Set the cutoff as a specific date and time tied to a saved receivables snapshot. Treat receipts recorded through that cutoff as part of the source state. Treat later receipts as subsequent activity that explains forecast variance or changes the next snapshot. This prevents a finance team from comparing last week's forecast with a moving version of actuals.

Intuit's payment-recording guidance requires a customer, amount received, destination account, and selection of the outstanding invoice or invoices. Those fields matter because an observed bank movement, a recorded customer payment, and a payment applied to a specific invoice are not always the same review state.

Define four receipt states

Use explicit labels during the weekly review:

  • **Recorded and applied by cutoff:** The payment is connected to an invoice in the accounting source and changes its open balance in the saved snapshot.
  • **Recorded but unapplied by cutoff:** Cash is present in the accounting source but the invoice connection is unresolved. Keep it in a reconciliation queue.
  • **Received after cutoff:** The receipt is valid subsequent activity. Use it to explain variance, not to rewrite the prior snapshot.
  • **Reported outside the source:** A message or bank observation suggests payment, but the authorized receivables source does not yet show the application. Keep the invoice open until the accounting owner resolves it.

These are workflow labels, not instructions to post or alter accounting entries.

Run the cutoff checklist

  1. Save the A/R Aging Detail or other approved invoice-level export.
  2. Record the report date, export time, timezone, filters, and aging method.
  3. Save the prior forecast version before importing new receipts.
  4. Identify receipts posted through the cutoff and tie each one to source invoice rows.
  5. Put unapplied or ambiguous amounts in a separate exception queue with an owner.
  6. Record later receipts in a subsequent-activity log with the observed date.
  7. Compare the locked forecast with receipts observed by the review cutoff.
  8. Build the next forecast from a new reconciled snapshot rather than editing the old export.

Intuit's aging guide explains the transaction-level A/R Aging Detail view. The AR Pulse snapshot checklist adds the controls needed to compare exports without mixing report dates.

Explain variance without moving the goalposts

For each prior forecast row, classify the outcome as collected by cutoff, collected after cutoff, still open, changed by an applied credit, or unresolved because of a source exception. Keep the prior expected week and rationale visible. If a payment arrives after the cutoff, record the later outcome; do not mark the prior week as correct by changing the cutoff retroactively.

Do not count unapplied cash against a specific invoice based on memory. The unapplied-payments guide explains why received money and invoice-level application must remain distinct. The forecast template provides fields for source rows, assumptions, owners, and observed outcomes.

A recorded payment can also be applied to an invoice while still waiting in a holding account or deposit workflow. The Undeposited Funds versus collected-cash guide separates invoice application, recorded receipt, deposit, and bank availability so the cutoff answers the intended cash question without counting the receipt twice.

If the payment date precedes the related invoice date, use the pre-invoice payment exception to preserve observed cash while preventing a later invoice from duplicating the receipt.

Where AR Pulse fits

AR Pulse analyzes an authorized customer-provided QuickBooks receivables export and returns a ranked cash-action list plus a four-week collections forecast. It does not request QuickBooks credentials, post receipts, change invoices, contact customers, or promise a payment outcome. Finance teams with a clean dated export can apply for AR Pulse and keep subsequent receipts visible as evidence rather than silent spreadsheet changes.