A customer deposit should not reduce a forecasted invoice merely because the cash appears in the bank. First link the deposit to the correct customer and invoice in QuickBooks, then confirm the remaining open balance in a fresh receivables view. Until that link is supported, treat the receipt as a cash-application exception rather than proof that a particular invoice was collected.

Intuit’s deposit-linking guidance describes a two-part workflow: identify the bank deposit as accounts receivable for the customer, then apply the resulting credit to the invoice through Receive payment. Intuit’s invoice-payment guidance explains that applying a payment updates the invoice status and customer balance.

Why the temporary mismatch matters

Before application, two true records can coexist: cash is visible in a bank account, while the invoice still appears open. Reducing the invoice on assumption can hide a different open item, duplicate a later application, or assign the receipt to the wrong forecast week. Leaving the invoice unchanged without flagging the receipt can also overstate the collection work still required.

Keep three fields separate during review:

  • the observed bank-receipt date and amount;
  • the customer and invoice the receipt is believed to cover;
  • the posted application date and remaining invoice balance.

The first is cash evidence. The second is a working hypothesis. The third is the receivables record that supports invoice-level forecasting.

A safe reconciliation sequence

Start with the bank transaction reference, payer name, amount, and date. Compare those fields with remittance detail, customer communications, and open invoices. If the amount covers several invoices, preserve the allocation rather than forcing the entire receipt onto one row. If the payer name differs from the invoiced customer, require a documented relationship before application.

After the payment is applied, rerun the dated open-AR report and verify that the intended invoice balance changed once. The unapplied-payments guide explains why unapplied cash and open invoices must be reviewed together. The multiple-invoice payment guide covers allocations across several open items.

For a deposited customer check

Preserve the check number or bank reference, payer, amount, received date, deposited date, and the invoice or invoices believed to be covered. Intuit's current guidance says to connect a deposit recorded to Accounts Receivable with the customer and then apply the resulting credit through Receive payment. The workflow matters because a check can appear in the bank while the related invoice remains open.

Do not count the check again as future cash after the bank receipt is observed. Do not close a specific invoice in the forecast until the application is supported. If one check covers several invoices, record the allocation and verify each remaining balance in a fresh report.

Forecast treatment

Do not place the unlinked receipt into expected collections; it is already observed cash. Do not remove a specific invoice from the forecast until the application is supported. Instead, flag the invoice and receipt as one cash-application exception with an owner, evidence needed, and next review date.

Once linked, use the verified remaining balance as the maximum forecastable amount. Preserve both the receipt date and application date so a later forecast-variance review can distinguish customer payment timing from accounting cleanup. The QuickBooks export checklist shows the invoice fields needed for that traceable review. Finance teams can also view the AR Pulse example to see the intended invoice-level evidence boundary.