Why do prepayments, even though future invoices have been created and the prepayment applied, show available to use on current invoices? Is there a way to change this?

It isn't actually available to use and doesn't show available at all on my end; but rather appears like an open credit when an invoice (with account summary) is printed/sent.  I have found it to be a date issue - as if QuickBooks doesn't completely recognize a credit as applied until the date of the invoice it has been applied to is here.  We have annual maintenance fees due in March each year, but we bill for them in November, creating the invoice date of March 1.  If someone pays towards this March bill, but then any invoice occurring between now and March the payment applied to the maintenance fee shows as an open credit on their printed/emailed invoice only.  It took me a bit to find what the credit was on their invoices because there is no open credit on my end.  I have, for now, changed the invoices to not include a summary, but would eventually like to go back to the summary invoices.