Suggested Allocations: Match Payments to Invoices in One Click

Matching payments to invoices is one of those jobs that quietly eats an afternoon. A customer pays three invoices with one transfer, a supplier bill is partly covered by a debit note, a salary payment has to be matched to the month's payslip — and until each one is allocated, your statements show balances that don't tell the truth. TamilAccounting now does the matching for you: every transaction's Allocations tab shows Suggested Allocations whenever there is money left to settle, pre-filled and ready to apply in one click.

What you'll see

Open any invoice, payment, credit note or payslip and switch to its Allocations tab. Below the existing allocation list, a new Suggested Allocations section appears whenever the document is not fully settled:

• On a payment or credit note — the suggestions list the customer's (or supplier's, or employee's) outstanding documents, with the unallocated amount already spread across them oldest due date first.
• On an invoice, expense or payslip — the suggestions list the available unallocated payments and credits of the same party, each capped at what the document still needs.

Every row shows the counterpart document (clickable), its date and due date, the full amount, how much is still open, and an editable This Allocation box with All / None shortcuts. Adjust anything you like, press Allocate, and the page refreshes with the allocations written and the balances updated.

Worked example 1 — settling an invoice from its own view

Invoice INV-1042 for 12,500 has received 5,000, leaving 7,500 open. The customer also has money sitting unallocated:

The suggestions walk through the available money oldest first and stop exactly at the invoice's open balance — note the advance deposit is only used for 1,800 of its 2,000. One click on Allocate and the invoice shows Paid; the deposit keeps its remaining 200 for the next invoice.

Worked example 2 — spreading a payment across invoices

A customer sends a single transfer of 10,000. When you open the receipt, its Allocations tab suggests:

The two overdue invoices are cleared in full and the remainder goes against the newest one, which stays Partially Allocated for 3,500. Prefer to keep the newest invoice untouched and hold the 2,500 on account? Press None on that row before allocating — the suggestions are a starting point, not a commitment.

Worked example 3 — payroll without the hunt

A payslip for 28,000 net pay is open, and the employee was paid 28,000 last week but the two were never matched. Opening the payslip's Allocations tab now shows the employee payment as a suggestion for the full 28,000 — allocate, and both documents show settled. The same works from the other side: an employee payment's tab suggests the open payslips and reimbursement claims it can settle.

Where the suggestions appear

The same section works across the whole application, on both sides of every allocation:

• Sales — sales invoices, project invoices, customer credit notes, customer payments and customer bank deposits.
• Purchasing — supplier invoices, expenses, supplier debit notes, supplier payments and bank payments.
• Payroll & HR — payslips, reimbursement claims, end-of-service benefits, leave encashments and employee payments.
• Banking & GL — journals and bank transactions tied to a customer or supplier account.

The guard rails

Fast should never mean careless, so the suggestions enforce the same rules as the full allocation screen:

• No over-allocation, ever. Whatever you type, each line is capped at the counterpart's open amount and at your document's remaining balance — re-checked at the moment you press Allocate, so a stale page can't double-apply.
• Existing allocations are untouched. Suggestions only add; anything already matched stays exactly as it was.
• Drafts and documents awaiting approval don't offer or receive suggestions until they're posted.
• Credit notes raised directly against an invoice keep their allocation locked, exactly as before.
• Batch payroll payouts (one payment covering many employees) continue through the dedicated allocation screen.
• Permissions apply. Only users allowed to make customer, supplier or employee allocations see the section at all.
• Foreign currency is handled. Allocating across dates posts the exchange difference automatically, just like the allocation screen.

Why this matters for month-end

Unallocated cash is the classic reason a receivables ledger and a customer statement disagree. Because the suggestions surface on the documents you're already looking at — the moment you view an invoice that isn't fully paid, or a receipt that isn't fully used — matching stops being a separate clean-up task. The Allocations tab is even shown on a freshly posted, still-unallocated payment, so the natural next step after recording money is a single click away.

FAQ

I opened the Allocations tab and see no suggestions. Why?

One of four reasons: the document is already fully allocated; there is simply no unallocated money (or no open documents) for that party; the document is a draft or awaiting approval; or your user doesn't have allocation rights for that area.

Do I have to accept the suggested split?

No. Every amount is editable, All fills a line to its maximum, None clears it. Only the amounts showing when you press Allocate are applied.

Can it un-allocate or move an existing allocation?

No — the section only adds new allocations. To rework existing ones, use the Allocate action as before.

What happens if two users allocate the same payment at once?

The amounts are re-validated against the live balances when you press Allocate; whatever was already used elsewhere is automatically excluded, so the total can never exceed the payment.

Does it work with part-payments and rounding?

Yes. Partial amounts are fine, and each line honours the document's precise open balance, including discounts and rounding recorded on the original documents.