is only showing $500 because the Retainer Invoice is ignored and not shown/treated as a Receivable.  If you show/explain this to any accountant or bookkeeper, they will tell you it is absolutely wrong, and your business has Total Receivables unpaid of $1500.

Let's presume in the above example that the $1000 Retainer and $500 Invoice is for the same customer, and both are unpaid.  If I have issued these two, then I am expecting $1,500 payment and my Total Receivables must be shown as $1500.  If the client then pays the $1000 Retainer, then my Total Receivables is $500, as the Invoice is still issued/sent and is unpaid. If I then use the Retainer balance to pay the Invoice, my Total Receivables is $0.  At no point in this sequence is this a duplicate of Receivables.

There is no scenario where I would have both a Retainer Invoice and an Invoice sent/issued to the same client, both of them unpaid, and not expect that my Total Receivables would reflect the sum of both the Invoice and the Retainer Invoice. And in the scenario where Invoice(s) and Retainer Invoice(s) are sent/issued to different clients, then the Total Receivables amount shown is incorrect because it does not include Retainer Invoice amounts unpaid.

Thoughts from others using Retainer Invoices? Why is an unpaid Retainer Invoice sent/issued not considered a Receivable for your business?


      • Sticky Posts

      • Zoho Invoice Will Soon Discontinue Support for Older Browser Versions

        Hello users, Starting from May 15, 2024, Zoho Invoice will no longer support the following browser versions: Browsers Version Restrictions Firefox Browser Versions older than 100 Google Chrome Versions older than 100 Microsoft Edge Versions older than

      • Bulk Printing now available in Zoho Invoice

        Hello, We are happy to announce the much requested and much awaited feature in Zoho Invoice - Bulk Printing of Estimates and Invoices. All you need to do is, select the invoices you wish to print and then click the 'Print' button. All the invoices will be downloaded as a single PDF file which can be printed as you wish. You can print upto 25 invoices at a single go. Go ahead and give it a shot and let us know how it worked for you. Regards, Reshma   

      • Introducing the iPhone App for Zoho Invoice

        Now you can invoice on the go from your iPhone through the Zoho Invoice iPhone app. Our iPhone app is available at the apps store for download. The app is special in more ways than one: An impeccable UI takes your invoicing experience to a whole new level That's a first native app we've come up with It's available for FREE!!!!! Yeah, absolutely Free. No brainer there, we just wanted to make our users to enjoy the app no strings attachedHere some snapshots of the app: For the real experience, head