Processing Transactions

Introduction

Transaction Prerequisites

Invoices & Credit Notes

Receipts & Refunds

Adjustments

VAT Return Adjustments

Allocations

Foreign Currency Transactions

Use the Invoice, Credit, Receipt, Refund, Adjustment and Allocate commands on the Action menu associated with the Sales Ledger - Processing form to process sales transactions concerning customer accounts that are not otherwise generated by other applications. Before you choose a posting command from the Action menu, you must first select the customer account for the posting. You can use the browse buttons or select from the List tab of the Customer form, or you can use the find function.

If the Continuous Posting option is selected for you on the System - Maintenance - User Profiles form, you can post transactions of the same type in batches because the application automatically re-selects the same command (Invoice, Credit, Receipt and so on) when you complete a transaction record.  

Introduction

You post a transaction using one or more forms. You begin with the transaction 'header' information. This is the form with which you enter the transaction date, references, currency code and so on. Each transaction comprises just one header record, regardless of the transaction type. For invoices and credit notes, header information is entered on a General tab while an Analysis tab is provided for you to review or change default transaction analysis codes, such as region, territory, customer type and so on.

Transaction Prerequisites

Before you can create a sales transaction record, you must set up certain prerequisite records.

The records you need to define depend on the configuration of your system. It is up to you to check the correct records are selected and the accuracy of all optional details associated with an invoice before posting.

Invoices & Credit Notes

For invoices and credit notes, the second part of the transaction entry is the transaction 'analysis' or 'detail' information. An invoice or credit note must consist of at least one analysis line. This determines breakdown of the transaction total between the goods and VAT values and determines the nominal accounts to which corresponding values are posted. You can break down an invoice or credit note value over several different analysis lines. Example ...

Receipts & Refunds

For receipts and refunds, you can choose whether you want to allocate the cash transaction to one or more outstanding debit transactions. If you select the On Account option on the transaction header, then no allocation takes place. You can allocate transactions subsequently using the Allocate command. If you leave the On Account option clear, a second form is provided for the allocation process.

When posting a receipt, you will also be able to enter a write off value if required

Adjustments

For adjustments, there is no second part to the transaction input. A Comment box is provided for you to identify the purpose of the adjustment transaction.

VAT Return Adjustments

VAT in the UK must be calculated before any prompt payment discount (settlement discount) is calculated. Your VAT Return must be updated with the full VAT value when an invoice is posted, even if settlement discount is offered.

How do you make sure VAT is calculated before prompt payment discount is calculated?

If the settlement discount is taken when an invoice is paid, an accounting adjustment must be made which does the following:

The accounting adjustment can be posted using either a credit note, or a VAT adjustment directly after the receipt or payment is posted:

If you use credit notes to account for the VAT adjustment, receipts involving settlement discount must be posted on account and then allocated to the invoice and credit note.

Important: Customers are set to 'Company Default' for this purpose, so each customer uses the default setting on the Sales Ledger - Utilities - Set Options - Settlement Discount Options form. Suppliers are set to 'Credit Note' by default for this purpose. You may need to change them if necessary.

Allocations

If a transaction is allocated in error, you can use the Rectify Allocation command from the Action menu. See the Rectify Allocation and How to Rectify Allocations Help topics for more information.

Foreign Currency Transactions

If you have foreign customers trading in a currency other than your base currency, you must identify the currency and confirm the exchange rate prevailing when you post the invoice. Discrepancies arising from changes in exchange rate between an invoice and its payment are recorded at the time the receipt is posted using the Receipt command on the Action menu.