# ScrapRight Training Guide
**How to Use Advances for Business Customers**

This guide explains how to set up, manage, and apply **Advances** in ScrapRight. An advance allows you to give a business customer money upfront. When they bring in material later, the value of that material is applied toward repaying the advance instead of paying them cash/check at the time of the ticket.

### What is an Advance?
- You provide money to a business customer in advance (e.g., cash or check).
- When they deliver material, the payout amount is deducted from the advance balance.
- If the material value exceeds the remaining advance, the excess can be paid out by another method (cash, check, etc.).
- All advance activity is tracked in the customer’s **Advances** tab, including a full history and printable report.

### Step-by-Step Instructions

#### 1. Set Up an Advance (Give Money to the Business)

1. Go to **Customers** → **Businesses**.
2. Search for and select the business customer (e.g., “Walmart Supercenter”).
3. Click the **Advances** tab on the customer’s profile.
4. If no advances exist yet, the list will be empty.
5. Click **Add a Payment** (or similar button to create a new advance).
6. Select the **Payment Type**:
- Cash, or any check type configured in ScrapRight.
7. Enter the **Amount** (e.g., $1,000).
8. Click **Save**.
- The system processes it and displays the new advance:
- Payment Type: Cash (or selected type)
- Amount: $1,000
- No ticket (since this is not from a ticket)
- Date, User, Status: **Credit**
9. You can **Edit** or **Delete** the advance if a mistake is made (e.g., change to $500).

#### 2. Apply the Advance When the Business Brings in Material

1. Go to the **Ticketing** screen.
2. Search for and select the same business customer.
- You will immediately see **Advance Balance** displayed (e.g., $1,000).
3. Enter the material(s) they brought in (e.g., 500 lbs of cans at $625 total value).
4. When ready to payout, click **Pay** (or the payout button).
5. The system defaults to **Advance** as the payout method if a balance exists.
- You can override this and choose another pay type if needed (e.g., cash instead).
6. For this example, leave it set to **Advance** and complete the payout.
7. The $625 is deducted from the advance balance.

#### 3. View the Updated Advance History

1. Return to the customer’s profile → **Advances** tab.
2. You’ll now see a new entry:
- Payment Type: (blank or “Advance”)
- Amount: $625
- Ticket number
- Date, User, Status: **Debit**
3. The remaining balance is updated (e.g., $1,000 − $625 = $375).

#### 4. Handling Tickets That Exceed the Remaining Advance Balance

1. Create another ticket for the same customer (e.g., material worth $400).
- Payout amount: $400
- Remaining advance balance: $375
2. When you go to payout:
- The system automatically **splits** the payout:
- $375 → applied to Advance (reduces balance to $0)
- $25 → paid by another method (cash, check, AP, ATM, wire, credit card, etc.)
3. You can override the split if desired (e.g., pay all $400 in cash and leave the advance untouched).
4. Complete the payout.
5. Return to the **Advances** tab:
- Balance now shows **$0**.
- Full history lists the original credit, both debits, ticket numbers, dates, and final balance.

#### 5. Review Advance History and Generate Reports

1. On the **Advances** tab:
- Use the date range filters (e.g., “whole month to now”) and click **Search** to view historical entries.
2. Click **Generate Report** (or similar button).
3. The report downloads as a printable PDF (8.5 × 11 format).
- Includes:
- Business name
- Date range searched
- Title: Advance Payment Report
- Every transaction (credits and debits)
- Ticket numbers, dates, amounts, pay types, users, status
- Running balance
4. Use this report at month-end to share with the business:
- Shows starting advance
- Lists all tickets applied
- Shows final remaining balance

### Key Benefits
- Builds stronger relationships with regular business suppliers.
- Provides upfront cash flow to customers.
- Automatically tracks and applies material value to repay the advance.
- Clear audit trail with ticket references and printable reports.

That’s how Advances work in ScrapRight!

Use this feature to offer flexible payment options to your trusted business customers.

Thanks for using ScrapRight — check out our other training guides for more features.

Paying Customers in advance