Handling a dispute without losing the balance
- Record what is contested — scope, quality, amount or timing — in the customer's words.
- Assign an owner who can actually resolve it, usually whoever sold or ran the job.
- Pull the evidence: accepted estimate, signed contract, approved change orders, completion documentation.
- Set a resolution date and keep the balance visible in aging while you work it.
- Close the dispute with an outcome: paid, credited, corrected or written off.
Why credits and corrections beat edits
Once a document is in the customer's hands, changing it creates two versions of the truth. If the amount was wrong, issue a correcting document. If you agreed to reduce the amount, issue a credit that references the original invoice.
The paper trail is the point. A year later, the question is not what the invoice says now but what happened and who agreed to it.
Writing a balance off deliberately
- Agree the threshold and approval level before you need them.
- Record who approved, when, the amount and the reason.
- Keep the invoice, payments and history intact — only the expectation ends.
- Review write-offs as a group monthly; patterns usually point at intake or scoping, not at collections.
- Ask your accountant how write-offs should be reflected in your books.