Advanced Fund
Management Solutions

December 2006
Hi Everyone,

When a customer overpays a bill, a credit will be created for them. If you expect no more business with them, a refund check may be in order. We show you how to do it. When you have to send the same invoices to the same customers periodically (i.e. weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.) you need to use the Generate New Invoices feature. We cover how to do it this month! As always, if you have any questions regarding an Accufund® issue, please contact me at (318) 253-8556, or email me at jgarv@afmss.com

Thanks,
Judy Garver

Refunding Credits

You may have recorded overpayments by an Accounts Receivable or Utility Billing customer, and that customer now has a credit in the system. That credit may be applied against future purchases, of course. But, what if you know that there will be no more business with this customer? A refund check for the remaining credit is then in order. This article covers how that works.

To see what credits are available, go to Cash Receipts and click on the Credit icon. The following form opens:

You will note that one credit has been refunded and that the yellow folder in the Lookup column is checked to indicate so. The first credit (to AccuFund, Inc.) has a remaining credit (a balance of $900). Highlight it an click on the "View" button to see the detail shown below:

Note that the Credit History tab has been selected. This indicates when the original credit was recorded and that a partial credit has been applied.

Click on the "OK" button and return to the Browse Credits form. With the AccuFund, Inc. entry still highlighted, click on the "Refund" button. The following form opens:

This refund will now become an invoice in Accounts Payable. A description was added, and dates could be changed if desired. Click on the "OK" button.

To see the AP invoice, go to Accounts Payable/Browse Paid Bills. Click on the "New" button to see bills ready to be marked for payment:

The invoice for AccuFund, Inc. is shown on the list along with other invoices to be paid. This refund should be marked just as you mark any invoice to be paid. Make sure the check date is correct, approve the marked check(s) and click on the "Pay" button, which will then be active. You now have a credit refund check for your vendor!

Generating Invoices

Periodically you may have a requirement to send the same invoices to the same customers. If so, you should consider creating Repeating Invoices for just that purpose. This article assumes that you have already created repeating invoices that are sent out periodically (you'll easily be able to see how to create them yourselves). Our main purpose is to show you how to create new invoices from them.

To review existing repeating invoices, go to Setup/Repeating/A/R Invoices. Here is the list from the AccuFund SamplesAF database:

The reference on one of them has been changed to Quarterly to show how this type of invoice can be generated, or not, along with the Monthly invoices.

Above you can see the repeating invoice highlighted. Notice that there is not much to them. The reference is used to indicate how often the invoice is to be generated, and will be used in the selection process you'll see in a moment. Note that, even though the reference says monthly, the invoice may be generated at any time.

Now that we have seen the repeating invoices available to us, we can generate new invoices from them in several ways. Proceed to Accounts Receivable and click on the AR invoices icon. The Browse A/R Invoices form will open, as shown below:

To generate new invoices, click on the "New" button on the right of the form, as indicated by the arrow cursor.

The form below opens. It gives you control over several things. First, it allows you to select the activity date (the date it is posted into the system). Second, you may select which repeating invoices will be used to create new invoices by using a range of references. Our reference fields contain how frequently the invoices are to be generated. We have indicated that repeating invoices with a reference of MONTHLY to MONTHLY are to be created. Click on the "OK" button.

The form below opens and shows you the invoices that will be created. Note that they have due dates assigned (based on the Net 30 terms on the repeating invoices). If you wish to cancel the creation of any of the invoices, highlight them and click on the "No" button at the bottom of the form.

Click on the "OK" button to create the invoices. The two new invoices will show up on the Browse A/R Invoices form, as shown below:

The newly generated invoices may be invoiced just like the remainder of the invoices on the list.

Every three months a quarter rolls around. You will need to generate quarterly as well as monthly invoices. Here is how you could fill in the "Generate New Invoices" form in that case:

No matter how frequently you generate repeating invoices, this technique can be a real time saver for you. Give it a try!

Did You Know...?

Accounts Receivable. You may automatically generate interest on a number of invoices, all at once. Based on their aging (i.e. over 30 days, or 60 days, for example), you may generate interest on them, and, in the process, create an additional invoice for the interest. You are completely in control of the interest rate applied, and it can be on a daily or monthly basis.

Inventory. Sometimes inventory items can walk out the door and require adjustment to the count on hand. Or, their unit value may need adjustment up or down. Inventory adjustments may be made to an item's count or unit value at any time.

Print Selection. Anytime you create a report, you may e-mail it to a co-worker, your accountant, or anyone else with an e-mail address. Furthermore, it will be in a Portable Document Format (PDF) that anyone with a PDF reader can open (a free PDF reader is available from the internet). Once you have run your report, select the PDF Email icon. An e-mail message will be created with the report name entered as the subject (you can change it). The report will already be attached. All you have to do is enter the recipient's address and a few words of text. That's all there is to it!