Unapplied cash
In accounting, unapplied cash means customer cash received but not yet assigned to an invoice. It reduces that customer's AR; only a net credit balance is reclassified to a liability at period end.
- Layer
- Lexicon
- Defined in
- Lexicon
- Components
- 2
Authority
This definition follows ASC 405.
Every citation in this system, with the text we read and the date we checked it, is in US GAAP and where these rules come from.
Unapplied cash, in use
Quoted from the 2 documents that use the word — what it does to an interface, in the spec's own sentence.
QBO keeps it as UnappliedAmt on the payment; on the accrual basis that credit sits in Accounts Receivable, and the "Unapplied Cash Payment Income/Expense" lines appear only on cash-basis reports.
Lopifi APIs: Xero, QuickBooks Online, NetSuite — 7. Payments and allocation
A customer with a net credit (overpayment, unapplied cash) appears as a negative in the aging and should arguably be reclassified to a liability at period end.
For founders
The same idea written for a founder: what it costs a startup that ignores it, and what to do in a real month.
- AR aging and collections: a practical guide for startupsHow to read an AR aging, work out DSO, run a dunning cadence, record a promise to pay, escalate a late account and clear unapplied cash.
- Card and ACH payments: applying and reconciling themHow customer card and ACH payments land in the bank net of fees, how to apply them to invoices, handle partial payments and reconcile the deposit.
What it is not called
Each of these is a real word for a different thing. Using it here is what makes a product read as though it was built by someone who has not done the work.
- overpayment
- credit balance
Components that render this
The concept is not documentation-only. These are the components that name it in their specification, grouped and stated exactly as the catalog states them.
Components that render the terms it depends on
Little in the catalog names this concept outright, but its definition is built out of others that are named. These render liability, invoice, credit, period.
2Cards
Family spec4Swaps & FX
Family spec- TrialBalanceAll accounts with the debit=credit proof.
- PeriodPickerFiscal-aware. Never assumes January.
- FluxAnalysisPeriod-over-period explanations.
- ProfitAndLossP&L with period comparison and variance.
- StatementTableThe shared shell: hierarchy, periods, rules.
- StatementToolbarBasis, period, comparison, currency, consolidation.
- InvoiceFormWith the revenue-recognition preview per line.
- InvoiceRegisterGapless-numbering check surfaced.Spec
- InvoiceDetailBalance due as the hero, not total.Spec
- PaymentSuggestionInvoice combinations summing exactly to a lump sum.
- DunningTimelinePer customer, not per invoice.Spec
- CustomerCreditPanelLimit and exposure together, with hierarchy roll-up.Spec
- CreditNoteFormDistinct from a refund and from a write-off.Spec
11Payables (AP)
Family spec12Close, controls & consolidation
Family specTerms this one depends on
Also in Receivables
Work with this concept
The calculators that compute it and the ledger payloads that carry it. A definition is where a reader starts; these are where they go next.
- Penny-exact allocationSplit 100.00 three ways and get 33.34 / 33.33 / 33.33 — never a cent left in suspense.Tool
- Which invoices make this deposit?A deposit against forty open items. Exact subset-sum over minor units — no floating point.Tool
- Payments and allocationHow is a payment tied to the documents it settles?API
- Journal entry for a customer depositWhen a customer pays a deposit, debit Cash and credit Customer deposits. On delivery, debit Customer deposits for the deposit, debit Accounts receivable for the balance, and credit Revenue for the full price.Entry
Defined in Lexicon. This page is generated from that document, so the two cannot disagree.