Handle a retainer overage and read drawdown

Overages are normal. What matters is that the client agrees and pays before the extra work happens. This article gives the standard play and shows where drawdown is visible.

Steps

1. Watch the To watch and Over cap counters at the top of Clients & projects, then Allocations. A retainer at 80% before the period is 80% through is trending hot.
2. Message the client with the numbers: days left, work in flight, the expected overrun. Wait for a yes.
3. Send an invoice for the overage with a Retainer overage line and get it paid. See Create and send an invoice.
4. Open the client's retainer period and click Log overage. Enter the pre-paid Overage amount and, where relevant, the project to bump. The cap rises for the rest of the period.
5. If a deliverable slips instead, click Extend period and push the end date. Pacing recalculates against the new end.

Read the drawdown ledger

1. Open a paid retainer, deposit, or top-up invoice under Billing, then Invoices.
2. The Credit balance card shows Prepaid, Settled, Pending, and Remaining.
3. Expand Drawdown ledger to see which entries consumed credit.
4. The client's page shows a Prepaid credit summary across every project.

Only Retainer labor and Retainer overage lines open credit. A mixed invoice of a $15,000 retainer line, $5,000 media, and $750 management fee opens a $15,000 pool.

Expire unused credit

If a client cancels with credit left, open the invoice and click Expire remaining on the Credit balance card. New entries cannot draw from it; settled drawdowns are untouched. Only an admin can reverse it.

What to check

• A client that overages two cycles running is under-priced. Raise it before the third.
• Overage value counts as contracted revenue on the Profitability page. Carried-over credit does not, because it was recognised when first billed.
• Usage statements show the client what drew the retainer down without asking for money. See Issue a usage statement.