Hello James,

I hope you are doing well!

It's very easy. Please follow the below steps to record advance payments(Upfront Payments) from the customers:

Step 1 - Go to the Sales tab and Select Customers.

Step 2 - Search the name of the customer you want to get upfront payment in the search box.

Step 3 - On the Customer page, Click on the right-hand side, New Transaction, and click on Payment.

Step 4 - Add all necessary upfront payment details on the payment page.

Step 5 - Click on the Save and Close button, then a new box will Popup Choose Save as Credit. (Make sure you haven't chosen any invoices; otherwise, you will not get that Popup box.)

Once you finish the above procedure, you can see the upfront amount as negative for that particular customer.

Once you generate an invoice in the future for that customer, the upfront payment will apply automatically. If the Automatically Apply credit option is active in QuickBooks Online.

Feel free to let me know if you need any further clarification.

Thanks!

Have a good one!