The great thing about handling all support inquiries and also being the lead designer of Cashboard is that it’s very easy to spot where my designs are causing confusion. This rich feedback loop allows me to see where I’ve failed in the past, and helps me refine the product to be easier to use and understand.

One such situation that kept popping up from time to time has to do with our outstanding credit system. In Cashboard you can record a payment and have it outstanding, or not applied to any invoices. Some customers that invoice their clients multiple times a month were in effect “losing” payments within the system, unaware they had money which had not been applied to any invoices.

Tonight we pushed a few changes live that will help alleviate these issues.

The first is a very noticeable alert that will show any time you view an invoice for a client who has an outstanding credit. You can apply this credit with one click of the mouse, and be on your way. You’ve always been able to do this from the Manage Payments button, but bringing to the forefront will hopefully eliminate any confusion that was remaining.

The second change has to do with the options presented to you when viewing a list of invoices. We’ve removed the redundant list of actions that we used to display, in favor of smart menus that only show when you hover over an invoice.

Usually you’re presented with two options for an invoice from this view – Send and Record Payment. Now, if your client has an outstanding credit pending you’ll only be presented with the option to apply it.

The third change is one behind the scenes – but no less important than the first two. Starting today, all invoices created from a schedule will automatically have any pending credits applied to the invoice at the time of their creation.

When taken as a whole, I believe these changes will virtually eliminate any confusion that still remains with our outstanding credit system. As always – your feedback is welcome and appreciated. Let me know how you’re getting along with the new improvements.