Way of Working – Unplaced Payments

Target Audience: Back Office Operations

1. Purpose

Unplaced payments are inbound bank transactions that could not be automatically matched to an invoice, collection case, part payment plan, enforcement case, or client account, commonly referred to as a “debt”.

For a factoring back office team, handling these efficiently is critical because it directly impacts:

• Cash flow and availability of client funds
• Daily operational workload
• Bookkeeping accuracy and audit readiness

Quiddly measures efficiency in this critical area through the Business Performance KPI Unplaced Payment Time (UPT).

2. Definition: What is an Unplaced Payment?

An unplaced payment is an inbound bank transaction that could not automatically be matched by the matching engine to the correct debt.

Typical reasons include:

• Missing or invalid payment reference
• Payment amount mismatch (overpayment)
• Payment received for an already settled invoice
• Bundled payment covering multiple invoices with insufficient references
• Unknown sender or unclear payer information

3. Operator Goal

Your goal as a back office operator is simple:

Resolve unplaced payments as quickly and correctly as possible, ensuring that no cash remains unallocated unnecessarily.

Best practice:

• Handle unplaced payments daily
• Escalate anything older than 2 business days

4. Daily Routine

Morning Sweep (Start of Day)

1. Open the Unplaced Payments list.
2. Filter by:
   • Entity
   • Payment Account
   • Payment Date
3. Prioritize payments with system suggestions or those that are categorized.
4. Proceed with uncategorized Unplaced Payments.
5. Resolve “easy wins” first (fast linking).

The status buttons above the table decide which payments you see. The list opens on Open.

Filter	Shows
Open	Every payment that still has a balance left, including payments you have booked as revenue, because booking as revenue does not close a payment
Booked as revenue	Only the open payments that have been booked as revenue
Linked	Payments with no balance left
All	Everything

If a payment you booked as revenue is still in the Open list, that is expected. To close it, write it off against an income account instead (see Bookkeep as revenue in section 8).

Afternoon Sweep (After Payments Imported, Before Payout Cutoff)

1. Re-check the list for new arrivals.
2. Ensure no high-value payments remain unhandled.
3. Return incorrect payments before payout batches are processed.
4. Leave only true exceptions for escalation.

5. Categories & Suggestions

Unplaced Payments are categorized into five categories:

• Paid To Client: The matched debt(s) are already reported as paid directly to Client.
• Already Credited: The matched debt(s) have already been credited via a Credit Invoice.
• Already Paid: The matched debt(s) are already paid (double payment).
• Written Off: The matched debt(s) are already written off.
• Other & Suggestions: The payment could not be categorized under any of the above reasons. If possible, the system will suggest which debt(s) the payment should be applied to.

A category is a classification of an unplaced payment, not a match. A payment gets one of the first four categories when a reference on the payment points to an invoice that is already closed, in the same currency as the payment: the reference equals the invoice’s payment reference or invoice id, or equals the invoice number together with the debtor’s identification number or the exact amount. The amount does not have to match, which is deliberate so that double payments and part payments are caught. An exact amount is only required when Quiddly matches a payment automatically to an open invoice.

Quiddly picks the category from what has happened on the closed invoice, in this order: Already Paid, Paid To Client, Already Credited, Written Off. An invoice that has both a payment and a credit is therefore shown as Already Paid.

Client and debtor are assigned automatically. An unplaced payment in one of the first four categories gets the client and debtor of the closed invoice it points to, so you can filter and escalate on them without assigning anything yourself. This only happens when:

• the payment has no booked link that already gives it a debtor,
• the payment does not already belong to a different client (for example through a dedicated bank account), and
• all the closed invoices it points to belong to the same client and debtor. If they point to different clients or debtors, the payment stays unassigned.

Category 1: Paid To Client

The matched debt(s) are already reported as paid directly to the Client. Identification:

• The matched debt(s) already have a financial event of type Direct Payment booked towards them.

Examples:

• The Debtor did not update the payment information on the supplier and paid directly to the Client, instead of to your bank account.
• The Client has accidentally distributed a PDF to the debtor with incorrect payment information.
• The Client received payment for the invoice prior to transfer to you, but forgot to report it.

Suggested actions:

• Unplaced Payments in this category are likely to be returned to the sender as they have paid the invoice twice, once to the client and once to you. Use the action “Return”.
• The funds from the payment can also be used to settle other debt(s) with the same debtor. Use the action “Link” to settle against another debt.

Category 2: Already Credited

The matched debt(s) have already been credited via a Credit Invoice.

Identification:

• The matched debt(s) already have a financial event of type Invoice Credited booked towards them.

Examples:

• The Client & Debtor have agreed that a debt should be credited, but a payment towards the debt was already made.
• The Debtor has not imported the Credit Invoice into their ERP system, leaving the original balance unchanged. A supplier payment is made on the due date.
• The debt was already credited in another payment.

Suggested actions:

• Unplaced Payments in this category are likely to be returned to the sender as they should not pay a credited invoice. Use the action “Return”.
• The funds from the payment can also be used to settle other debt(s) with the same debtor. Use the action “Link” to settle against another debt.
• The payment cannot be linked to the credited invoice itself. A closed invoice only accepts a negative payment, and the link is refused with “Only negative payments are allowed on a closed invoice”. Instead, link the payment to another invoice, write it off against a bookkeeping account, or return it to the sender.

Category 3: Already Paid

The matched debt(s) are already paid (double payment).

Identification:

• The matched debt(s) already have a financial event of type Payment booked towards them (a payment linked from an unplaced payment counts as well).
• The match is made on the reference, the currency and a closed invoice only. The amount is not compared, so a payment of a different size than the invoice can still be flagged as already paid.

Already Paid is a category, not a match: nothing has been linked, and nothing is booked until you act.

Check the reference before you return the payment. Quiddly splits the payment message into references at spaces and punctuation such as dots, commas, hyphens, slashes and colons. A number inside the message can therefore become a reference of its own: an amount written as 107.25 produced the reference 107, which happened to be the payment reference of a closed invoice.

Examples:

• The Debtor has accidentally paid the debt twice.

Suggested actions:

• Unplaced Payments in this category are likely to be returned to the sender. Use the action “Return”.
• The funds from the payment can also be used to settle other debt(s) with the same debtor. Use the action “Link” to settle against another debt.

Category 4: Written Off

The matched debt(s) are already written off.

Identification:

• The matched debt(s) already have a financial event of type Capital Write-off booked towards them.

Examples:

• The debt was written off by the Client, or you, but the Debtor has paid it. This is likely due to miscommunication between the parties.

Suggested actions:

• Reverse the write-off on the debt and link the payment towards it.
• “Return” the Unplaced Payment to the sender if the debt was correctly written off.
• The funds from the payment can also be used to settle other debt(s) with the same debtor. Use the action “Link” to settle against another debt.

Category 5: Other & Suggestions

The payment could not be categorized into any of the above reasons. If possible, the system will make a suggestion to which debt(s) the payment should be settled.

Examples:

• The payment could not be allocated to any debt for an unknown reason.

Suggested actions:

• Review the suggestion and link to the correct debt if applicable.
• Use the payment information to find the correct debt and use “Link” to link to it.

Review & Accept Suggestions:

• The matching engine tries to make a suggestion based on available payment and debt data. The suggestions are presented in a badge in the category box.
• Suggestions are presented with a debt and reason code describing why it was suggested to help the operator.
• The operator can confirm or change the suggestion in the suggestion modal.

6. Partial Payments

Payments that are identified as Partial Payments of a debt are listed in a separate view.

The user can use three different actions to handle a partial payment.

• Existing Credit Invoices(Find and use an existing credit invoice towards the same debtor to close the remaining balance of the debt)
• Write Off(Write off the remaining balance on the debt)
• Exclude From List(No action needed. Remove the partial payment from the list)

Examples:

• The Debtor only paid part of the debt, assuming that the Client will use an open Credit to settle the remaining balance.
• The Debtor and Client have agreed that only a part of the debt should be paid, but have failed to inform you about it.

7. Operator Helper Actions

Operators have three helper actions that are supporting actions to help solve an Unplaced Payment faster:

• Show To Client(share the unplaced payment with the client portal so they can assist with resolving it)
• Assign To Debtor(assign a debtor to the unplaced payment to isolate the investigation)
• Add Note(assign notes and upload documents relevant to the investigation)

All supporting actions are aimed at improving the efficiency in resolving an unplaced payment.

Action 1: Show To Client

Use Show To Client when:

• When you need assistance from the Client to help resolve an unplaced payment

Examples:

• The client holds information about the payment that you do not have
• Full transparency is agreed on between you and the client

Impact:

• The unplaced payment, along with payment information, will be visible for the client in the client portal
• The client will be able to ask for the payment to be matched to its invoices, transferred to its client account, or returned to the sender. Nothing is booked until you approve the request. See Unplaced payments in the Client Portal.

Operator Rule:

This action can only be used if the Unplaced Payment have a Client assigned to it.

To take the payment away from the client again, use the same action on a payment that is already visible. On the unplaced payment page it is called Hide from client. In the list the menu item keeps the name Show to client and the dialog is titled Hide for client.

While a client match or transfer request on the payment is open, you cannot show it to the client, hide it, link it, return it, write it off or book it as revenue. The message is “There is an ongoing Client Link Request, resolve the request first.” See Client Link Requests below.

Action 2: Assign To Debtor

Use Assign To Debtor when:

• When you want to tag the unplaced payment with a debtor

Impact:

• The debtor information will be available on the unplaced payment with a filter possibility

Action 3: Add Note

Use Add Note when:

• When you have additional information that you wish to add to the unplaced payment

Examples:

• You have received information from the debtor or the client that can help with the investigation
• When you wish to log investigation information for audit or sharing reasons

Impact:

• The note will be available on the unplaced payment
• A note indicator will be visible in the list of unplaced payments

Operator Rule:

A note is internal by default. The note dialog has a Show note to client checkbox: tick it only when the client should read the note. The client then sees it under Payment Notes on the unplaced payment in the Client Portal. Notes you leave unticked are never shown to the client.

Client Link Requests

When a client asks to match or transfer a payment you have shown to it, the request does not appear under change requests. It is collected under Daily Routines > Import Payments > Client Link Requests (the page is called Review Client Link Requests).

1. Click a row to expand the invoices the client asked for. A transfer to the client account shows as Client account with the payment’s currency.
2. Use Book to carry out the request or Deny to reject it. You can do this for the whole payment or for a single requested invoice.
3. In the dialog, an automatic confirmation or rejection note is sent to the client. Tick Add note to add your own text to it.

The requested amount is reserved on the invoice (and on the payment) until you book or deny the request. That reservation is why a manual link on the same invoice can fail while the request is open: see the blocked links list under Action 1 in section 8.

8. Operator Resolve Actions

Operators have four resolution actions:

• Link(manually define to which debt(s) the amount should be allocated)
• Return(return the amount to the sender of the payment)
• Write off(write-off the amount to any selected bookkeeping account)
• Bookkeep as revenue(book the amount as revenue, while leaving the unplaced payment open in case the destination is known at a later stage)

All actions support partial amounts, meaning you can resolve part of a payment immediately and leave only the remainder unplaced.

All four actions can be reversed in case of a user error. See section 9.

You find the actions in the row’s action menu in the Unplaced Payments list and on the unplaced payment page. A payment that is booked as revenue for its whole balance only offers Revert booked as revenue (plus Assign to debtor and Add note) until you revert it.

Action 1: Link

Use Link when:

• The correct debt(s) can be identified
• The payment belongs to an open debtor position

Examples:

• Payment matches invoice reference
• Payment covers multiple invoices (partial linking)
• Payment is slightly under/over and can be split

Operator Rule:

Always link as much as possible first. Only link when you are confident that you have identified the matching debt(s). Use the payment references and sender information that are available in the modal.

The Link dialog

The dialog is called Link to Unplaced Payment followed by the payment id. Each row links part of the payment to one debt.

1. Choose the Link Type: Invoice Id, Invoice no., Part Payment Plan, Part Payment Account, Client Account, Collection Claim, Business Loan or Enforcement.
2. Enter the id or number. Quiddly shows the client, debtor, currency, the debt’s Balance and its Capital, and fills in an amount.
3. Change the amount if you want to link less. An empty row is added automatically below the one you filled in. Use several rows to split one payment across several debts. Rows without a valid debt and an amount are ignored. Add Row adds a row by hand.
4. Find Invoices lists invoices that fit the payment’s client, debtor or sender. It is unavailable when nothing is left to link, or when the payment has no client, debtor or sender identification number to search on.
5. Click Link. The button stays disabled until at least one row has an amount.

Booked date. The Use Payment Date checkbox decides which date the link is booked on. Unchecked books the day you place the payment. Checked books the payment’s own transaction date. The environment setting USE_TRANSACTION_DATE_BOOKKEEPING is off by default; when you turn it on, the checkbox starts ticked so that you do not have to tick it every time. If the payment date lies in a locked accounting period, the placement date is used even when the box is ticked.

Environment settings are changed under Environment > System > Settings, by a super user only.

What you can link to

• An open invoice (activated, paused or disputed). A closed invoice only accepts a negative payment, see Negative payments below.
• A part payment plan, never a part invoice. All part invoices of a plan carry the plan’s OCR number (payment reference), so payments are linked to the plan. Quiddly applies the payment to the plan’s open part invoices, oldest first, and the part invoices close as they are paid. A link to a part invoice is refused with “It is not possible to link a payment towards a part invoice, instead link it to the part payment plan”. In the same way, an invoice that belongs to a collection case or a revolving credit account is linked through the Collection Claim or the Part Payment Account.
• Invoice numbers are not unique in the system. If several invoices share the number you typed under Invoice no., a Select list appears for the row. Pick the right invoice there, or link by Invoice Id, which is always unique. Keep invoice numbers unique per client.

Suggested amount, Capital, Interest and Reminder. Two environment settings change what the dialog suggests. Both are off by default.

Settings	What you see
Both off	The suggested amount for an invoice is its total balance. Capital is shown for reference. The amount you link is settled in the order set on the invoice’s profile
USE_CAPITAL_UNPLACED_PAYMENT_SUGGESTION on	The suggested amount for an invoice is its capital, reduced by a cash discount when one applies (for an interest invoice, its interest), instead of the total balance
That setting and USE_UNPLACED_PAYMENT_CAPITAL_BREAKDOWN both on	Each invoice row has editable Capital, Interest and Reminder fields, with the invoice’s open amount shown under each, and Link Amount is their sum. You decide how the payment is split instead of leaving it to the settlement order. No part can be larger than that part of the invoice balance

Only invoice rows get these fields. Other link types have a single amount.

Interest after the payment date. When the payment date is earlier than the day you link, late interest that accrued on the invoice after the payment date is written off automatically (for invoices whose interest is calculated continuously), so the payment can settle the invoice.

Cash discount. If the debtor has a cash discount, Quiddly applies it automatically when you link, with these rules:

• The percentage is applied to the invoice’s Total to pay (the original amount), not to the remaining capital.
• The discount is only booked when the payment plus the discount (and any tolerance) settles the invoice in full. If interest or reminder fees above the tolerance limits remain, no discount is booked.
• The debtor needs a discount percentage and valid days, and the payment date must be within those days from the invoice date.

Negative payments. A negative unplaced payment can be linked to the invoice it should have been deducted from, which reopens that amount on the invoice. A positive and a negative unplaced payment that offset each other can be linked to the same invoice, so that only the net overpayment remains.

One transfer, several invoices. A single bank transfer that covers several invoices is one payment that carries all of its references, even if the bank’s detail report lists them on separate lines. Quiddly tries to link every reference. If the payment still ends up unplaced, link each reference by hand with one row per invoice, or upload a specification file while the payment’s batch is still in the Matched tab: open the payment and use Payment reference from file (CSV, one file per payment).

When linking is refused

Message	Why, and what to do
There is an ongoing Client Link Request, resolve the request first.	The client has asked to match or transfer this payment. Book or deny the request under Client Link Requests
Remaining balance on the invoice is less than the linked amount	The invoice balance you want is reserved by something else: a client link request, or a link in a payment batch that is matched but not yet bookkept. The invoice shows it under Reserved. Bookkeep or abort the batch, or resolve the request, and try again
Cannot link unplaced payment with pending returns	A return of the same payment is Created, Authorized or Pending return. Finish or delete the return first
Only negative payments are allowed on a closed invoice	The invoice is already closed. Link to another invoice
Not more than unplaced payment balance can be linked	The rows add up to more than the payment has left

Action 2: Return

Use Return when:

• The payment does not belong to a debt(s)
• The sender has requested the payment to be returned
• There is no legal claim to keep the funds

Important:

Return is a system-controlled action.

When you click Return, Quiddly automatically queues the amount for payout, and a payout batch will be created during the daily routine alongside other outbound payouts.

This ensures:

• Correct bookkeeping
• Controlled cash movement
• Full traceability

The Return dialog

The dialog is called Return unplaced payment followed by the payment id. It starts with the sender’s details taken from the payment.

Field	What to enter
Requested payout date	The date the return should be paid out. Defaults to today
From account	The bank account the money is returned from. It starts on the account the payment arrived on. The list shows accounts in the payment’s currency, grouped as Default accounts, Not default accounts, Dedicated accounts and External accounts. Choose the account your payouts normally leave from (the default account in that currency)
Payout channel	Bankgiro, Plusgiro, Account Transfer, IBAN & BIC Transfer, Swish or Cash
Account number, IBAN, BIC	The receiver’s account for the channel you chose
Receiver name, City, Country	Required. They are filled in from the payment’s sender; type them in when the payment has none
Reference	Shown to the receiver. Starts with the payment id
Return amount	Defaults to the full balance. Lower it to return only part

Return by domestic account transfer. To return to a domestic bank account instead of IBAN and BIC, set Payout channel to Account Transfer and enter the receiver’s account number, with the clearing number first for accounts that have one. Make sure From account is an account in the payment’s currency. The return goes into the same domestic payout file as other account transfers. Try one return first and check the payout file before you send many.

Receiver details are required. A return is refused until it has a receiver name, city and country (“Receiver name is required”, “Receiver city is required”, “Receiver country is required”). If the payment came without a sender name, add the name in the dialog.

Fee. Each payout channel has a return fee. The amount you return must be larger than the fee, otherwise the return is refused with “The amount to return does not cover the return fee.”

One return at a time. A second return cannot be started while an earlier return of the same payment is Created, Authorized or Pending return. The message is “Cannot return unplaced payment with pending returns”. To split a payment into several returns, do them one after the other.

Action 3: Write Off

Use Write off when:

• The amount is immaterial
• The payment cannot reasonably be placed
• The cost of the investigation exceeds the value

Examples:

• Minor rounding differences
• Transactions that is not related to the ledger
• Old unresolved remainder amounts

Control Recommendation:

• Apply internal approval thresholds for larger write-offs

In the Write off dialog, set the Amount (it starts at the full balance) and pick the Account. The list shows your internal bookkeeping accounts as account number followed by code. The write-off clears the payment’s unplaced balance and books the same amount on the account you pick. A write-off is refused while a return of the payment is Created, Authorized or Pending return.

Action 4: Bookkeep As Revenue

Note

The Unplaced Payment will remain open while being booked as revenue. If you wish to close it, we recommend using “Write off” and book it to an income account instead.

Use Bookkeep as revenue when:

• Funds are legitimately received
• No matching debt(s) exist
• The payment should be treated as income according to your internal policy

Examples:

• Service fees paid without a debt reference
• Customer-paid charges outside the ledger flow
• Small round-off remainders left after allocation

Warning:

Never book as revenue unless you are certain the payment is not debtor capital.

What is posted, and how to find it later

In the Bookkeep as revenue dialog, set the Amount (it starts at the full balance), pick the Account (only income accounts are listed) and, if you want, a client. Quiddly then creates a voucher of type INTERNAL_UNPLACED_REVENUE:

Account	Posting
DEBT_UNPLACED_REVENUE (Debt / Unplaced payments / Revenue)	Debit
The income account you picked	Credit

The account that holds the unplaced payment itself is not touched, which is why the payment stays open. For the same reason the posting on DEBT_UNPLACED_REVENUE is always a debit. You choose only the income account.

Payment tolerance is a different posting: it goes to INCOME_PAYMENT_TOLERANCE. The bookkeeping account numbers of both can be set to the same number. If you look for a revenue booking on an account and find tolerance there, or the other way around, tell them apart by the Code column.

To see or change the account number behind a code, open Accounting > Bookkeeping, find the code and use Edit account number. The vouchers themselves are listed under Accounting > Vouchers, with the type shown above in the Type column.

Who booked it, and when. Open the unplaced payment, go to the Accounting tab and expand Internal Vouchers. The voucher of the revenue booking has a person icon at the end of its row; hover it to see who created the voucher and on which date.

9. Operator Revert Resolve Actions

All four actions can be reverted in case of user error:

Action 1: Revert Link (Unlink Payment)

Instructions

• Navigate to the linked debt, locate the payment financial transaction, and click Actions
• The Unlink Payment action will book a new financial event (reversed) and update the Payment.

Use Unlink Payment when:

• Payment is incorrectly linked

A link to a client account is reversed in a different way: make a new link from the payment to the same client account with a negative amount. The amount returns to the unplaced payment.

Action 2: Revert Return (Delete Payment Return)

Instructions

• Expand Returns and use the action Delete to remove the Payment Return.
• The action will remove the Payment Return and update the Payment accordingly.

Action 3: Revert Write Off

A write-off can be reversed.

Instructions

• Open the unplaced payment, click Actions and use Reverse write off. The action is only offered on a payment that has a written-off amount.
• In the dialog, tick Confirm reverse of the write off and click Confirm.
• The action reverses the accounting of the written-off amount and restores the balance of the unplaced payment.

Action 4: Revert Bookkeeping as Revenue

Instructions

• Navigate to the Unplaced Payments, open the row’s action menu (or Actions on the unplaced payment page) and use Revert booked as revenue. On the unplaced payment page the action is called Revert bookkeep as revenue.
• The action will create a voucher that reverses the revenue and update the Payment accordingly.

Correcting a payment that was booked wrongly

Use these recipes when the payment itself was registered wrongly. In the first three the unplaced payment has to be neutralised with a write-off. In the Write off dialog, pick the bookkeeping account of the bank account the payment was registered on. That is the account set as Bookkeeping Account Bank on the bank account under Accounting > Bank Accounts. The write-off then cancels the original bank posting.

Situation	What to do
Registered on the wrong bank account, or with the wrong amount	1. Unlink the payment on the invoice it was linked to. 2. Write off the unplaced payment against the bookkeeping account of the bank account it was registered on. 3. Register a new payment on the correct account, or with the correct amount
Booked with too large an amount	Link the correct amount from the unplaced payment to the invoice, then write off the remainder against the bookkeeping account of the bank account
A payment file was imported twice and the duplicate is now an unplaced payment	Write off the duplicate unplaced payment with the bookkeeping account of the bank account as the account, so the posting is neutralised
A link to a client account was a mistake	Make a new link against the client account with a negative amount

A duplicate payment file is normally stopped at import. See Import payment files.

10. Standard Training Scenarios

Scenario A: Payment Covers Multiple Invoices

Action:

• Link partially across invoices
• Leave the remainder unplaced only if needed

Scenario B: Overpayment

Action:

• Link the correct amount
• Return the remainder OR book revenue, depending on the agreement

Scenario C: No Match After Investigation

Use any of the following actions:

• Leave unplaced, pending more information
• Book as revenue
• Write off (with approval if required)

11. Key Operator Principles

• Always start with categorized or Unplaced Payments with a system suggestion
• Resolve the maximum possible amount immediately
• Keep the queue clean daily
• Use Return instead of manual banking
• Use Notes to keep an audit trail and escalate after 2 business days
• Always go through the Partial Payments and resolve them

12. Outcome

Following this Way of Working will:

• Reduce Unplaced Payment Time (UPT)
• Improve cash availability
• Lower manual workload
• Strengthen accounting accuracy

Related guides: Import payment files, Closing of Accounts for how a closed period affects these bookings, Unplaced payments in the Client Portal and, for integrations, Register payments and read unplaced payments.

End of Guide