Accounts Receivable Frequently Asked Questions

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

Accounts Receivable FAQ

Q: How do I create a customer invoice?

Q: How do I receive a customer payment at a later date?

Q: How do I reverse an already posted invoice?

Q: How do I write off a previous amount due or customer balance?

Q: How do I create a Periodic Transaction (eg. monthly subscription payments)?

Q: How do I export my customer list?

Q: How do I set up customer referrals and rewards?

Q: How do I create a customer invoice?

From the Receivables Module:

Select C for Customer
Type the first 4 letters of the customer to search, or press the Insert key to add a new one.
While highlighting the customer, press Alt+T for Transaction
Select I for Invoice

Header:

Invoice number: Press Enter to generate an invoice number
Date: Today's date - unless otherwise stated
Cust. Order: A brief description of the purchase
Ship: Shipping address - only change if shipping address is different (look up in additional addresses)
Via: How it is shipped (eg. UPS, F-9 to look up)
Freight: Amount of shipping charge
Desc: Invoice number and brief description
MSG: 1 - standard (or message of your choice, F-9 to lookup)
Loc: DEF (or alternate location, F-9 to lookup)
Sales person: Varies (F-9 to lookup)
Terms: Varies by customer (F-9 to lookup)
Tax area: Varies by customer (F-9 to lookup or leave blank)
Stat: Leave blank
Format: 01

Body:

Enter each line item (or import from a previous invoice Alt+I). For stock items enter stock # or use F9 to look-up. For non-stock items use a manual line item - /m (GL account must be entered for /m items).
Alt+P to Print. You are given the option to receive payment after printing. Yes only if payment is in hand. No if no payment.
P to print. After printing you are given the option to Post. Do so if you are certain all is correct.

Note: After posting the invoice, you can view the history by highlighting your customer from the main customer list and pressing Alt+H for History and T for Transactions. Each posted invoice will be listed. You can press Enter on any invoice to view the contents.

Q: How do I receive a customer payment at a later date?

From the Receivables Module:

Select C for Customer

Type the first 4 letters of the customer to search, or press the Insert key to add a new one

While highlighting the customer, press Alt+T for Transaction

Select P for Payment

Press Enter to accept the customer name

Amount: The amount being paid by customer

Date: The date of the payment

Bank: The bank code for the account that the payment will be put into (ie #1 for Checking - F9 to look up)

Deposit: The form of deposit being made (ie C for check, V for Visa etc. - F9 to look up)

Deposit Slip Details: Enter the appropriate information for the check or form of payment provided.

Q: How do I reverse an already posted invoice?

A Customer invoice cannot be altered once posted. Therefore it is necessary to create a new invoice for a negative amount to offset the original invoice.

Create a new invoice header for the same customer. Be sure you use the same location, dept., and shipping method as the original.
Import the contents of the original invoice by pressing "Alt + I" from the body and select the invoice number to import.
Press "Enter" on each line item to edit it. Change the quantity amount to a negative number (e.g. If the quantity is 2, press the minus (-) key to make it -2 and if the quantity is already negative, press the plus (+) key to make it positive).
Press "Alt + P" to post the reversal invoice.

The final step is to allocate the credit to the original invoice.

From the customer screen, select Transaction("Alt + T").
Select Payment("P")
Leave the amount at zero, ONTOP will know you want to allocate existing credit to an outstanding invoice.

Q: How do I write off a previous amount due or customer balance?

From the receivables module, select Customers.

Press "Alt + T" for Transaction.

Press "J" for Journal.

The Customer Journal Entry screen will now be displayed.

If the correct customer name is in the "Customer" field, press "Enter" to continue. If the wrong customer is in the "Customer" field, use the F9 key to look up the correct customer.
From the "Transaction" field, press "Enter" to generate a transaction number. Press "Enter" again to move to the description field (underneath the customer name).
In the "Description" field, type your description (eg. Write off – late fees).
In the "Date/Dept" fields, verify the correct date and enter the department if applicable.

Terms in this case are not important so type in NET.
The "Salesperson" field can be left blank or filled with the initials of the person handling the transaction.
The "Tax Area" field will already contain the default area.

After pressing "Enter", You will be in the "Entry Description" field.

The "Entry Description" will be automatically filled with your description from the "Description" field above.
In the "Amount" field, enter the amount being written off and press the minus (-) key. (A write off must be a negative amount.
Leave the "Cost", "Tax" and "Inc" fields at zero.
The "Int"(Interface) field should be WO for write off. If you don't have a write off interface, you can create one by pressing the F9 Key and then the "Insert" key. You may need to go into your chart of accounts and set up an expense account called something like "Bad Debts." This is the account you will put into the "Sales" field of the interface.
The "G/L" and "His" fields should both be marked "Y."

After entering through the "His" field, you will now be able to post the transaction.

Press "Alt + P" to post the transaction.

Now you will need to allocate the write-off towards the amount due. First "Escape" out of the Journal entry until your customer is highlighted in the customer list. (this should mean pressing the "Escape" key three times).

With your customer highlighted, press "Alt + T" for Transaction.
Press "P" for Payment.
Press "Enter" to get past the "Customer" field.
Press "Enter" again, leaving the "Amount" field at zero.

You will now notice a list of outstanding credits and outstanding invoices. Your write-off should be listed in the outstanding credits box. The invoice reflecting the amount due will be listed in the outstanding invoices box.

Select the write-off by pressing the "Spacebar".
Press "Control + Enter" to move to the outstanding invoices box.
Use the "Spacebar" to tag the invoice you are allocating against.
Press "Alt + P" to allocate the credit against the invoice.

You have now successfully written off a past due balance.

Q: How do I create a Periodic Transaction (eg. monthly subscription payments)?

Some customers pay the same amount every month. In the case of a monthly subscription with an annual duration, a Periodic Invoice may be created. It is recommended that Periodic Invoices all occur on the same day, or on a few designated days.

Create a Periodic Invoice for future payments.

From the Receivables menu, select "Alt+D". All Periodic Invoices will be displayed.
Press the "Insert" key.

A new Periodic Invoice will be created.

Enter the customer code or use F-9 to look up.
Every = 1 month, 0 days (or frequency of invoice).
Next invoice = First date you would like the invoice to be generated. For example: If the first payment was received 1/31/05, the next invoice will be generated 2/28/05.
Maximum = Usually the amount of months in contract, or leave 0 if unknown.

After "Enter" is pressed, an invoice will appear with the current date ("Alt+D" will also access the invoice).

"Enter" through the date, because dates on Periodic Invoices are based on the "next invoice" date specified above.
Customer Order = Order of reference # if desired.
Ship = Leave blank.
Via = Leave blank.
Description = Description of service (eg. HBO Monthly Service).
Press "Control + Enter" to jump to the line item.
Line item = Inventory item (eg. HBO, Support agreement).
Disc = % discount if any. If none, leave at 0%.
Price = Price of monthly service.

After "Enter" is pressed, the "Renewable Item" screen will appear.

Note: This screen will only appear with renewable items such as subscriptions.

Reference = Account # or other type of reference of your choice.
Start date = Date you would like your first invoice to be created (beginning date of subsciption).
Period = 1 (will be transferred from amount above).
Supplier = Name of service supplier (eg. HBO, Showtime).
Renew = Yes if renewable service, no if payment will be complete after maximum period.

Your periodic invoice has now been created. Press "Escape" to exit, the new periodic invoice will now be displayed.

Note: Each month when a new Periodic Invoice is created, the description dates under the line item will not change to reflect the correct subscription dates (they will remain the same as the original periodic invoice.)

To change the description while in the invoice screen, go to the line item and press "Alt+D". Remove the date and reference information and press "Control + Enter". Do not remove any other descriptive text.

"Enter" through the quantity, price, discount and cost fields until the "Renewable Item" box appears. Change the date to the current period being invoiced and press "Control + Enter" to complete the transaction. The new date will now be displayed as the line item's description. The description can be changed at any time by pressing "Alt+D" and then re-entering the information.

Generating Periodic Invoices

Go to the Receivables module.
Press "Alt+D" (Periodic Invoice).
Press "Alt+G" to generate.
Press "Escape" to return to the Receivables screen once invoices have been generated.
Press "Alt+P" from the Receivables main menu to print invoices.
Use the "Spacebar" to tag all invoices listed.
Press "Control + Enter" to generate the invoice reports.
Choose "P" to print all invoices.
Ok to post all printed invoices = yes.

Congratulations, you have now finished generating all of your Periodic Invoices.

Q: How do I export my customer list?

You can generate several reports using the Xtra AR Reports module.

Select User Defined Reports and generate an ASCII delimited export file. This file can be imported into Excel or another software package. You may first want to design a custom report format in the System Manager module, so you can export only the fields you want.

Q: How do I set up customer referrals and rewards?

Tip #1 How do I create a credit for a customer that has rovided a referral?

In the Accounts Receivable module access Main =>Adjustments => Journal Entry. Select the customer to receive the credit. Press Enter for the next transaction number and enter a description such as "Credit for Referral." The $ amount entered should be negative.

The "INT" or inventory interface should be setup with the appropriate Sales and Suspense G/L accounts. We suggest using a "Referral or Commissions" account. Set GL="Y" and HIS="N." (This will update accounting and transaction history, but not customer sales history.) Be sure to Post. Now, this credit can be applied to a future invoice.

Tip #2 How do I write a reward check to a customer for providing a referral?

In the Accounts Receivable module access Main =>Adjustments => Refund Customer to record the check. Select the customer to receive the check and enter the positive $ amount. Press Enter to Post.

Then go to Main => Adjustments => Journal Entry to offset the check. Select the next transaction number by pressing Enter. Enter a positive $ amount, and choose an interface setup with the appropriate Sales and Suspense G/L accounts. (We suggest using a "Referral or Commissions" acct.) Set GL="Y" and HIS="N." Now choose Receive Payment from the Main menu to allocate the refund check against the adjusting entry. using a "Referral or Commissions" acct.) Set GL="Y" and HIS="N." Now choose Receive Payment from the Main menu to allocate the refund check against the adjusting entry.

ONTOP Systems Inc.
7410 SW Oleson Road #110
Portland, Oregon, 97223 U.S.A.
Phone: (503) 977-0200 Sales: (800) 326-6867
Web: www.ontop.com Email: mail@ontop.com