SmartFusion Modules > Accounts Receivable > Process > Payments - Enter

Recent Updates: 
6.195 - Excluded voids from the data pull for Unapplied Payments in the Payment Breakdown pop-up for Open Item

6.175 - Added validation to check if the deposit batch being used belongs to a deposit that is locked.

6.168
- The Print Receipt button will now be available upon adding a new payment. Logic has also been updated to save the record when the receipt is printed.
- Corrected issue on the User-defined AR Receipt standard report (ar012r35.rpt) were balance was being doubled.

6.161 - Modified the logic of the Payment Breakdown screen to not pull charges related to invoices that have been voided.

Refer to bottom of page for changes prior to version 6.130

Introduction

This option allows payments to be entered. The payment posting process will vary depending on whether your organization uses the open item or balance forward method of tracking account balances.

Explanation

Account Balance: The balance is the total of all charges and payments at a point in time. A zero dollar balance indicates that all payments and charges are "in balance" and no transaction has remaining "value" unapplied to a charge or payment, respectively.

Unapplied Payment: Payments or portions of payments that haven’t yet exhausted their value by paying off charges. These transactions are initially added to the Transactions (ar012) table. Once they no longer have any remaining payment value they are marked as paid and will no longer appear on the Apply Unapplied Payments screen. This occurs when the amount of the payment matches the sum of all transaction distribution for that payment.

Open Item: One of two methods of payment distribution in accounts receivable. This method allows a customer to select the specific charge(s) that they wish to pay off. They can choose any number of charges until the payment amount has been completely distributed. A charge that still has a positive value remaining appears as an open item, until it is completely distributed against. A payment that still has a negative value remaining appears as an unapplied payment until it is completely distributed against.

Balance Forward: The second of two methods of payment distribution in accounts receivable. This method, currently implemented in Utility Billing and Tax Collection, prevents a payment from being directly applied to a specific charge. The amount is instead applied against the total outstanding balance. Also similar to other billing modules, if the “Distribute Payments” flag is checked in the Accounts Receivable settings screen, the payment's transaction code will be replaced by the payment transaction code of any charge it is associated with Transaction Distributions.

Settings

The above methods can be selected through the Accounts Receivable System Settings system file screen, via a radio button selection.

Entering Accounts Receivable Payments

  • User provides the customer account number, transaction code, payment date, check number, batch number, note, amount, and (if applicable) deposit date/batch. An update and transaction number are automatically generated for the new payment.
  • Form validations are performed.
  • The payment is saved to the database.
  • At this point, one of two paths are taken depending on the system option chosen:

Open Item Method

  • A data table is populated with the charges for the customer.
  • The Payment Breakdown screen is opened automatically, containing the open item charges for that account. - NOTE: this screen will not include charges that are part of a voided invoice.
  • Charges that can be paid off by the new payment are automatically checked. Charges can be checked and unchecked as long as the total of all checked charges does not exceed the value of the new payment.
  • If there are unapplied payments found on the customer's account, the option to open the Apply Unapplied Payments screen will appear in the upper right-hand corner of the form.
  • If the "Apply" button is selected, the checked charges will be paid off by the current payment. The remaining amount can be found on the Apply Unapplied Payments screen, when next loaded.
  • If "Cancel" is selected, the screen is closed, and the payment can be edited on the Payments screen before s​electing Save and bringing up the Payment Breakdown screen again. However, the new payment has already been saved with no charges related to it.

Balance Forward Method

  • Distribute Processor is invoked using the current customer's ID, just like the balance forward Methods in Tax Collection and Utility Billing. Payment distribution and over payment settings are respected during this process.

Changes Prior to Version 6.130

6.122 - Updated logic to pull transactions with blank transaction code that are distributed against an AR charge/payment to be included in the Account balance.

6.116 - Inactive accounts with zero or credit balance will not show if 'Hide inactive accounts with zero or credit balance in payments' is set in user security. 

6.45 - Fixed bug where screen would lockup if user tried to "Reset" with no valid account number or account name  

6.37 - Inactive accounts will now be light red in the Account name combo box and show a flashing yellow warning icon on the form

6.01 - Adjust search to allow for empty dates.