Retire an advance
Account for an advance with receipts — the three outcomes, and what clears the balance.
Retiring is how an advance is accounted for. The person who collected the money lists what it was spent on, attaches the receipts, and the outstanding balance is settled.
Until an advance is retired the person holding it cannot be given another one, so this is the step that keeps the float moving.
Opening the form
Retire sits at the top of an advance's request page for as long as the advance is not fully retired. Unlike approving and posting, it is open to anyone who can open the request — it is the holder's own paperwork.
The form
The top of the form restates the advance given so you are always reconciling against a number you can see.
| Field | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| What was this spent on? | Yes | A description, per line. Add a line per receipt or per category — whichever matches how it was actually spent. |
| Amount | Yes | What that line cost. |
| Note | No | Anything the reviewer should know. |
| Receipts | No, but expected | The evidence. PDFs or images, as many as you need. |
At least one line with both a description and an amount above zero is needed before Submit retirement will do anything. The footer keeps a running Total spent as you type.
The retirement form does not ask which account each line belongs to — it asks what the money went on. Where the accounting treatment of a particular spend matters, agree it with Finance before retiring rather than after.
The three outcomes
As soon as there is a total, the form works out where you stand and says so plainly.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Fully settled | Spent exactly the advance. Nothing changes hands; the advance clears in full. |
| Cash to return | Underspent. The difference is unspent cash that comes back to the business. |
| Reimburse employee | Overspent. The employee paid the difference out of their own pocket and is owed it back. |
The panel shows the arithmetic in full — advance given, total spent across N items, and the difference under whichever heading applies — so nobody has to work it out on paper.
A line per expense. Add as many as you need; remove any you added by mistake.
The evidence for the lines you have listed.
Fully settled, cash to return, or reimburse employee. Check it against what actually happened before submitting.
The retirement is recorded against the original advance, the outstanding balance is brought down, and the request page updates.
What changes afterwards
The Retirement card on the advance's request page is the running record:
| Figure | After retiring |
|---|---|
| Advance | Unchanged — what was originally issued. |
| Retired | Increases by what you accounted for. |
| Returned | Increases by any unspent cash coming back. |
| Balance | Comes down to what is still outstanding. |
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Partly retired | Some of the advance has been accounted for and a balance remains. Retire again for the rest. |
| Retired | Fully accounted for. The holder can now be given a new advance. |
Trying to retire an advance that is already fully retired is refused and tells you so. If something was missed, raise it with Finance — retirement is a record, not a draft.
A retirement cannot be recorded into a period that has been closed in Finance.
Related
- Raise an advance — how the advance was issued, and what posted then
- The request page — the Retirement card and the Retire action
- Spend — the whole module