An unused client retainer should not be added to an accounts receivable collections forecast merely because the business holds the cash or expects to perform work. Keep the retainer balance in its accounting workflow. Forecast only issued, open invoice balances from the authorized receivables source, after any properly applied retainer credit is reflected in that source.

Intuit's retainer guidance describes customer retainers and deposits as liabilities while the business holds them before they are used for services. It also explains a workflow in which a retainer can later be applied to an invoice. The key forecast boundary is therefore not the commercial label. It is whether an issued invoice exists, what open balance the accounting source shows, and whether any retainer application has been recorded.

Keep four populations separate

  • **Unused retainer balance:** Cash held under the firm's configured accounting treatment. It is not an open customer invoice by default.
  • **Unbilled professional-services work:** Work or billable activity that has not become an invoice. Keep it in an upstream billing schedule.
  • **Issued open invoice:** A transaction in the receivables source with a remaining balance. This is eligible for invoice-level AR review.
  • **Applied retainer or credit:** A source transaction that reduces the invoice balance. Forecast the remaining open amount shown by the reconciled source.

Do not add the retainer and the gross invoice to the same expected-cash total. That would mix cash already received with a receivable and can double count value.

Run the retainer-to-invoice check

  1. Preserve the original dated A/R Aging Detail or approved open-invoice export.
  2. Identify the invoice and its source open amount.
  3. Review the authorized retainer liability or customer balance report separately.
  4. Confirm whether the accounting source shows a retainer application or invoice credit.
  5. Reconcile the remaining invoice amount after any recorded application.
  6. Put ambiguous or unapplied balances in an exception queue with an accounting owner.
  7. Add expected week, evidence, owner, and review date only after the source balance is clear.

Intuit's A/R aging documentation distinguishes customer totals from transaction detail. Use transaction detail for the invoice-level forecast population, then retain supporting retainer evidence without rewriting the export.

Treat the remaining balance as the source fact

The remaining open amount is not a manual estimate. It should come from the dated receivables source after authorized accounting activity. Forecast timing is a separate judgment supported by evidence such as approval, a dated commitment, or an established customer process. If the application occurs after the snapshot, record it as subsequent activity and use a new snapshot for the next forecast.

The billable-expenses boundary guide covers a related upstream population. The credit-memo guide explains applied and unapplied credit states. The forecast template keeps source balances separate from expected weeks and confidence labels.

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 retainer applications, change invoices, contact customers, or provide accounting advice. Professional-services finance teams with a reconciled invoice-level export can apply for AR Pulse.