The goal of accounts receivable processing is to improve cash flow, simplify clerical tasks, and create accurate documents and records. You want to maximize your accounts receivable investment, basically by extending credit to creditworthy customers and keeping accounts current.

Simply by automating your invoicing and accounts receivable recordkeeping, you greatly improve cash flow. First, invoices are created the same day as shipments. Second, customer statements can be printed and mailed in one day at month-end, or even more often if necessary. Add to that the implied power of a computer generated statement, and your collections improve.

You've seen how the Customer Insight and Sales Order Entry programs give ample indication of credit problem accounts. Couple that with the capability to print an Aged A/R Trial Balance, a Customer Deposit Trial Balance and Customer Statements at any time, with options to highlight only past due accounts, and you can see how your accounts are under control. The hardest part is establishing and maintaining your credit policies--what criteria is used to place an account on credit hold, what other leverage is used for collecting, and what is an acceptable level of bad debts.

In terms of clerical tasks, we have designed the Cash Receipts and Adjustments program to be easy to operate, flexible, and accurate. One A/R data entry clerk can handle hundreds of checks per day and a base of ten thousand customers.

Accounts Receivable records appear much like the old A/R ledgers, with one record per invoice. This is called an "open item" accounts receivable. Each open item has a transaction number, type (invoice, credit memo, debit memo, finance charge, or payment on account), transaction date, due date, and original transaction amount. When the system displays or lists open items for a customer, they appear in sequence by due date with the oldest first. Credit transactions (credit memo and payment on account) are not given a due date and therefore always appear before debits, and are always listed in the current aging bracket.

When payments or adjustments are made, they must be posted against an original (invoice, credit memo, debit memo, finance charge) transaction. Thus, if a check (payment) was applied to five invoices, the subsequent list for this customer would show five payment transaction records, one under each of the five invoices. If you cannot apply a payment to specific invoices, you can post the check as "unapplied" cash and a new credit transaction (payment on account) is added to the customer's ledger.

The accounts receivable clerk will organize the stack of checks received in the mail. If customers are paying by statement, then they should have returned the remittance advice portion of the statement you have sent them. This stub has their account number and a list of their open items, which will increase speed and accuracy when the cash receipts entry is made. The clerk will run a tape of the checks for a proof total to compare with her computer entries.

The clerk starts the Cash Receipts and Adjustments program and begins at the top of the stack. First, enter the customer number, check number and amount, and all open items are listed on the screen, ten at one time, with a page forward and a page back feature3. Begin applying the check to one or more invoices simply by entering the line number (1 thru 10) you see on the screen. You can choose to apply to the oldest invoice(s) automatically, or to apply to a specific invoice by typing the invoice number. If you are unsure of the invoices to apply it to, then post the check as "unapplied". If the payment is a Customer Deposit, then post the check as a "deposit".

For each line selected you must input the credit to A/R, then enter debits to cash in bank, cash discounts allowed, and up to six other G/L accounts. The system will not allow an out-of-balance posting. The total of your debits must be equal to the A/R credit amount. Nor can you finish the payment posting without applying the entire check amount to invoices, or at least posting it to the customer's ledger as a "deposit" or as "unapplied". This keeps your A/R records and general ledger accurate.

At any time during the posting of a check, you can choose to cancel, effectively erasing all your work for that check.

After you have entered checks and made any desired adjustments, print the Cash Receipts Journal. It lists your postings in the same sequence as they were entered. Check numbers, ABA numbers, and check amounts print on the left side of the printout. If the journal total does not match your taped proof total, you can quickly scan your documents against the journal to find the error.

The journal provides general ledger totals for A/R, cash in bank, cash discounts allowed, and any other G/L account, plus the customer deposit liability account, if applicable. The Cash Receipts Update finishes the daily accounts receivable task by posting these summary totals to the general ledger and updating the subsidiary customer ledgers.

You may wish to print the Deposit Slip which lists only the checks you have entered with ABA number and amount. This document can be submitted to the bank with your deposit.

Besides the Aged A/R Report and Customer Statements, four other reports are useful to cash and credit management.

The Deposits Trial Balance is a ledger of all monthly deposits received. This trial balance lists the debits and credits of all open deposits. The grand total of the trial balance should agree with the balance of your G/L liability account "Customer Deposits".

The Collection Report is a summary (one line per account) or detail (all open items) aging of past due accounts sorted by the theoretical financing cost of the past due amount. It is like a "ranking" of your most expensive accounts in terms of financing dollars. The credit and collection department can use it to make collection calls on the worst offenders. Also, by printing it monthly, you get an additional historical look at the customers who repeatedly make the top 20 list.

The Projected Cash Receipts Report prints a list of accounts receivable aged according to anticipated payment date. GENESYS keeps a running average by account of how many days before or after the due date the account has been paying. This is termed the average days to pay. Then each unpaid invoice is aged not on its due date, but rather on its anticipated payment date, based on the customer's average days to pay. The operator can set the aging brackets before printing the report so you can see a weekly or biweekly breakdown, for example.

GENESYS includes a set of programs to compute and post finance charges to past due accounts. This is completely optional. If you choose to do so, you set up the finance charge rate and minimum charge before printing the Finance Charge Report, which lists the past due accounts, amounts, and proposed finance charge. The Finance Charge Maintenance program lets you change the charge for any customer (zero the charge amount to remove it). Then the Finance Charge Journal and Update produces an audit trail and posts to the general ledger and the subsidiary customer ledgers. Refer to the finance charge programs in the Month End chapter of this manual.

You will use this program each day to input cash received and apply it to customer subsidiary accounts receivable ledgers. The results will be accurate and up-to-date customer records and an accurate audit trail of postings to accounts receivable, cash in bank, cash discounts allowed, and other miscellaneous accounts.

Use this program to post adjustments to customer accounts. Again, adjustments are applied directly to customer records, and an audit trail is generated.

Finally, by the end of each month, it is advisable to apply credits transactions (credit memo and payment on account) to debit transactions. This, in essence, is also an adjustment.

Remember, the accounts receivable records appear much like the old A/R ledgers, with one record per invoice. This is called an "open item" accounts receivable. When payments or adjustments are made, they must be posted against an original (invoice, credit memo, debit memo, finance charge) transaction. If you cannot apply a payment to specific invoices, you can post the check as "unapplied" cash and a new credit transaction (payment on account) is added to the customer's ledger.

Begin by organizing the stack of checks received in the mail. Run a tape of the checks for a proof total. Later you will compare this proof total with the totals printed on the Cash Receipts Journal.

If customers are paying by statement, they may return the remittance advice portion of the statement with their check. This stub has their customer account number and a list of their open items. If they have marked the items they are paying, it will increase your speed and accuracy when entering the cash receipt.

If no remittance stub is included with the check, then you may have to research the customer's account to determine the invoices being paid before attempting to enter the cash receipt. You may use Customer Insight which has an A/R screen showing a list of open items. You may wish to have a printed copy of the Aged A/R Report. Or you may simply view the open items on the Cash Receipts and Adjustments screen as you enter the payment.

Start the Cash Receipts and Adjustments program and begin at the top of your stack of checks. For each check, enter the customer number, check number, ABA number, and check amount. The customer's open items are listed on the screen, ten at one time, with a page forward and a page back feature.

Begin applying the check amount to one or more invoices simply by entering the line number (1 thru 10) you see on the screen. You can page forward to view additional pages of open items. Individually select as many lines as needed to fully apply the check.

You may choose to apply to the oldest invoices automatically. Simply indicate which line to begin with and the program will apply the check to that line and subsequent lines until the entire check amount has been used.

Or, you may choose to apply to a specific invoice by typing in the invoice number. The program immediately retrieves and displays this invoice. This method is effective when customer accounts may have hundreds of A/R transactions. You needn't waste time paging forward through several pages of transactions in search of one invoice.

If you are not clear to which of the invoices the check applies, or if the customer has overpaid his account, you may post the balance of the check amount as "unapplied". This action will create a new credit transaction (payment on account) for the balance of the check amount that was not specifically applied to invoices.

For each line selected you must input the credit to A/R, then the debits to cash in bank, cash discounts allowed, and up to six G/L accounts. The system will not allow an out-of-balance posting. The total of your debits must be equal to the A/R credit amount. Nor can you finish the payment posting without applying the entire check amount to invoices, or at least posting it to the customer's ledger as "unapplied". This keeps your A/R records and general ledger accurate.

At any time during the posting of a check, you can choose to cancel, effectively erasing all your work for that check.

After you have entered checks and made any desired adjustments, print the Cash Receipts Journal. It lists your postings in the same sequence as they were entered. Check numbers, ABA numbers, and check amounts print on the left side of the printout. If the journal total does not match your taped proof total, you can quickly scan your documents against the journal to find the error.

The journal provides general ledger totals for A/R, cash in bank, cash discounts allowed, and any other G/L account. The Cash Receipts Update finishes the daily accounts receivable task by posting these summary totals to the general ledger and updating the subsidiary customer ledgers.

You may wish to print the Deposit Slip which lists only the checks you have entered with ABA number and amount. This document can be submitted to the bank with your deposit.

When the system displays this message:

Select (P)ayment or (A)djustment, or (END)

Enter "P" for payment. This will allow you to input a check number and amount, then apply credits to one or more debit transactions (invoices).

Bank Acct no

Press (RETURN) to default to your Cash In Bank account number. This is the account with the G/L XREF code equal to "BANK1".

Your firm may deposit to more than one bank account. If this is the case, you can select the G/L account number for the bank account to which you want to deposit. Your entry must be a G/L account number with the first four letters of the G/L XREF code equal to "BANK".

Example:

Account Description XREF code
1001 Cash in bank - B of A BANK1
1002 Cash in bank - Sumitomo BANK3
1003 Cash in bank - Payroll acct BANK2

Customer no

Enter the 6-character bill-to customer number to whom you want to apply the payment.

The system retrieves and displays the customer's name and address, current A/R balance, and one line for each accounts receivable record on file. As many as 10 lines can be displayed at one time, each with an associated "line number". At this point, the system creates a temporary file called the Cash Work File containing all the customer's A/R records. A pause of 3-5 seconds may occur while this file is created.

You may press (END) to start over at the beginning.

Check, ABA no:

Two entries are required. First, up to 6 characters for the customer's check number, then up to 7 characters for the ABA number that appears on the check. Both of these entries are for auditing purposes only, as they appear on the Cash Receipts Journal to be printed later.

Check amount

Enter the amount of the check. Your entry can be as much as 999999.99. The entire check amount must be applied to the customer's account before this payment transaction can be completed.

Unapplied balance:

The check amount appears here. As credits are applied to various accounts receivable records (invoices), the "bank" amount is deducted from the unapplied balance. When this amount reaches zero (0.00), the entire check has been applied.

Current line proof:

Initially this line displays zero (0.00). When you select accounts receivable records to apply the payment to, this proof will assure that debits and credits are equal before the posting is accepted.

Line no: {PF=pg fwd, PB=pg back, OL=oldest,UN=unapplied, TN=trans#, DP=deposit, XX=cancel

Select one of the lines displayed by entering the desired line number between 1 and 10. If you do, the cursor moves up to the line for your entries to several G/L accounts (see below).

Page Forward (PF)

You may wish to apply the payment to invoices not currently displayed on the screen. If the screen displays this message:

"Page forward for add'l invoices"

then you know that more lines can be displayed for this customer. Enter "PF" to page forward one page (10 lines). If you page beyond the end of the customer's A/R records, the first page is redisplayed.

Page Back (PB)

You can enter "PB" to page backward one page. If you page backward beyond the first page, the last page is displayed.

Pay Oldest unpaid invoices (OL)

You may choose to apply the check against the oldest unpaid invoices. Enter "OL". The system asks you to supply the beginning line number. Then it will select that line and subsequent lines automatically, and credit the balance of each invoice until the entire check amount has been used, or until no more lines are unpaid.

Pay specific transaction number (TN)

If the customer has several open transactions in the A/R file, it may require paging through several pages of transactions to display the appropriate line to be paid. For this reason, if you know the transaction (invoice) number to be paid, you can enter "TN" to skip paging. The program will prompt you for the transaction number then retrieves and displays only the selected transaction.

Pay Unapplied (UN)

You may choose not to apply the remaining check amount to individual invoices. Or, perhaps the customer has overpaid and there are no additional invoices to apply the remaining balance toward. Enter "UN" to credit the customer's account with the remaining unapplied balance. Remember that you cannot complete a payment transaction until the entire check amount has been applied. So this is one means of doing so. The system will request input of a transaction number that it can use to store the "on account" payment. Subsequently, you will be able to use the credit toward another invoice.

Deposit (DP)

You may apply this payment as a "Customer Deposit" towards the customer’s sales order. Enter "DP" instead of a line number. You then must enter a DEPOSIT REFERENCE NUMBER. This reference number will be the same reference number required in field number 20 of the customer’s sales order you wish to apply this deposit towards. After this, you may enter a DESCRIPTION. As a default for the description, the check number will appear, but this may be typed over with whatever description you wish to have.

Deposits are internally coded to the "Customer Deposit" G/L account in the liability section of your chart of accounts. Transactions may be viewed either in the Customer Insight (D)eposit screen or the G/L Account Insight screen.

Cancel the entry

If, for any reason, you want to cancel this payment transaction before it is completed, enter "XX". Even if several lines have been entered, the entire entry of this check is erased and you may begin again, or begin another activity.

End the payment

Press (END) if you have applied the entire check amount and wish to complete the payment transaction. The system will pause momentarily to update the customer's accounts receivable records, then the prompt "Select (P)ayment or (A)djustment, or (END)" reappears. You may proceed with another payment or adjustment transaction, or end the program and return to the Selector.

Suppose you have selected one of the lines displayed for this customer. Note the current accounts receivable balance displayed for the invoice prior to making the following entries. The current line proof also changes as each amount is entered to indicate the amount required to balance the posting. It is important to note that any line may only be posted to once during each payment transaction. You cannot apply a payment to the line, then select the line again for an additional posting.

Credit A/R

Press (RETURN) to credit Accounts Receivable for the balance of the transaction. That is, if the Current Balance shows "1392.55" for the transaction, then the A/R credit amount will be "1392.55."

You may enter an amount other than the default amount. Your entry may be up to 999999.99 and may be preceded by a minus sign (-) indicating a negative credit (debit).

Debit Bank

Press (RETURN) and the debit to the Cash in Bank account will be equal to the A/R credit amount. This is normally the case unless a cash discount or other deduction is to be taken.

You may enter an amount other than the default amount. Your entry may be up to 999999.99 and may be preceded by a minus sign (-) indicating a negative debit (credit).

Debit Allow

Press (RETURN) and the debit to the Cash Discount Allowed account will be equal to the A/R credit less the Cash in Bank debit, the default value.

You may enter an amount other than the default amount. Your entry may be up to 999999.99 and may be preceded by a minus sign (-) indicating a negative debit (credit).

G/L Account no

If the current line proof is not zero (debits not equal to credits for this line), you may want to include an adjustment to another general ledger account. Enter the general ledger account number.

Press (RETURN) or (END) if the current line proof is zero and you want to complete the entries for this line. The next step is skipped.

G/L debit amount

When you choose to include adjustments to invoices, you may enter as many as six different general ledger accounts and amounts for any invoice until the line entry is balanced (current line proof is zero). Your entry may be up to 999999.99 and may be preceded by a minus sign (-) indicating a negative debit (credit).

An example for using the G/L Account and Amount columns:

An invoice has a balance of 358.28 but the customer, long in arrears, sends a check for 358.00. Select the line for this invoice. Enter 358.28 for the A/R credit, 358.00 for the Bank debit, 0.00 for the Allow debit. This leaves a current line proof of 0.28. Enter the general ledger account number for Allowance for Bad Debts, for example, and enter the debit of 0.28 to complete the line entry. The updated balance of the invoice is zero, the desired amount.

Is the above correct? (Y)or(N)

Type "Y" if the line is correct. The balance of the transaction will be re-displayed to reflect the results of your posting.

If the entries you have made for this line are not correct, you may cancel the line by typing "N". Then the line is cleared and the original balance of the transaction is re-displayed.

In either case the cursor is positioned at the Line Number prompt. You may again select a line number for posting, or one of the other valid options.

If you have selected the "OL" option, you may apply the balance of the check automatically to a list of invoices.

Select beginning line number

Review the list of invoices displayed for this customer and determine at which line to begin the automatic posting. You may simply begin with line 1.

The system selects the line and subsequent lines if they have a debit balance, and credits the invoice for the current balance. An equal debit is made to the Cash in Bank account. No other account entries are made. Invoices are selected until the entire check balance has been used, or until no more unpaid invoices are remaining. Any credit transactions (credit memo or payment on account) are skipped.

You may have to page forward during this process.

When completed, the system returns to the Line Number prompt. At that point you can choose to cancel this payment transaction if the results prove to be undesirable.

You may choose not to apply the remaining unapplied check amount to individual invoices. Or, perhaps the customer has overpaid and there are no additional invoices to apply the remaining balance toward. Enter "UN" to credit the customer's account with the remaining unapplied balance.

Reference number

The system requires a 6 character reference number which is used as the transaction number for an "on account" record that will be created. Make reference to the customer's check number.

If you press (RETURN) the reference number will be "UNAPPL" as a default value.

The payment transaction is completed at this point. The prompt "Select (P)ayment or (A)djustment, or (END)" appears.

To view the results of the unapplied posting, reference the customer again and allow the system to display the accounts receivable records for the customer. You will now see the new transaction just created, with the negative (credit) current balance.

Select (P)ayment or (A)djustment, or (END)

Enter "A" to adjust a customer account. You can select one or more A/R transactions to adjust using a G/L column to post to appropriate general ledger accounts.

Customer number

Select the customer you want to adjust by entering the correct 6-character bill-to customer number.

Reference number

You can enter up to 6 characters which serve as a reference number for auditing purposes. The reference number prints on the Cash Receipts Journal.

Total A/R credits:

As accounts receivable records are adjusted, the total A/R credits are accumulated and displayed. You can keep track of the total effect on the accounts receivable account as a result of your adjustments.

Current line proof:

When a line is selected for adjustment, the current line proof will change as each of several debits and credits are entered. The current line proof must be zero before a line can be completed.

Line no: {PF=page fwd, PB=page back, XX=cancel

Select one of the lines displayed by entering the desired line number between 1 and 10. If you do, the cursor moves up to the line for your entries to several G/L accounts (see below).

Page Forward (PF)

You may wish to adjust lines not currently displayed on the screen. If the screen displays this message:

"Page forward for add'l invoices"

then you know that more lines can be displayed for this customer. Enter "PF" to page forward one page. If you page beyond the end of the customer's A/R records, the first page is redisplayed.

Page Back (PB)

You can enter "PB" to page backward one page. If you page backward beyond the first page, the last page is displayed.

Cancel the entry

If, for any reason, you want to cancel this adjustment transaction before it is completed, enter "XX". Even if several lines have been entered, the entire entry of this adjustment is erased and you may begin again, or begin another activity.

End the entry

Press (END) if you have completed your adjustment transaction. The system will pause momentarily to update the customer's accounts receivable records, then the prompt "Select (P)ayment or (A)djustment, or (END)" reappears. You may proceed with another payment or adjustment transaction, or end the program and return to the Selector.

Suppose you have selected one of the lines displayed for this customer. Note the current accounts receivable balance displayed for the invoice prior to making the following entries. The current line proof also changes as each amount is entered to indicate the amount required to balance the posting. It is important to note that any line may only be posted to once during each adjustment transaction. You cannot apply an adjustment to the line, then select the line again for an additional posting.

Credit A/R

Press (RETURN) to credit the remaining balance of the accounts receivable transaction. If the balance of the transaction is "-100.00", the credit A/R amount is "-100.00".

Enter the amount you wish to credit. Your entry may be up to 999999.99 and may be preceded by a minus sign (-) indicating a negative credit (debit).

Debit Bank

Enter the amount you wish to debit. Your entry may be up to 999999.99 and may be preceded by a minus sign (-) indicating a negative debit (credit).

Note that the default value is zero (0.00), not the A/R credit amount as with the "payment" option.

Debit Allow

Enter the amount you wish to debit. Your entry may be up to 999999.99 and may be preceded by a minus sign (-) indicating a negative debit (credit).

Note that the default value is zero (0.00).

G/L Account no

If the current line proof is not zero (debits not equal to credits for this line), you may want to include an adjustment to another general ledger account. Enter the general ledger account number.

Press (RETURN) or (END) if the current line proof is zero and you want to complete the entries for this line. The next step is skipped.

G/L debit amount

When you choose to include additional adjustments, you may enter as many as six different general ledger accounts and amounts for any line until the line entry is balanced (current line proof is zero). Your entry may be up to 999999.99 and may be preceded by a minus sign (-) indicating a negative debit (credit).

An example for using the G/L Account and Amount columns:

An invoice has a balance of $8.14 but the customer does not pay this because it represents sales tax mistakenly charged. Select the line for this invoice. Enter 8.14 for the A/R credit, 0.00 for the Bank debit, 0.00 for the Allow debit. This leaves a current line proof of 8.14. Enter the general ledger account number for Sales Tax Payable and enter the debit of 8.14 to complete the line entry. The updated balance of the invoice is zero, the desired amount. Note that additional adjustments to Sales by tax code may be required in this example, since tax was erroneously charged.

Is the above correct? (Y)or(N)

Type "Y" if the line is correct. The balance of the transaction will be re-displayed to reflect the results of your posting.

If the entries you have made for this line are not correct, you may cancel the line by typing "N". Then the line is cleared and the original balance of the transaction is re-displayed.

In either case the cursor is positioned at the Line Number prompt. You may again select a line number for posting, or one of the other valid options.

Whenever credit accounts receivable transactions (credit memo or payment on account), accumulate on a customer's ledger, they must eventually be applied to unpaid invoices. You must use the "adjustment" option to select the line number of a credit transaction, then select the line number of one or more debit transactions, with the goal to eliminate as many of the credit balance transactions as possible.

Follow the instructions for entering adjustments. Select a line number corresponding to a credit transaction (current balance has a minus sign).

Credit A/R

Press (RETURN) to credit the entire balance of the transaction. You may enter an amount up to 999999.99 using a minus sign to indicate a debit.

Debit Bank

Press (RETURN). The default value is zero, which is the correct value for this type of adjustment.

Debit Allow

Press (RETURN). The default value is zero, the correct value for this type of adjustment.

G/L Account no

Enter the account number for the A/R Suspense account. This account has a G/L XREF code of "SUSP A/R".

G/L debit amount

Press (RETURN). The debit amount equals the A/R credit amount.

The result is reducing, or eliminating the balance of the credit transaction, adjusting it to a suspense account temporarily.

Now, the second part of the adjustment will apply the amount in the suspense account to one or more unpaid invoices.

Select a line number of an invoice.

Credit A/R

Enter the amount of the current invoice balance that can be credited. This amount depends on the amount remaining in the suspense account.

Debit Bank

Press (RETURN). The default value is zero, the correct amount for this type of adjustment.

Debit Allow

Press (RETURN). The default value is zero, the correct amount for this type of adjustment.

G/L Account no

Enter the account number of the A/R Suspense account.

G/L debit amount

Press (RETURN). The default amount should equal the A/R credit amount. The line entries are in balance.

You may repeat this for many credit transactions. Note the Total A/R Credits amount. This should net to zero by the end of your adjustments, because one A/R credit will be matched to an equal A/R debit. Also, the net effect on the A/R Suspense account should be zero.

If you desire, you may print a bank deposit slip to submit with your deposit. The report lists only the checks you have entered today using the Cash Receipts Entry program and includes the check number, ABA number, and check amount.

You must print this BEFORE you update the Cash Receipts Journal. The Cash Receipts Update clears the journal file making it impossible to print a deposit slip.

There are no report options for this program. Press (RETURN) to start the report.

The deposit slip prints only the checks that you have entered using Cash Receipts Entry since the last Cash Receipts Update. These checks are listed in the sequence in which they were entered.

Print the Cash Receipts Journal as an audit trail of entries made using the Cash Receipts Entry program. Payment and adjustment transactions are listed in the sequence in which they are entered. A G/L Summary page lists the general ledger accounts to which the journal will post.

Compare the report totals to the adding machine tape you have made for this batch. This is your first indication of a possible entry error.

Keep the Cash Receipts Journal for future reference. It can help you trace a mistake, if necessary.

There are no report options for this program. Press (RETURN) to start the report.

Notice that the first part is an audit trail detailing the entries you have made since the last update. The second part summarizes the General Ledger entries to be made by the update.

You should keep this report for future reference.

After the journal printing has concluded the system displays this message:

Do you want to update the Cash Receipts Journal? (Y)or(N)

Check the journal BEFORE you respond to this question. Make sure all printing is legible and that the journal is complete and in balance.

Type "Y" to proceed with the update. Type "N" to return to the Selector without updating.

The update program scans the journal file and updates the accounts receivable file. When completed, the Cash Receipts Journal file is cleared for the next batch of postings. The information is retained for the Monthly Cash Receipts Journal, however.

This program is used to initially load the system with currently open (unpaid) accounts receivable transactions. It will be one of the first programs you need to use when bringing the system "live".

You must use your old accounts receivable records, either manual cards or old computer printouts, as the source for this data entry task. You will need the CUSTOMER NUMBER, as it exists on the new computer, written on each customer card. Also, it is helpful to highlight only those transactions that are still open.

Customer no

Enter the 6-character bill-to customer number for whom you want to make your entries. After your first entry, the default value for this field will be the last customer number entered. You may press (RETURN) to use the default value. The customer's name and address and current A/R balance appear.

You may press (END) to end the program.

Transaction no

You have up to 6 characters or digits for the transaction number. This would be the invoice or credit memo number, or perhaps the check number if you are entering an "unapplied" (payment on account) transaction. If you enter less than six characters, the system will put zeroes in front of your entry to make it six characters in length.

Transaction type

You may enter six types of transactions:

DI invoice (debit)
CM credit memo (credit)
DM debit memo (debit)
OA on account (unapplied credit)
FC finance charge (debit)

DP customer deposit (credit)

At this point, the system uses the customer number, transaction number, and transaction type to look into the Accounts Receivable file for an existing transaction. If it finds this transaction, a message displays:

The INVOICE NUMBER is already in the file, cannot be added!

The information for the transaction is displayed and you can either change some of the fields or delete the transaction. Skip to the section for "Change a Transaction" or "Delete a Transaction".

If the transaction is not in the file, then proceed to enter the following fields of information.

1. Transaction date

Enter the actual date of the transaction using an MMDDYY (month,day,year) format.

You may press (RETURN) for the default value which is the "as of" date you entered when beginning the session.

2. Transaction amount

Enter the amount of the transaction using a numeric format of 999999.99.

You must enter a preceding minus sign (-) for credit memos.

Following this entry, the program skips to the prompt "Select a FIELD NUMBER...". The essential information for this transaction is entered. You can select a field to change if you desire.

3. Transaction terms

Enter a valid 2-character Terms code from the Codes file. The terms code will help define the cash discount percent, discount date, and net due date for the transaction.

4. Customer P.O. no

You may enter as many as 17 characters for the customer's purchase order number. This is a helpful aid in tracking transactions for the customer. It appears on the Customer Insight A/R screen.

5. Discount on

Enter the portion of the transaction amount on which a cash discount may be calculated using a 999999.99 numeric format . You can press (RETURN) for the default value which is the TRANSACTION AMOUNT. If no cash discounts are offered, this field is not applicable.

6. Discount pct

Enter the cash discount percent using a 99.99 numeric format. If the cash discount percent is 2%, for example, enter "2.00".

The TRANSACTION TERMS code will place a default value in this field.

7. Discount days

Enter the number of days from the TRANSACTION DATE used to calculate the DISCOUNT DATE. Again, the TERMS code will place a default value in this field.

8. Net due days

Enter the number of days from the TRANSACTION DATE used to calculate the NET DUE DATE. The TERMS code will place a default value in this field.

9. Posting period

Enter the posting period (fiscal month) that should be affected by this transaction. Either the current period or the prior period may be entered.

The current posting period is the default value for this field, and should be the correct entry.

10.

There is no entry at this field.

11. Discount avail

The program calculates an available cash discount amount based on the DISCOUNT ON and DISCOUNT PCT fields. You may enter a discount amount using a 999999.99 numeric format, or press (RETURN) for the default value.

NOTE: Whenever either the DISCOUNT ON or DISCOUNT PCT fields are changed, the discount amount is recalculated by the program, and any manual entry of the discount amount is lost.

12. Discount date

The program calculates the cash discount date based on the TRANSACTION DATE and the DISCOUNT DAYS fields. You may enter a discount date using an MMDDYY date format, or press (RETURN) for the default value.

NOTE: Whenever either the TRANSACTION DATE or DISCOUNT DAYS fields are changed, the discount date is recalculated by the program, and any manual entry of the date is lost.

13. Net due date

This date is critical because all Accounts Receivable aging is based on the net due date.

The program calculates the net due date based on the TRANSACTION DATE and the NET DAYS fields. You may enter a net due date using an MMDDYY date format, or press (RETURN) for the default value.

NOTE: Whenever either the TRANSACTION DATE or NET DAYS fields are changed, the net due date is recalculated by the program, and any manual entry of the date is lost.

Select a FIELD NUMBER to change, (X) to delete, or (END)

You may type a number corresponding to a field that you want to change. The cursor moves directly to that field and allows you to retype the data, or to press (RETURN) to leave the data unchanged.

Each time you change a field, the system again asks you to select a field number to change.

You may cancel the entire entry if you wish. Type (X) and press (RETURN) and the transaction is erased. This option is available only when you are adding a new transaction.

Press (END) when you have completed all fields and they appear to be correct. The transaction is saved in the Accounts Receivable file.

Having completed the debit portion of the transaction, you must now enter the credit(s). You must enter from one to six G/L account numbers and credit amounts until the credits are equal to the A/R debit (transaction amount).

Credits: Account no

Enter a general ledger account number. It must exist in the G/L Account file.

If you are initially loading accounts receivable from an old system, use the A/R Suspense account. This account has G/L XREF code equal to "SUSP A/R".

Amount

Enter the credit amount using a 999999.99 numeric format. You can press (RETURN) for the default value which is equal to the unapplied balance.

Unapplied balance:

The credit amount required to balance the transaction displays here.

When your credit entries equal the debit amount, no more general ledger accounts and amounts are required.