Customer Payments


Accounts Receivable Menu -> Payments -> Customer Payments

This program can be used to manually record customer payments against transactions charged on account.
Payments can then be posted by Batch in Post Customer Payments.
Refer to the A/R Daily / Weekly Procedure for procedural information and process flow.

Access to utilities that can be used to reverse or transfer payments to another customer, are also provided.

Once the customer has been defined, the A/R Account Aging of unpaid invoices for the customer is displayed along the bottom of the screen, based on the Age As Of selection.

Note: For Inter Company Payments (payment across multiple companies), or for N.S.F.(Not Sufficient Funds) Checks, or for Refunds Issued for Credit Balances, refer to the explanations at the end of A/R Invoices.

The prompts to enter a payment are:

Check Information:
AGE AS OF
Aging refers to the grouping of the unpaid invoices according to Current, 31-60, 61-90 and Over 90 days, that is displayed at the bottom of this screen.
The default selection is as of the last time this program was run. Accept the default or select one of:
  • Select Month End to age the account using the current month end.
    Example: If the current month end was February 28th, an invoice issued January 31st would still be aged as 31-60 Days with the rest of January invoices.
  • Select Today to age the invoices according to the actual invoice date instead of month end.
    Example: If the current month end was February 28th, an invoice issued January 31st would be aged as Current, as it is really only 3 days old.


BATCH
Customer Payments can be entered and posted in Batches.
Enter the Batch Code, or select a batch from the drop-down list as setup in A/R Payments Batch Codes.

This defaults from the Batch Code entered for the previous payment entered in this session if the operator has not yet exited the Customer Payments screen.


CUSTOMER NUMBER
Type in the customer's number, or type in the first few characters of the customer alpha-key for a matching list of customers, or use the customer look up window as outlined in Accounting Customer Search.

A customer with an invalid credit rating can not be selected.
A warning will display on the screen. Exit the screen and correct the credit information for this customer in Customer Information, then the payment can be entered.

After selecting the customer, the full address, credit rating, and current balance with account aging as of today's date, is displayed on the screen.
This information is useful in confirming that the right customer has been selected.

PARENT CUSTOMER NUMBER
This prompt only applies if the payment is being made for a customer designated as a child in Customer Information.

The child can only pay invoices within the parent account that were created for that child, with the exception of A/R Invoices that must always be paid by the parent.

Note: Any payment entered for the parent customer can pay invoices for both parent and any children.


DIVISION
Enter the division for this check or select the division from the drop-down list.
The Division default and security is controlled by operator in Operators.

Note: The division is not limited to the operator's Divisional Restricted Views.

Division Posting in the General Ledger:
Postings to the divisions of the check payment and paid invoices for the "A/R Control Account" in the G/L, are as follows:

  • The Debit to the "Bank" or holding account defined by the Method Of Payment Code on the payment, always posts the full dollar amount received to the payment Division, whether the "post by division" feature is on or off.
  • The Credit to the "A/R Control Account" posts to the Division as follows:

    • If the Activate G/L Posting By Division feature is activated in Support Application Parameters, the amount of the unapplied payment posts the Credit to the "A/R Control Account" in the General Ledger for the division defined for the payment.
      When the payment is disbursed to pay specific invoices, and if those invoices are for a division other than the payment division, the amount paid on the invoice is automatically moved out of the payment division in the G/L and into the invoice division for the "A/R Control Account" posting.
    • If the divisional posting feature is not activated then the full payment amount posts as a Credit to the "A/R Control Account" Blank ( Head Office) Division.
      There is no divisional posting impact by a payment to an invoice from another Division in the General Ledger because all postings to the "A/R Control Account" are always to the Head Office.


METHOD OF PAYMENT
Enter the payment method or select how the dollar amount was taken from the options outlined in Taking the Payment Options and Explanations.
The payment method is based on whether the Texada Pay feature has been activated and the currency of the Customer.

The method of payment determines the currency code and also the G/L Debit posting account of the payment.
Selecting the right method of payment is important in reconciling the cash drawer and the General Ledger.
For more information, refer to Method Of Payment Codes and Capture Customer Payment Options for details.

If your firm uses Texada Pay the payment method 'FILE*' can be entered to pay by a Credit Card or Check previously captured and stored on File, as outlined in Capture Card/Check on File.

Reward Dollars:
If the Rewards Program processing is activated in Custom Processing, this drop-down includes payment methods for currencies that have the GL accounts setup to use Reward Dollars in Default Accounts.
i.e. RWD-X (where X is the currency code)

To use "Reward Dollars" to pay this customer's On Account charges, select the corresponding RWD-X payment method.
Only invoices eligible to be paid by Reward Dollars will be displayed on the payment details screen.

REWARD DOLLAR BALANCE
The Usable dollars earned by this customer is displayed.
This is the maximum value that can be entered for the Amount of Payment on this payment transaction.

Refer to Reward Program Maintenance for more information on this feature.


Currency Match:
A warning displays on the screen, if the payment currency differs from the customer's standard currency assigned in Customer Information.
Confirm that the payment currency is correct, else select a different payment method that utilizes the correct currency.

Automatic Authorization:
Credit Card payment types defined as 'A' for automatic Authorization in Method Of Payment Codes, cannot be used as presumably the credit card is not available to be scanned.
If this payment type is required, use the utility Counter Payments to enter the payment.

CHECK/REFERENCE NUMBER
Accept the default reference number for the payment or over-type it with the customer's check number up to 9 characters.

The value entered as the Check/Reference Number will appear on the Customer's Account to help identify the payment and the invoice payment history later on.
The default reference number consists of the Method Of Payment Code followed by 4 numbers or for TP on-file the method of payment is represented by FILE*

PAYMENT SEARCH Window:
A window on the Check/Reference Number field is provided to lookup a payment that was previously entered on this account, so that the payment details can be accessed.
The search can be filtered by date range and with or without zero balance (fully applied) checks.

The check information lists with the date, document#, payment, and discount amounts.
The list can be resorted by any column in ascending or descending order, by clicking in the column heading.
Columns can also be dragged and dropped to reposition them as required.

To select a record from the list, double-click on the appropriate record, or highlight the record and click the SELECT button.


DATE RECEIVED
Enter the date the check was received, or the date on which this check will be deposited into the bank.

This defaults from the Date Received entered for the previous payment entered in this session if the operator has not yet exited the Customer Payments screen.

To help prevent date errors, the payment date entered can be limited to within a specific current range.
This date checking can be activated in the "General Ledger" parameters on the Accounting tab of Configure System Settings for Date Range Control for the module ARCP, and is controlled by operator per the flag in Operators. Refer to the overview in Date Range Control for more details on this feature.

If an existing check has been selected from the window in the Check Number field to be re-accessed, then the date defaults to the date of the existing selected check, and the method of payment does not apply.


CURRENCY
The currency field is display only. The currency is determined by the Method Of Payment previously selected.

Note: Each check can only pay invoices of the same currency. This prevents inflated/deflated payments due to currency exchange.

If the currency is NOT correct, change the "Method of Payment".
The "Method of Payment" window displays the corresponding currency codes.


AMOUNT OF PAYMENT
Enter the full amount on the check.

This field is display only if an existing check has been selected to be re-accessed, because the payment amount has already been entered.

Reward Dollars:
If the selected Method of Payment is to use Reward Dollars (RWD-X), then the amount entered in this field for payment cannot be negative or zero and cannot exceed the Reward Dollar Balance displayed above.


APPLY TO INVOICES
The three different options in this radio group are enabled according to the operator's security role, as defined in the "Miscellaneous" window of Security Role Permissions.
Select one of the following options:
  • Click Yes to accept this payment and proceed to manually apply it to selected outstanding invoices of the same currency in the customer's account.
  • Click No to enter this payment against the customer's account, but leave it unapplied to any specific invoices.
  • Click Auto to enter this payment against the customer's account, and apply it automatically to the oldest unpaid invoices of the same currency and to automatically generate eligible discounts.
    The operator will have the opportunity to review and adjust the resulting application of the payment.
    This option is disabled if the payment amount is negative dollars.

Note: If none of the three options are selected for a role, the Apply No is enforced so that payments can be received by the operator but cannot be applied against invoices.

This field is skipped if an existing check has been selected to be re-accessed, and the screen to apply the invoices is displayed.


Finished
Click ACCEPT to accept the check information, or CANCEL to abort.

Select the Invoices to be Paid:
This screen does not appear if the choice to "Apply to Invoices" was NO, or the payment was cancelled.

Starting Point to identify invoices that should be paid by this Payment:
When applying the payment to the invoices, two options are offered for a starting point as controlled by a flag in the Company Miscellaneous Parameters:
  • The invoice/payment detail screen can be opened automatically displaying all the unpaid invoices for the customer in due date order.
  • The invoice/payment detail screen can be opened with the prompt for a starting invoice # or for a specific contract #, as follows:

    STARTING INVOICE #
    Enter the starting invoice number to be paid, or window to view the Customer's unpaid account activity and to select a starting point for the payment detail list.
    The option is provided to view all invoices, or only unpaid invoices, as of a selected starting date, in the payment detail screen.

    The unpaid account activity list that is displayed can be resorted by any column in ascending or descending order, by clicking in the column heading.
    Columns can also be dragged and dropped to reposition them as required.

    To select a record from the list, double-click on the appropriate record, or highlight the record and click the SELECT button.


    STARTING CONTRACT #
    Enter the specific Contract # to list any unpaid invoices that were generated from this contract, or select a contract from the window as outlined in Contract Search.

Regardless of the starting point, the invoice/contract search can still be activated by clicking on the STARTING DOC# button at any point during the distribution of the payment.
Click REFRESH LIST to display the entire list again in place of a starting document.


Payment Screen Header:
The top portion of the apply Payment Details screen displays the following information about the customer's account and this payment:
  • the customer # and name, parent customer# and name, the check #, check date, currency, and division information as entered on the first payment screen
  • the customer's outstanding "Acct Balance" in the top right corner (including the current payment amount)
  • the "Check Amt" showing the total amount of this payment
  • the "Discount" value tracking the sum of any discounts as they are given on this payment
  • the "Open Balance" amount tracking the amount remaining on the payment that is not yet applied to invoices
  • the starting Invoice number or Contract number as populated from the selected starting point

Note: The values for the Discount and the Open Balance change as the payment is applied.


Customer Payment Detail Paging Screen:
If the choice to "Apply to Invoices" was Auto for Automatic, then the detail paging screen shows the check payment fully applied to the oldest due dated invoices of the same currency with any eligible discounts given, and the Opening Balance in the header equals zero or reflects any remaining balance after all invoices are paid.
If required, invoice payment amounts and discount amounts can still be manually adjusted in the Customer Payments detail screen.

If the choice to "Apply to Invoices" was Yes, then the detail screen shows the check unapplied to any invoices, and the Opening Balance initially equals the Check Amount.
Payment amounts can be manually applied to appropriate invoices and discount amounts can be entered, as outlined below in Applying a Payment Manually.

Following is an example of the Payments Detail screen with a partially applied check that gives a discount.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CUSTOMER #:     56  LANGFORD CONSTRUCTION       ACCT BALANCE:     526.36
PARENT CUST#:                                   CHECK AMT:        307.93
CHECK #:      553452                            DISCOUNT:           5.31
CHECK DATE:  07/31/20XX                         OPEN BAL:          22.93
CURRENCY:    C                                  STARTING INVOICE#:
DIVISION:                                       STARTING CONTRACT#:


DOCUMENT# PAY TYPE CUR   DUE DATE   BALANCE AMT TO PAY  DISC  NET AMOUNT
--------- --- ---- ---   --------   ------- ---------- ------ ----------
     2276  Y   I    C   04/30/20XX   298.31    290.31   5.31     285.00
     2405  N   I    C   05/19/20XX    17.97
   FINCHG  N   F    C   06/30/20XX    16.01
     2483  N   I    C   07/01/20XX   510.00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reward Dollars
If the payment method selected is to use Reward Dollars (RWD-X) then only invoices eligible to be paid by Reward Dollars are displayed, and although the full unpaid amount of the invoice is displayed, only the amount eligible to be paid according to the Reward Dollar program assigned to the customer can actually be paid.

Refer to Reward Program Maintenance for more information on this feature.


Applying a Payment Manually
The prompts to apply the payment to unpaid invoices or finance charges of the same currency, are:
DOCUMENT #
The invoice number or finance charge will display.

Note: Only invoices and finance charges may be paid with a payment.
A payment can not be applied to another payment.


PAY
Type N (No) if this invoice should NOT be paid with this check.
The amount fields are not updated for this document.

Type Y (Yes) this box if this invoice or finance charge should be paid with this check.
The values for the Amount to Pay, Discount Amount, and Net Amount default as if the document is to be fully paid.
A warning is generated if the Net Amount paid on this document exceeds the remaining Open Balance on the payment, and the Amount to Pay can be adjusted accordingly.


TYPE
This indicates the Type of document and is a display field only.
I = Invoice
F = Finance Charge

C
This is the Currency code of the document, and is a display field only.
C = Canadian
U = United States
A = Australian

Note: Each check can only pay invoices of the same currency. This prevents inflated/deflated payments due to currency exchange.


DUE DATE
This is the date the invoice or finance charge is due for payment, and is a display field only.

CURRENT BAL
The current amount owing on this invoice/finance charge will display. This is display only.

AMOUNT TO PAY
Enter the amount which the customer would like to pay on this invoice.
This amount should include any discount, if applicable.

DISCOUNT
If the Terms on the invoice provide for a discount, as setup in Terms Codes, and this payment is dated within the allowed Discount Days, the discount percent to be given is automatically calculated and is displayed here. This can be over-typed as required.

A discount dollar amount can also be manually entered.

DISCOUNT CALCULATION Window:
A window is provided on the Discount Amount field as a worksheet to assist calculating the discount amount, as follows:

  • The document number, the current document balance, and the amount to be paid on this document display, along with the breakdown of the amount charged from Rental, Sales, Services, and Taxes.
  • Enter the discount percent to be given on each of Rentals, Sales, Services, Tax 1, and Tax 2. The discount amount for each is calculated and totalled and displayed in the Disc. Given field.
  • The total Discount Given amount can be over-typed, to round or adjust as required. The Discount amount will post as a debit to the "Discount Given on A/R" expense account, assigned in Default Accounts.
  • The Net Payment is the Amount to Pay less the Discount, as will display as the Net Amount paid on this document when the calculation is accepted.
  • Click OK to accept the calculated amounts.

TRADE DISCOUNT DETAILS Window:
When the customer makes a payment for a "trade" invoice, the payment must be received by the Discount Date of the Invoice and it must be paid in full by one check, in order for the trade discount to apply.
When the invoice is selected for payment, and Amount To Pay is entered as the full amount, the Discount Amount will display, if the Terms have been set properly.

If the trade discount applies, a window displaying the following Trade Discount information:

TRADE DISCOUNT %
The Trade Discount percent from the invoice displays.
TRADE RENTALS
The amount of discount to be given on rentals is displayed.
TRADE WAIVER
The amount of discount to be given on the damage waiver is displayed.
TRADE TAXES
The amount of discount to be given on taxes is displayed.
TOTAL TRADE DISCOUNT
The total discount is displayed.
TRADE DISCOUNT
Check this box to accept the trade discount based on the rentals, damage waiver and taxes for that invoice.
Uncheck this box if no Trade Discount should be given. The discount is then processed as a regular discount, with regular postings.

If NO discount should be given, blank out the discount amount with the space bar.
If the trade discount does not apply, then this window does not open.

Posting Trade Discounts

If the Trade Discount box is checked, when Post Customer Payments is run, the software automatically generates a credit invoice for the trade discount, with the invoice number assigned the same as the original invoice with a T in front. e.g. T 23441.

Depending on how Rental Product Class is setup, the Trade Discount debit can be posted in the G/L to a special Trade Discount account, or to the Rental Revenue account by Class.
Either way the reduced rental revenue accumulated for each product on the invoice, is reflected in the Monthly Product History and Detailed Revenue History for the trade discounts.

When trade discounts are posted, the credits reducing the associated revenue accounts are also pushed to the Business Intelligence revenue tables that were updated Daily Close 2.

Note: If a customer payment with a trade discount on it is reversed, the credit invoice for the trade discount is NOT reversed. The credit invoice must be manually reversed.

For a more complete overview of the Trade Discount process, refer to the notes Trade Discounts.

DISCOUNT ACCOUNT REQUIRED Window:
In the Company Posting Parameters, there is an option to Prompt User for Customer Payment Discount Account.
If this is activated when a discount is entered, a window opens prompting for the G/L posting account for the discount disbursement, as follows:

G/L ACCOUNT
The A/R discount account assigned for that currency in Default Accounts displays.
Accept this account or enter a preferred account, or select it from the window.
This account will be debited for the amount of the discount.

If this disbursement window is not activated, the discount amount will be posted as a debit to the account assigned for the payment currency in Default Accounts.


NET AMOUNT
The net amount paid will display.
NET AMOUNT = AMOUNT TO PAY - DISCOUNT.

Expanded Document Record
Click EXP/CON or press <F9> to view the original Document Date, Discount Date, and Original Invoice Amount, in the expanded record.

OPEN BALANCE
When the payment is fully applied, the Open Balance of the payment at the top right should read zero, or should reflect the remaining payment amount if the payment was greater than the unpaid invoices.

Over-Apply Payment Control:
If the Open Balance displays a negative value, then the payment has been "over-applied".
This means that the total invoice dollars paid, exceeds the original amount of the check.
The ability to over-apply a payment is controlled by the Over-Apply Customer Payments flag for the operator's security role, as set in the "Miscellaneous" window of Security Role Permissions.
If the operator does not have permission to over-apply a payment, a payment with a negative balance cannot be accepted.


Finished ?
When the payment has been applied to the desired invoices, click ACCEPT.

Confirmation Screen
Select one of the following options:
  • Click Accept This Payment to accept and update the check distribution and invoice payment information on the customer's account.

    Note: An operator without Security Role Permissions to Over-Apply Customer Payments will not be able to accept a payment that has been over-applied, and the distribution of the payment will need to be corrected so the amount paid against the invoices does not exceed the value of the original payment.

  • Click Review This Payment to return to the payment details screen to make any further changes to the payment details.

  • Click Cancel This Payment to abort and the payment record will not be saved.

    Note: If this is a new payment and it is being Cancelled, the check will NOT post to the General Ledger, nor to the Customer's Account, nor will any newly added Finance Charge postings be retained.
    A warning displays on the screen.

    If the check had been entered and accepted previously, and has now been re-accessed, but is being Cancelled then the check remains on the customer's account, but not applied to these invoices, nor will any newly added Finance Charge postings be retained.

If a payment is accepted and an outstanding balance is left on the check, this remaining balance can be applied to invoices at some later point.
The Unapplied Payments Report can be used to generate a report identifying any Open Balance Payments that should be cleared.


WRITE OPEN BALANCE INVOICE
The option to Prompt to Write Open Balance Invoice for Over Payment can be activated from the Company Miscellaneous Parameters, to be triggered only when there is an unapplied dollar amount left from the payment.
e.g. The customer has paid more than he owes, and now has a Credit on his account from this payment.

The operator is prompted To write an open balance payment.

Click NO to leave the unapplied payment amount on the customer's account, as an unapplied check amount.
Click YES to create a credit invoice for the customer, for the unapplied amount. The original check would then show as fully applied, and the credit invoice would carry the balance.

DISCOUNT TAKEN FOR A PAYMENT FROM A PRIOR PERIOD
This pop-up window only applies if this check was an existing check that was originally entered and dated outside of the current date range, that has now been allowed a discount to be taken.
In order to prevent posting the discount adjustment transactions to the General Ledger in the closed period, a date within the current date range must be entered.

GENERATE RECEIPT
A Payment Receipt can be printed or emailed from the Print Receipt pop-up if Texada Pay was used to capture the payment if the 'Prompt for Payment Receipt' feature is activated in the Company Customer Forms Configuration settings.

Note: The print defaults defined in the 'Counter Document Default' window of the Divisional Printing Parameters do not apply to A/R Payments.


REMOVE BAD RISK ENTRY
If this payment is for a Cash customer and there are records logged on the Bad Risk Customers file because of a "Cash-Short" invoice, full payment of the invoice triggers the option to also remove the 'Bad Risk' transaction entries.
Click YES to deleted the 'Bad Risk' transaction or NO to leave that record for the Cash customer on the Bad Risk Customers file.

When a 'Bad Risk' transaction entry is auto-removed from the Bad Risk Customers file a record is written to the Delete Log for ARAR03 to track the action.

For more information on the "Cash-Short" invoice feature, refer to the "Allow On Account for Cash Customers" setting in the Company Invoice Parameters.

After all customer payments have been entered for the day, select Post Customer Payments to post the payments.


Making A Partial Payment
Often a customer will partially pay off an invoice. To accomplish this, over type the Amount to Pay with the partial amount.
For example, a customer pays $100.00 off an invoice of $885.90
Over-type the Amount to Pay with $100.00.

Applying An Open Payment
Unapplied Payments Report can be used to generate a report identifying any open balance payments that should be cleared.

In order to clear out these outstanding payment balances, call the unapplied check to the screen using Customer Payments as follows:


Adjusting An Unpaid Finance Charge
Often a customer will pay off the entire account balance, except for the Finance Charges.
To adjust these finance charges, one option is to discount them while applying the payment to the account using Customer Payments.

If the flag Prompt User for Customer Payment Discount Account in the Company Posting Parameters is set to prompt for the discount account in Customer Payments, enter the Finance Charge G/L Account in the discount disbursement window.
The finance charge amount will then be debited directly out of the Finance Charge Account in the General Ledger, instead of the regular Discount G/L Account.


Applying A Payment To A Credit Invoice
Often a customer will use a credit invoice when paying off the account.
To process this, when applying a payment, check the Pay box for the credit invoice with the NEGATIVE amount. This results in the credit being added to the Open Balance increasing the payment amount, and enabling the other invoices to be paid off.
Then the regular invoice can be paid with the increased Open Balance.

Adjusting A Minor Short Payment
Sometimes a customer will short pay the account by a small amount, such as 10 cents.
Instead of leaving this Balance Open, these small amounts can be discounted.
Establish a company policy regarding the amount permissible to be adjusted. Large discrepancies, or discrepancies due to a Tax exemption must NOT be handled this way.

Adjusting A Minor Overpayment
Sometimes a customer will over pay by a small amount, such as 20 cents.
Instead of leaving this Balance Open, these small amounts can also be discounted. The discount will be a negative amount.
Large overpayments, or unused deposits should NOT be handled this way.

Maximum Payment Details Exceeded Rollback
If a large customer payment was entered to pay off multiple invoices that could potentially exceed the Check History sequence maximum a rollback occurs.
Refer to Repair Payment Sequences for follow-up action.

ACTIONS:
Additional actions provided by buttons on the Customer Payment header screen include:

Posting Control
The Customer Payments entry program is designed to be run for one customer at a time.
Locking will occur if another operator attempts to run the program at the same time, or if the first operator did not exit the posting program correctly.
A Posting Control Information warning will appear on the screen preventing the second operator from proceeding, and only operators with Security Role permission to reset the Customer Payments- for Single Customer flag will have access to the RESET button that unlocks the program in Reset Enter Payment by Customer.
Whenever the posting control flag for A/R Payments is reset, a record is written to the Delete Log for the Function ARAR04.


Topic Keyword: ARAR03
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