The AR module uses the same Client Catalog to store all of the data of credit account customers. There are a few fields and one toolbar button used especially for AR:
Accounts Receivable
Chapter Topics
Introduction
Clients
Catalog
AR
Catalogs
AR
Transactions
AR
Documents
AR
Processes
AR
at the Point of Sale
Receiving
AR Payments at the POS
AR
Reports
Introduction
XpertMart™’s
Accounts Receivable (AR) module gives you all of the tools you need
to manage your sales on credit with your customers. To begin with,
the module can be used as a stand-alone program to manage credit
accounts without ever interacting with the Point
of Sale. In addition, the AR module can also be used as a fully
integrated part of XpertMart’s Point of Sale.
XpertMart™’s AR module resides on the Main in the Multi-Store Edition and can be included in the Single-Store Edition. In a multi-store setup the Remote Stations only interact with the AR module through the Point of Sale.
Clients Catalog
The
AR module uses the same Client
Catalog to store all of the data of credit account customers.
There are a few fields and one toolbar button used especially for
AR:
The first field is Credit Limit. At the Main Station this field is editable and used to put the customer’s maximum credit limit. The second field is Balance, which is not an editable field. The AR Module will automatically update this field with the amount owed by the client. The third filed is Days Credit. This field can be edited at the Main station and is used to enter the maximum number of days the customer has to pay for the purchases bought on credit. In transactions made at the Point of Sale the Due Date will automatically appear as the Days Credit added to the current date of the transaction. The Days Behind field displays the days that have passed since the balance was due.
The Client
Catalog also includes a special button to open the AR Audit Log. The
button looks like the yellow Kardex
button with a green dollar sign on it as shown below:
When
you click on this button a new window will open with the AR Audit Log
for the custome you are looking at, as shown here:
The AR Audit Log gives a complete transaction history for a
customer's credit account. It includes the date and time in which a
transactions was made, the type of transaction which was made, the
unique document number for the transaction followed by the starting
balance prior to the transaction, the amount of the transaction and
finally the ending balance after the transaction is accounted.
AR
Catalogs
The
data which appears in the AR Audit Log is stored in the AR Audit
Catalog. This catalog
can be oepend by going to Catalogs>Accounts Receivable>AR Audit
Catalog as shown below: 
When
you select this option, the AR Audit Catalog will open up, as shown
below:
As
can be seen in this image, this catalog has the same data found in AR
Audit Log. Perhaps the main reason for using the AR Audit Catalog is
to run the reports
associated with this catalog.
The names given to the different
Accounts Receivable transactions may vary from company to company.
Therefore, the user can name these transactions as desired in the AR
Transaction Types Catalog. This catalog can be opened by going to
Catalogs>Accounts Receivable>AR Transaction Types, as shown
below:
Once
you select this option the AR Transaction Types Catalog will open.
The catalog includes a field where you can assign a name as well as
an internal ID number that is not editable.
XpertMart™
uses
Transaction Type ID = 1 as a charge or something that was sold on
credit and for which payment is still due. You can give this
Transaction Type whatever name you wish but XpertMart™
will assume it is a charge. Transaction Type ID = 2 is used as a
payment against a balance that is due. Transaction Type ID =3 is used
a debit memo. These are used for charges that do not arise from
normal sales. For example, debit memos can be used for surcharges if
a check is returned, for a late fee or special interest charge. The
last Transaction Type is ID = 4 and is
used for credit memos which are used to credit an account and reduce
the amount owed outside of taking in a payment. For example, if you
offer a discount for quick payment, you would want to use Transaction
Type ID = 4. As mentioned before, you can use whichever names you'd
like for these transaction typeswithout affecting the underlying
functionality just described. At present, only four transaction types
are used.
A central feature of the Accounts Receivable module
is clasifying debts by due date and the time that has lapsed since
then. XpertMart™ allows you to define the
lenght of time periods you wish to use to track overdue payments.
Normally the periods used are: 0 - 30 days, 30 - 59 DAYS, 60 - 89
dayns and over 90 days. To define these periods, use the AR Periods
Catalog. To open this catalog, go to Catalogs>Accounts
Receivable>AR Periods, as shown below:
Once
you select this option, the AR Periods Catalog will open, as shown
below:
Use
the first field for the name you want to use for the period. You can
use whichever name you like. Then select how many days past due mark
the beginning of hte period and how many days past due mark the end
of the period. As can be seen in the image above, you must have an
initial period that starts with zero days past due. This initial
period is for accounts that ar considered current. You can use the
number of days you'd like, but the important thing is not to skip any
days. For example, if one period ends with 30 days then the next
period must begin with 31 days. Also, you must enter the periods you
want to use in order such that Period ID = 1 is used for current
accounts, Period ID = 2 is used for accounts that are more than one
day past due, and so on. The AR
Aging Report will used these periods to display overdue
accounts.
The last entry in the AR Periods Catalog is for all
delincuent accounts over "x" days past due. For example, if
the final period runs to 120 days, then you must add another entry in
the catalog which begins with 121 days past due and runs to 9,999
days past due. This period could be called "More than 120 Days"
for example.
AR
Transactions
All
four
transaction types in the AR module can be processed manually. To
make any one of these transaction types, go to Transactions>Accounts
Receivable, as shown below:
The
first type of AR Transaction is a Charge which gets recorded as a
balance that needs to be paid at a future date. To make a Charge
transaction, go to Transactions>Accounts Receivable>Accounts
Receivable Charge, as shown below:
Once
you select this option, a new transaction
screen will open up, as shown below:
There
are a number of fields in which to enter data. The Document
# field refers to the number of the document which generated the
Charge such as the number of the invoice which was sold on credit.
The Document Date refers to the date of the document which generated
the charge. This date may be different than the date of the Charge
itself. The Employee field is non-editable and is filled in
automatically with the Employee
Number of whoever is logged in at the time. The No. field is the
unique document number for this charge transaction. This number is
generated automatically by the system and runs sequentially starting
with 10,000,000.
On the second line of the transaction screen
is the Amount field which is where you enter the amount that is being
charged. The Due Date field is where you enter the date on which the
amount being charged is due for payment. The Store
field displays the store number where the charge is being made and is
filled-in automatically by the system and is not editable. If you are
making the charge at the Main
then this field is left blank. The Date field displays the date of
when the charge is being made (today's date) and is not editable.
On
the third line, the AR Type field displays the name for the
transaction type you entered into the AR
Transaction Types Catalog with an ID = 1. This field is not
editable. The Description field is an open field where you can enter
a description for the charge being processed.
The Client
field works the same way it does in an Invoicing
screen. You can do a Lookup
by Example by Last Name to enter the client for which the Charge
is being processed.
The next section details the AR
transactions and documents which are used to pay this charge. The
Total Debit, Total Credit and Balance fields reflect the totals of
all transactions listed in this section. The Balance field displays
the total amount of the charge minus any credits and debits which
have been applied. This transaction details section is explained
below.
Lastly, the Notes field allows you to enter an
explanation for the charge being process or include special
instructions.
If after entering all of the relevent
information pertaining to a charge in the fields described above you
wish to appy any open credits or positive balances, you can do so
simply by pressing the Payment <F10>
button.
When you press <F10>
the system will first check to see if the charge transaction has all
the required information. The system will first check to see that
you've entered a Client. If you have not specified a client you will
see this error message:
If
the client has not been specified you need to do so before
proceeding. Next, the system will check to make sure the amount
entered is greater than zero. If no amount has been entered in the
Amount field, you will see this error message:
If
you have not entered an amount fo the Charge you will need to do so
before proceeding. Next, the system will prompt you with this window
asking if you 'd like to apply any open credits automatically or
manually:
At
this point you need to decide if you'd like to apply any open credits
yourself of let the system do it. If you are not ready to decide,
press <Cancel>.
Whenever
XpertMart™ automatically
applies open credits it will always apply these to the oldest
document first and, if there's still a positive balance left, will
then apply it to the second oldest document and so on in order. If
the balance of the open credit is less than the total amount due on a
document then XpertMart™ will
apply the full credit and leave the remaining balance as pending to
be paid.
If
on the other hand you elect to apply open credits manually then you
can decide the amounts you wish to apply to the documents of your
choosing.
Below is a sample of how XpertMart™
applied an
open credit automatically:
The first thing to notice ist aht XpertMart™
will add a
line which registers the current transaction being processed. In the
image above, the first line refers to AR Transaction number 10000014
and the amount being charged is $300.
The second line shows
that XpertMart™ found
document number 20000001 which has an open credit of $17.50 which has
not yet been applied to any prior document so XpertMart™
is applying
it now. That's why it shows up under the Credit column.
The
image below, on the other hand, shows what happens if you tell
XpertMart™ you
want to apply the credits manually:
In
this case XpertMart™ also
finds the open credit of $17.50 from document 200000001 which this
client has in their favor. Since this credit has not been used
before, XpertMart™ places
it in the Available Credit column so that the user knows it's
available. If you wish to use this credit then you have to manually
enter the amount ($17.50) in the Credit column. Or you can choose to
only use a portion of this credit and enter it in the Credit
column.
To save and print these changes you need to click
<F12>.
Note that if before you press <F12>
you change the amounts or enter a different client then XpertMart™
will not save any of the transaction
detail. You must press <F12>
for your transaction detail to be saved.
Just
as when you press <F10>
to commit a Charge, XpertMart™ will
check to see that you've specified a client and have entered an aount
before printing. XpertMart™ will
also check to see that you've specified a Document Number and will
display an error notice if you have not.
If all of the
infromation is complete (client, amount and document number) then
XpertMart™ proceeds
with the transaction. If after applying open credits the Charge still
has an active balance then XpertMart™ will
ask you if you'd like it to apply any open credits to the document.
These would be any open credits you had
previously not applied. If you'd like XpertMart™ to
apply these automatically, then click <Apply>.
If you'd like to leave the balance as pending to be paid, then click
<Don't
Apply>.
If you decide you don't wish to save and print the transaction then
you can click <Cancel> and the transaction screen will
clear out.
The
second type of AR transaction you can make is a Payment. To do this,
go to Transactions>Accounts Receivable>Accounts Receivable
Payment. This will open a new transaction window, as shown
below:
As
can be seen above, the fields that need to be filled out are the same
as when making a Charge
transaction. The only difference is that the amount will be credited
to the customer's balance instead of debited. All AR Payment
documents begin with document number 20,000,000. When looking at the
AR Audit Log you can tell just by looking at the document number
which transactions are Payments (start with 2) and which are Charges
(start with 1).
The <F10>
Payment button works the same way only instead of applying credits
you will be applying debits. This is because you will be choosing
which open balances to apply this payment against.
The <F12>
button works the same as before and is used to save and print the
transaction. None of the payments are applied until you actually
press <F12>.
The
third AR transaction type you can make are Debit Memos. These are
used to register a charge to a client's account for something that is
not a merchandise sale. To make one, go to Transactions>Accounts
Receivable>Accounts Receivable Debit Memo, as shown
below:
Once
you select this option, a new transaction window will open, as shown
below:
As
seen with Charges
and Payments,
the fields to fill out are the same and the <F12> and <F12>
keys work the same way. In fact, a Debit Memo works exactly like a
Charge does, the only difference being the document number which
starts with 30,000,000.
The final AR transaction type are
Credit Memos. These are used to reduce the total balance due for any
reason other than a payment. To make one, go to Transactions>Accounts
Receivable>Accounts Receivable Credit Memo, as shown
below:
Once
you select this option, a new transaction window will open, as shown
below:
As
seen with Charges and Payments, the fields to fill out are the same
and the <F12> and <F12> keys work the same way. In fact,
a Crebit Memo works exactly like a Payment does, the only difference
being the document number which starts with 40,000,000.
The
printing
format for each of the four AR transaction
types can be set by going to Configure>Configure Documents>AR
Transaction Format.
Select
the report format you want to use for each transaction type. The
default formats are shown above.
AR
Documents
All
AR
Transactions get stored as Documents.
These documents can be found under Documents>AR Transactions, as
shown below:
Once
you select this option, a Catalog of previous AR Transactions opens
up, as shown below:
All
four AR Transaction
Types are found here. You can use all of XpertMart™'s
usual
Catalog
and Search
functions to find the data you're looking for.
The AR
Documents screen has two addiitional fileds that the AR
Transaction screen does not have. The Past Due Days field
displays how many days past due is the balance. The number of days
past due is based on the last time you ran the process to calculate
days past due. The Past Due field displays the AR
Period the balance falls under.
The AR Transactions
catalog also includes a Payment
button you can use to apply payments to open charges (or
vice-versa). The Payment button has a dollar sign on it and looks
like this: 
When
you press the button, XpertMart™ will
check to see if the balance on the transaction you are looking at is
zero. If the balance is zero then it is no longer necessary to apply
any payments, in which case you'll see this notice:
After
displaying this message XpertMart™ will
not do anything further since the transaction does not have any open
balances. If on the other hand there is an open balance then
XpertMart™ will check to see if the client in question has any
open credits or any payments that have not yet been applied. If the
client does not have any open credits or payments waiting to be
applied, you will see this notice:
After
displaying this message XpertMart™ will
not do anything further since the transaction does not have any open
balances.
If
the balance is greater than zero and the client does in fact have
open credits then XpertMart™ will proceed
to ask you if you'd like the open credits applied automatically or
manually, the same way it does in an AR Transaction screen when you
press <F10>.
You will
see this dialogue window:
The
functionality here is the same as described earlier when using the
<F10>
Payment button in a Transaction screen. The only difference is
that instead of pressing <F12> to save the changes and print,
in the Documents screen you will press the Payment button on the
toolbar a second time to commit the changes.
When
you press the Payment button a second time the system will ask you to
confirm that you want to commit these changes to the Document you are
looking at.
Press
<Yes>
to commit these changes to the Document. If you press <No> the
credits will not be applied.
Note that the example above
dealt with applying open credits to Charges
and Debit Memos but the procedure is exactly the same for apply open
debits to Payments
and Credit Memos.
AR
Processes
There are two processes you
should run regularly to keep your Accounts Receivable up to date.
These two processes are found under Processes>Accounts Recevable
Processes, as shown below:
As
previously mentioned, XpertMart™ can
automatically apply
open credits by taking any open credit and applying it to the
oldest open debit or charge document and working its way formard. If
you'd like XpertMart™ to do this for every single client where
there is an open credit then you can select Processes>Accounts
Receivable Processes>Apply open credits, as shown below:
Once
you select this option, a dialogue window will appear notifying you
that XpertMart™ is applying the open
credits.
When
the dialogue window closes it means the system is done applying open
credits.
The second process consists of calculating how many
days past due every balance is and under which AR
Period the charge falls under. To do this, go to
Proceses>Accounts Receivable Processes>Calculate days past due,
as shown below:
When
you select this option a dialogue window will appear notifying you
that the system is calculating the days past due. When the dialogue
window closes it means the system is done calculating days past due.
Note that the number of days past due is based on the last date you
ran the Calculate days past due process so it is important to run
this processes before running any AR
Reports.
The last option in the Accounts Receivable
Processes menu is to run both processes at the same time.
When
you select this option XpertMart™
will first apply all open credits and will then calculate days past
due. This way if after applying an open credit a charge now has a
balance of zero it will show zero days past due and the account will
be considered current.
This
concludes the overview of Accounts Receivable as a stand-alone module
in XpertMart™. We will now see how AR
integrates into the Point of Sale.
AR
at the Point of Sale
Once
you've setup the three AR
Catalogs then you are ready to begin selling on credit at the
point of
sale. You need to setup one configuration setting at the Main
in order for credit sales at the POS to be automatically
applied to a client's account through the AR module. To set this
up, go to Configure>Accounts Receivable Configure, as shown
below:
When
you select this option the Configure Accounts Receivable window opens
up, as seen below:
The
first configuration option on the left-side menu is Accounts
Receivable Posting. If you check the box that says "Automatically
apply charges and payments from POS" then the system will
automatically update each client's records in the AR Module. If you
don't check this option then all charges and payments made at the POS
are left open for you to apply later at the Main using the AR Module.
If you're going to be applying charges and payments automatically at
the Main anyway, you might as well go ahead and select this
configuration option now.
The second configuration option is
called Credit Balances.
If
you select the "Increase credit balance when purchases are paid
via credit" box then each client's available credit will adjust
dynamically as payments are made and open credits are applied.
To
sell on credit at the point
of sale all you need to do is select "Credit" as the
Tender
Type, as shown below:
Note
that Credit must be Payment Type ID = 7 when you setup the Payment
Types Catalog. Refer to the Required
Entries topic for further informaiton.
When you select
Credit as the tender type XpertMart™ will
first check to see if you've entered a Client
in the Invoice. If you have left the Client field blank, XpertMart™
will not
let you use Credit as a tender type.
Next, XpertMart™
will check
that the Client you've selected has available credit greater than the
amount being charged in the Invoice. Available credit is calculated
as the Credit
Limit you entered in the Client Catalog minus any open charges
and debits that have not yet been paid.
If you are using
XpertMart™'s
Single Store Edition then any sale made on credit will automatically
be applied at that moment to the AR Modlule. If you are using the
Multi-Store Edition then all sales made using the Credit tender type
will be applied to the AR Module after a synchronization
cycle.
XpertMart™ will
record the Invoice number as the Document number in the AR
Transaction. In the Notes field of the AR Transaction, XpertMart™
will insert
the Invoice's reference field. The AR Module
will record a Due Date equal to the date of the Invoice
plus the Days Credit you've previously assigned in the Client
Catalog.
Receiving
AR Payments at the POS
You can also receive payments towards a clients AR balance at the
point of
sale. To be able to do this you first have to create new entries
in two catalogs. First, create an Invoice Type with ID = 12 called
"Credit Account Payment" in the Invoice Types Catalog which
is found under Catalogs>Document Types>Invoice Types.
Next,
create a Credit/Charge type with ID = 10 called "Credit Account
Payment" in the Credits Charges Catalog which is found under
Catalogs>POS>Credits/Charges.
When
you're in an Invoicing
screen if you pick Invoice Type ID=12 (Credit Account Payment) then
XpertMart™ will
automatically fill in Credit/Charge Type ID = 10 int he Cr/Ch Type
drop-down menu. In the Creidt/Charge field, enter the amount the
client is paying. Obviously you also need to enter a ame in the
Client field and you must specify the Tender Type being used to make
the payment. In the example below, the Client is making a $100
payment towards his AR balance and is paying cash.
XpertMart™
will check
to see that all required data has been entered. If you have not
specified a Client, you will see this error notice:
You
must specify a Client in order to continue. Likewise, XpertMart™
will check
to see that you are using Credit/Charge Type ID = 10. If you are not,
you will also see an error notice and you will have to change the
entry in the Cr/Ch Type drop-down
menu to Credit Account Payment.
As with selling on credit at
te point of sale, if you are using XpertMart™'s
Single Store Edition then any payments made at the point of sale will
instantly be applied to the AR Module. If you are using XpertMart™'s
Multi Store Edition then they will be applied after a full
synchornization
cycle.
XpertMart™
will record
the Invoice number as the Document number in the AR
Transaction. In the Notes field of the AR Transaction, XpertMart™
will insert
the Invoice's reference field.
AR
Reports
The
AR Module includes several reports
you can use to manage your client's credit accounts. These are found
by going to Documents>AR Transactions and clicking on the Reports
button. Most of these reports are also found in the Clients
Catalog.
The
"Account Statement Balance Based with Running Balance"
report will produce Balance Statements for each client showing all
activity and the resulting balance for a given date range. The
"Accounts Receivable Aging Vertical" report will show all
the overdue balances grouped by AR Transaction
Period.
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Soft, Inc.