5   Sales

This chapter explains how to enter information about sales to your customers. You record a sale by specifying the customer's details, the invoice layout (item, service, professional, time billing or miscellaneous), the status of the sale (quote, order or invoice) and the details of the items or services sold.

The chapter also explains the various ways of sending an invoice, how to record customer payments, how to issue a customer credit and how to analyse sales activities with a variety of reports and other analytical tools.

Creating a customer card

Before you can record a sale, you need to create a card for your customer.

To create a customer card

  1. Go to the Card File command centre and click Cards List. The Cards List window appears.
  2. Click New. The Card Information window appears
  3. Select Customer from the Card Type list.
  4. Select the designation of the card: company or individual
  5. Type the customer name and press TAB. Additional fields appear.
  6. Enter a code to identify this customer in the Card ID field. For more information, see 'Card identification codes'.
  7. Enter contact details for the customer.
  8. If you want to enter more contact information, select Address 2 from the Locations list and enter the additional details. You can enter contact details for five locations.

  9. Click the Card Details tab. You can enter notes about the customer, insert a picture and assign attributes to group and sort the card.
  10. If you want to...
    assign identifiers to the card
    assign an attribute from a custom list
    enter additional information in a custom field
  11. Click the Selling Details tab and enter your selling details.
  12. A. Selling information The selections you make here will be used, by default, on quotes, orders and invoices that you create for this customer. You can override these selections when recording the sale.
    B. Credit terms The credit terms you entered earlier appear here by default. You can override them here for this customer. The credit terms entered here are used as the default terms for all sales to the customer, but can be changed at any time.
    C. Tax information The customer's tax information is entered here. If the customer's tax status takes precedence over that of the item or service being sold, select the Use Customer's Tax Code option. For more information, see 'Assigning tax codes to cards'. MSIC code [Malaysia] is available in Customer type of Card Information for you to enter the major industry code that you sell to the particular customer.
  13. Click the Payment Details tab and select the method of payment your customer will use to pay you.
  14. [Optional] Click the Jobs tab and create new codes for each job you have started or are about to start for the customer. For more information about jobs, see 'Jobs'.
  15. [Optional] Click the History tab and type the dollar value of the sales made prior to your conversion month. You can also type or select the date that the contact became a customer.
  16. Click OK to close the Card Information window.

Entering sales

You enter a sale as a quote, order or invoice.

  • A quote is used to record a price you have quoted to a customer without creating a transaction. A quote has no impact on your inventory levels and can be changed to an order or an invoice when your customer is ready to buy.
  • An order is a sale that you expect will occur. While orders do not affect your financial figures, they do affect your committed inventory numbers. Orders do not create transactions unless the customer has paid you a deposit. An order can be changed to an invoice.
  • An invoice is usually created when you deliver the items or services the customer ordered. It will update the appropriate accounts, including the account for tracking receivables. Invoices can be open (unpaid), closed (paid) or credit (negative sale). An invoice cannot be changed to a quote or an order.

You can enter a sale in:

  • the Sales window
  • the Bank Register window.

Entering a sale in the Sales window - the procedure described in this chapter - enables you to record more details about the sale than entering it in the Bank Register window. To use the Bank Register window, see 'To enter a transaction in the Bank Register window'.

Entering a sales transaction

Complete the following steps to enter a sales transaction:

Task
1 Enter information about the customer
2 Choose the type of sale
3 Enter the items or services you are selling
4 Enter additional information about the sale
5 Complete the sale

Task 1: Enter information about the customer

  1. Go to the Sales command centre and click Enter Sales. The Sales window appears.
  2. In the Customer field, select the customer's name.
  3. NOTE : Customer credit limits and accounts on hold You may not be able to record sales for customers who have exceeded their credit limit or whose account has been placed on hold. For more information, see 'Credit control'.

    The terms and ship-to address shown in the Sales window are the details recorded in the customer's card.

    A Click the zoom arrow to alter the credit terms for this sale only. Note that if you want to change the credit terms for all future sales to this customer, you must make that change on the Selling Details tab of the customer's card.
    B Type the invoice number here or accept the default number.
    C If the customer gave you a purchase order for this transaction, type that purchase order number here.
    D If the sale amounts you want to enter include tax, select the Tax Inclusive option. Do not change this option after entering an amount in the Amount column.
  4. If you want to change a customer's delivery address, type the alternative address in the Ship to field or choose another address from the customer's card by clicking the down arrow next to the Ship to field.

Task 2: Choose the type of sale

In this step, choose the required status and layout for the transaction you are creating. The layout initially displayed in the Sales window is determined by the default selection you made when setting up sales details (using the Sales Easy Setup Assistant) or when creating the customer's card.

  1. Check if the default layout is appropriate. There are five layouts: Service, Item, Professional, Time Billing [ABSS Premier range only] and Miscellaneous. The layout determines what fields appear on the Sales window. If you want to change the default layout:
    1. Click Layout. The Select Layout window appears.
    2. NOTE : Miscellaneous layout The Miscellaneous layout is used only for sales where a printed form is not needed.

    3. Select the appropriate layout and click OK.
  2. Select the status from the list in the top left corner of the window: Quote, Order or Invoice.

Task 3: Enter the items or services you are selling

The scrolling list in the middle of the Sales window is where you enter details of what you are selling. In this area you will enter item numbers, descriptions, account numbers (or names depending upon your selection in the Preferences window) and other information to describe your transaction

One row in the scrolling list is one line item of the transaction. You can enter as many line items for a sale as you want.

The fields that appear in the scrolling list depend on the sales layout you are using. The following illustration shows the layout for an item sale.

A Ship Type the quantity to be shipped.
B Backorder Type the quantity of the item to be placed on backorder. An order for this amount will be created automatically when you click Record.
C Item Number Type your item number or press TAB and select an item from your item list.
D Description A description of the item appears automatically. You can change this if you want.
E Location [ABSS Premier range only] This field only appears if you store inventory in multiple locations. Select the location of the item being sold.
F Price The price of the item appears automatically. You can change this if you want.
G Disc% [Optional] Type a volume discount as a percentage.
H Total The total price of the items is calculated automatically.
I Job [Optional] Type or select a job number here to assign a line item to a specific job. For more information about jobs, see 'Setting up jobs and sub-jobs'.
J Tax Type or select a tax code for the line item.

The following illustration shows the layout for a service sale in the Sales window:

A Description On a service, professional or miscellaneous invoice, type a description of the goods or services sold.
B Acct# or Name On a service, professional or miscellaneous invoice, type the account to which the sale will be allocated or press TAB to select an account from your accounts list. This is usually an income account. You should not select your receivables account for ordinary sales.
C Tax Type or select a tax code for the line item.

NOTE : Add lines, subtotals and headers to sales transactions You can add lines, headers and subtotals to invoices to make it easy to separate and subtotal different groups of line items on one invoice. See 'Adding and deleting transaction lines, subtotals and headers in sales transactions'.

Task 4: Enter additional information about the sale

The fields that appear at the bottom of the Sales window depend on the type of sale you are creating.

A Salesperson, Comment, Ship Via, Promised Date Enter optional information, such as the name of the salesperson, a comment, shipping method, promised date of goods or services. Type text or click the search icon to choose from the Select From List window.
B Invoice Delivery Status Select a delivery method to indicate how you want to send the invoice. You can also print or email the invoice in a batch after selecting the required delivery method. For more information, see 'Sending forms in a batch'.
C Journal Memo The journal memo is generated automatically. You can change this if you want.
D Freight Type any charges for freight.
E Freight tax Type or select the tax code for the freight charges.
F Tax Click the zoom arrow if you want to view or change the tax amounts assigned to the sale.
G Paid Today Type an amount here to indicate how much money the customer paid you at the time of the sale or, if you are creating an order, how much money the customer gave you as a deposit.
H Payment Method Type or select the payment method. Click Details if you want to enter details about the payment. For example if you are being paid by credit card, you can record the credit card number, expiry date and other details.

NOTE : Recap transaction Before you record this transaction, you can use the recap transaction feature to view the journal entries that will be created when the transaction is recorded. This is useful for confirming that the journal entries are being posted to the correct accounts. To recap, choose Recap Transaction from theEdit menu.

Task 5: Complete the sale

After you have finished entering the details in the Sales window, there are several ways to complete the transaction.

TIP : Save the sale as a recurring sale Click Save as Recurring. In the Edit Recurring Schedule window, enter the necessary information and click Save. For more information, see 'Recurring transactions'.

  • If you want to record the sale without printing or sending it, click Record (for a sales quote, click Save Quote).
  • If you want to record the sale and create a purchase order, click Create PO. The quote or order is recorded and the purchases window appears. For more information, see 'To create a purchase order from a sale'.
  • If you want to record the sale and print, send or save it as a PDF, complete the relevant procedure below.
To… Do this...
Print Click Print and choose the type of form you want to use. For more information about printing, see Chapter 13, 'Forms,'.
Print preview Click Print and choose Preview to preview the sales form for this transaction. Note that the transaction will be recorded before the form is displayed.
Email Click Send To and choose Email. Review and make entries in the Email window and click Send. The email, which will include a PDF (Portable Document Format) attachment, will be sent to the Outbox of your default email software. Send the email from your email software.

Adding and deleting transaction lines, subtotals and headers in sales transactions

You can add and delete transaction lines, headers and subtotals in sales transactions.

To insert a blank line

  1. In the Sales window, click anywhere in the line below where the blank line is to appear.
  2. Go to the Edit menu and choose Insert Line. A blank line will appear in the scrolling list with the cursor positioned in the Description column.

To insert a header

You can group several line items by inserting a header

  1. In the Sales window, click anywhere in the line below where the header is to appear.
  2. Go to the Edit menu and choose Insert Header. A blank line will appear in the scrolling list with the cursor positioned in the Description column.
  3. Type the text for the header. The text appears in grey.
  4. Press TAB to complete the header entry

To insert a subtotal

  1. In the Sales window, click anywhere in the line below the items to be subtotalled.
  2. Go to the Edit menu and choose Insert Subtotal. A line appears displaying the subtotal of the amounts that appear above the subtotal line and below the last subtotal, if there is one.

To delete a blank line, line item, header or subtotal

  1. In the Sales window, click anywhere in the blank line, line item, header or subtotal you want to delete.
  2. Go to the Edit menu and choose Delete Line.

Recording sales with insufficient on-hand item quantities

If you track item quantities and values, and you want to record a sales invoice for an item with insufficient on-hand quantities, you can:

  • record the sale and allow a negative on-hand item quantity and value to be recorded for the item
  • build, buy or backorder the item

Allow negative on-hand quantities and values

If you want, you can set a preference to allow the recording of sales with insufficient on-hand quantities. With this preference set, the sale of an item that is not in stock results in a negative on-hand item quantity and value.

NOTE : This feature affects your inventory reporting Allowing negative item amounts to be recorded in your inventory affects the reporting of inventory values and cost of goods sold. This feature may not be suitable for some businesses. Consult your accountant or financial adviser before using this option.

When you record the sale of an item with insufficient on-hand quantities, an estimated item cost is recorded for the sale. The estimated cost used depends on the item information available, as described in the following table.

Cost type Description
Average cost Average cost is used if you have sufficient on-hand stock for which an average price can be determined. For example, if you have ten units of an item on-hand, but make a sale for 12 units, average cost is based on the value of the ten units in stock.
Last Cost Last cost is used if the average cost is unavailable. For example, if you have purchased an item before but currently have none on-hand, the last purchase price is used.
Standard Cost Standard cost is used if you have never purchased an item before, and you have entered a standard cost in the item information card.
Zero Cost Zero cost is used if you have never purchased the item before and you select this option when recording the sale.

When you record a purchase to replenish the items, a journal entry automatically records the price variation between the estimated cost and the actual cost, if there is one.

To allow the recording of sales with insufficient on-hand quantities

  1. Go to the Setup menu and choose Preferences. The Preferences window appears.
  2. Click the Inventory tab and select the Allow the Sale of Items with Insufficient On-Hand Quantities option.

Build, buy or backorder items

If you attempt to record a sales invoice with an insufficient on-hand quantity, and you do not allow the recording of sales with insufficient quantities, the Backorder List window appears. In this window, you need to build or buy the required quantity, or create a customer sales order (backorder) for the unavailable quantity, before you can record the sale.

Before you begin Before you can auto-build an item in the Backorder List window, you need to set up your item details. For more information, see 'Auto-building items'. If you want to record a bill using this window, you need to enter a default supplier for the item. For more information, see 'Creating items'.

To build, buy or backorder items

When you record a sale and you have insufficient on-hand quantity of an inventory item, the Backorder List window appears. You will need to make an entry in this window before you can complete the sale.

  1. Go to the Sales command centre and click Enter Sales. The Sales window appears.
  2. Enter the details of a sale. (See 'Entering sales'.)
  3. Click Record. If you have insufficient on-hand quantities, the Backorder List window appears.
  4. This window lists items that are either out of stock or would be as a result of recording the sale.

  5. Choose one of the following options:
  6. To... Do this...
    Auto-build items
    1. Click in the Build column next to the item you want to auto-build and then click Build. The Auto-Build Items window appears.
    2. Click Build Items. The Build Items window appears.
    3. Click Record to build the finished item.
    Record a purchase
    1. Click in the Buy column next to the item you want to purchase and then click Buy. The Enter Purchase window appears
    2. Select Purchase as the status from the list in the top left corner and complete the purchase. For information about completing the purchase, see 'Entering purchases'.
    Record a sales order Click in the Backorder column next to the item you want to place on backorder and then click Backorder. The Sales window appears with the Ship and Backorder columns adjusted. A sales order is automatically recorded for the item when you record the invoice.

    NOTE : Multiple items with insufficient quantities You can use the Backorder List window to perform various tasks. However, you can only perform one of these tasks at a time and in the following order: build, buy and then backorder. For example, if you want to backorder some items and buy others, you need to buy the required items first and then return to this window (by clicking Record in the Sales window again) to complete the backorder

  7. Complete the sale. For more information, see 'Complete the sale'.

Changing the status of a sale

The following sale types can be converted:

Sale type Can be converted to…
Quote
  • order
  • invoice
Order
  • invoice
Invoice The status of an invoice cannot be changed.

You can change the status of a sale from the Sales window or from the Sales Register window.

  1. Locate and display the order. To do this:
    • In the Sales window, type or select the name of the customer whose order you want to convert. Select the order from the Select from list window that appears and click Use Sale, or
    • In the Sales Register window, click the Orders tab. Find the order using the search filters at the top of the window, and highlight it.
  2. Click Invoice (in the Sales window) or Change to Invoice (in the Sales Register window) to convert the order to an invoice.
  3. Review and update the information in the Sales window as necessary. For example, you might want to change the transaction date to today's date.
  4. Click Record. The new invoice is created and the original order is removed.

To convert a quote to an order or invoice

  1. Locate and display the quote. To do this:
    • In the Sales window, type or select the name of the customer whose quote you want to convert. Select the quote from the Select from List window that appears and click Use Sale, or
    • In the Sales Register window, click the Quotes tab. Find the quote using the search filters at the top of the window, and highlight it.
  2. Convert the quote to an order or invoice. To do this:
    • Click Order (in the Sales window) or Change to Order (in the Sales Register window) to convert the quote to an order, or
    • Click Invoice (in the Sales window) or Change to Invoice (in the Sales Register window) to convert the quote to an invoice.
    • The Sales window appears with the selected status. Three new fields appear: Paid Today, Payment Method and Balance Due.

  3. Make any necessary changes to these and other fields. For example, you might want to change the transaction date to today's date.
  4. Click Record. The new order or invoice is created.
  5. The original quote will remain in the Sales Register window unless you have indicated in the Sales view of the Preferences window that you want quotes to be deleted once they are converted to orders or invoices.

To convert an order to an invoice

You can convert an order to an invoice from the Sales window or from the Sales Register window. If you want to convert several orders at once, see 'To simultaneously convert several orders to invoices' below.

To simultaneously convert several orders to invoices

You can simultaneously convert several orders to invoices in the To Do List window

  1. Click To Do List from any command centre. The To Do List window appears.
  2. Click the Orders tab to display a list of all your orders.
  3. If you want to view the details of a specific order, click the zoom arrow to the left of the customer's name.
  4. Select the orders you want to convert to invoices by clicking in the select column next to them.
  5. Click Record as Actual. A window appears, requiring you to type a date for the selected transactions. This is the date that the transactions will be recorded in your sales journal.
  6. Type the date and click OK.

Reviewing your sales information

There are several tools that you can use to review your sales information.

Tool Description
Business Insights Use Business Insights to analyse sales and customer information.
To Do List The To Do List displays all open sales, recurring sales and orders sorted by overdue dates
Analyse Receivables The Analyse Receivables window displays ageing information for all open invoices.
Analyse Sales The Analyse Sales window provides a graphical snapshot of your sales activities
Sales reports Sales reports help you keep track of your sales activities.
Sales history History lets you view seven years of sales history for an item, a customer or an employee.
Sales register The Sales Register window gives you a complete picture of your sales activity-open and closed invoices, orders, quotes, returns, credits and so on.
Find transactions Find Transactions helps you find individual sales transactions quickly.
Transaction journal The Transaction Journal lists journal entries of your sales and other transactions.

To analyse sales information using Business Insights

Business Insights presents a summary of your sales information, including which customers owe you money and how much money is overdue. You can also see how much your customers owe you for each ageing period, as well as the sales history of your customers.

To find information specific to your needs, sort the table columns by clicking a column heading. For example, you can sort the list of outstanding invoices to find the most overdue invoice or the largest overdue amount.

You can use Business Insights to analyse customer information and sales performance.

To analyse customers

  1. Go to the Accounts command centre and click Business Insights. The Business Insights window appears.
  2. View the Customers who owe me money panel.
  3. This panel shows the total you are owed and details of each overdue customer payment (based on their invoiced credit terms), including the number of days overdue.

  4. Click Analyse customers to view graphs and information about the money your customers owe you and the payment history of each customer.
  5. You can use this information to:

    • Contact customers for overdue payments Identify which customer payments are the most overdue or which customers owe you the most money
    • Renegotiate a custome's credit terms View the customer's outstanding balances and payment history, such as the average number of days it takes for them to pay you.
  6. If you want to copy a graph and use it in another document, right-click it and choose:
    • Copy to Clipboard. This copies the graph to the Windows clipboard, ready to paste into a document.
    • Save As. Choose where you want to save the image and click Save. This saves the graph as an image file, so you can use it later.
  7. If you want to copy the data from a table and paste it in another document where you can edit it, such as an Excel spreadsheet:
    1. Right-click the table and choose Copy to Clipboard. This copies the data to the Windows clipboard
    2. Open the document or spreadsheet and press CTRL+V to paste. Note that table totals are not included in the pasted data.
  8. Click Close to return to the main Business Insights window.

To view a list of all unpaid sales sorted by days overdue

  1. Click To Do List in any command centre. The To Do List window appears.
  2. Click the A/R (accounts receivable) tab. A list of all unpaid sales appears.
  3. The Overdue column shows the number of days an invoice is overdue. (A negative number in the Overdue column indicates that the payment is not yet due.) The number of days an invoice is overdue is calculated by checking the original date of the invoice, comparing it to today's date and looking at the customer's credit terms.

To analyse your receivables

  1. In the Sales command centre, click the Analysis down arrow .
  2. Select Receivables from the Analysis list. The Analyse Receivables window appears.
  3. Click Filters and choose the time periods and any other criteria you want to view
  4. Click OK. The information you selected appears in the Analyse Receivables window.

To analyse your sales activities

The Analyse Sales window provides various illustrations-in graphs or in lists-of your sales activities.

  1. In the Sales command centre, click the Analysis down arrow .
  2. Select Sales from the Analysis list. The Analyse Sales window appears.
  3. Click Filters and choose the sales figures, time periods and other criteria you want to view.
  4. Click OK. The information you selected appears in the Analyse Sales window.
  5. Use the buttons in the Analyse Sales window to view charts showing your sales activities.

To view sales reports

There are several sales reports that can help you track your sales activities. For example, you can run an Aged Receivables Summary report to view your customers' current balances sorted by ageing periods. The Sales Item Summary report shows you which inventory items are selling best. The Referral Source report is useful for finding out which referral source is bringing your business the most money.

  1. Go to the Reports menu and choose Index to Reports. The Index to Reports window appears.
  2. Click the Sales tab. A list of available sales reports appears.

For information, see Chapter 12, 'Reports,'.

To view sales history

You can view sales history for an item, a customer or an employee.

  1. Display the Item Information window (via the Item List in the Inventory command centre) for an item or the Card Information window (via the Cards List in the Card File command centre) for a customer or an employee.
  2. Click the History tab

The History tab displays a total of seven years of sales history for the item or card: the five years preceding the current financial year (as displayed in the Company Information window), the current financial year and the next year.

NOTE : Employee sales history To record an employee's sales history, that employee must be selected as the salesperson on the Sales window.

Receiving payments

When customers make payments against invoices you have issued to them, you record the payments in the Receive Payments window. You can record the payments against one or more of the customer's outstanding invoices. If you do not want to create an invoice for a customer, you can enter their payment in the Receive Money window. See 'To record money you receive'.

You can also record payments from your customers in the Bank Register window. If you are recording several customer payments and do not want to record detailed information (such as payment methods and discounts) for each payment, the Bank Register window can save you time. For more information, see 'To enter a transaction in the Bank Register window'.

The options for recording receipts and invoice payments are summarised in the following diagram.

NOTE : Customer payments at point of sale If customers make payments when purchasing merchandise or services and you are issuing them an invoice, you can type the payment amount in the Paid Today field of the invoice. See 'Enter additional information about the sale'.

To record payments against invoices

  1. Go to the Sales command centre and click Receive Payments. The Receive Payments window appears.
  2. Choose the account that will be used to deposit the payment.
    • If you received a cheque:
    • Deposit to Account. Select this option and select the required bank account in the adjacent field.
    • Group with Undeposited Funds. Select this option if you want the deposit to be recorded in the undeposited funds account (and not in a bank account). After you have grouped all the deposit transactions you want, you can then make a bank deposit. For more information, see 'To prepare a bank deposit'.
    • If you received a credit card payment, select Group with undeposited funds.

    After you have grouped all the deposit transactions you want, you can make a bank deposit. For more information, see 'To prepare a bank deposit'.

  3. In the Customer field, type or select the customer's name.
  4. Type the amount received.
  5. If you want to record the payment method, select the method in the Payment Method field. Click Details if you want to enter further details about the payment. For example, if you are being paid by credit card, you can record the credit card number and expiry date.
  6. If you want to, change the memo and payment date. You can also change the ID number that is automatically generated. However, we recommend that you use the default number to make sure you do not enter duplicate IDs.
  7. In the scrolling list in the bottom half of the window, indicate which sales are covered by the payment by entering amounts in the Amount Applied column. If the customer is paying a deposit for an order, look for the word Order in the Status column.
  8. A Discount If you intend to award an early-payment discount for a sale, assign the discount to the appropriate invoice in this column. Note that you won't be able to assign a discount to an invoice that is not being settled in full. If you want to give the customer a discount, you can give them a customer credit. For more information, see 'Customer credits'.
    B Amount Applied Type how much of the customer payment you want to apply to each sale in this column.
    C Finance Charge If part of the payment was used to pay finance charges, type the finance charge amount here. For more information, see 'Finance charges paid by customers' .
    D Out of Balance The Total Applied amount (plus finance charges) must equal the amount that appears in the Amount Received field, and the Out of Balance amount must be zero before you can record the transaction.

    If a customer overpays, you should still enter the amount received. The full payment should be entered in the Amount Received field and in the Amount Applied column in the scrolling list. When you record the payment, a credit invoice for the overpaid amount is created automatically. This can either be refunded to the customer or applied to a future invoice. For more information, see 'To apply a customer credit to an open invoice'.

  9. Click Record to record the customer payment.

Printing payment receipts

For each cash receipt transaction you record, a corresponding receipt can be printed. Receipt transactions can be recorded using the following windows:

  • Bank Register
  • Receive Money
  • Receive Payments
  • Sales (New Invoice and New Order using Paid Today)
  • Settle Returns & Debits (Receive Refund view)

Receipt transactions for which receipts cannot be printed are:

  • reversed receipt transactions
  • voided receipts
  • bank transactions such as bank deposits or interest earned.

Payment receipts correspond directly to receipt transactions. That is, when you record a receipt transaction, the information you entered in the transaction can be printed on a payment receipt. Because of this relationship, if you change, reverse or remove a receipt transaction, the payment receipts that have been printed may no longer be valid.

To print payment receipts

  1. Go to either the Sales or Banking command centre and click Print Receipts. The Review Receipts Before Printing window appears.
  2. If you print receipts on preprinted stationery, type the number of the first receipt in the Number of First Receipt in Printer field.
  3. Type the number of receipts you want to print in the Print field.
  4. If you want to filter the information to be displayed on the customer receipt, click Advanced Filters. For more information, see 'Advanced filters'.
  5. Click in the select column next to each receipt you want to print
  6. Click Print.

For more information about printing and customising forms, see Chapter 13, 'Forms,'.

Credit control

In ABSS software, you can control credit by:

Credit limits

A credit limit is the maximum amount of credit you allow a customer to charge to their account. You can set a default credit limit for all new customers or set a specific credit limit for a single customer.

To enforce credit limits, you can set your preferences to:

  • warn users before recording a sale that will exceed a customer's credit limit
  • prevent certain users from recording a sale that will exceed a customer's credit limit. When you use this preference, you set an override password to allow approved users to record the sale.

To set or change the credit limit for a single customer

  1. Go to the Card File command centre and click Cards List. The Cards List window appears.
  2. Click the Customer tab and select the customer for whom you want to set a credit limit.
  3. Click Actions and choose Edit Credit Limit & Hold. The Credit Limit & Hold window appears.
  4. Type the customer's credit limit in the Credit Limit field
  5. Click OK. The Card Information window appears
  6. Click OK to return to the Cards List window

To receive a warning when a customer exceeds the credit limit

  1. Go to the Setup menu and choose Preferences. The Preferences window appears.
  2. Click the Sales tab.
  3. Select the If Credit Limit is Exceeded on Sale preference and select Warn and Continue from the drop-down list.
  4. Click OK.

To prevent the recording of a sale when a customer exceeds the credit limit

  1. Log in to your ABSS company file as Administrator.
  2. Go to the Setup menu and choose Preferences. The Preferences window appears.
  3. Click the Sales tab.
  4. Select the If Credit Limit is Exceeded on Sale preference and select Prevent Unless Overridden from the list. The Credit Limit Override Password window appears.
  5. Type an override password and password confirmation
  6. Click OK. The Preferences window appears.
  7. NOTE : Changing the credit limit override password If you are logged into your company file as the Administrator, you can change the credit limit override password in the Credit Limit Override Password window. To open this window, choose Preferences from the Setup menu, click the Sales tab and then click Set Override.

  8. Click OK to close the Preferences window

Credit holds

You can place a credit hold on a customer's account to prevent further sales being made to the customer. For example, you may want to place a customer on credit hold when the customer's account is overdue.

To place a customer on credit hold

  1. Go to the Card File command centre and click Cards List. The Cards List window appears.
  2. Click the Customer tab and select the customer that you want to place on credit hold.
  3. Click Actions and choose Edit Credit Limit & Hold. The Credit Limit & Hold window appears.
  4. Select the Place this customer on Credit Hold option.
  5. Click OK. The Card Information window appears.
  6. Click OK to return to the Cards List window.

NOTE : Recording sales to customers on credit hold To record a new sale, you will need to remove the credit hold. To do this, deselect the Place this customer on Credit Hold option in the Credit Limit & Hold window for the customer's card.

Finance charges paid by customers

Finance charges are amounts added to an outstanding balance as a penalty for late payment. A finance charge is added to a customer's statement. The amount paid by a customer to cover the charge is then recorded in the Receive Payments window.

To set up finance charges

  1. Go to the Setup menu, choose Linked Accounts and then Sales Accounts.
  2. Select the I assess charges for late payment option and select an income account to record the late payment charges.
  3. Click OK
  4. Go to the Card List in the Card File command centre, then select the Customer tab.
  5. In the % Monthly Charge for Late Payment field of the Selling Details tab of the customer card you want to charge, set the percentage you will be charging for late payments and click OK.

To record a finance charge

  1. Go to the Sales command centre and click Print/Email Statements. The Review Statements Before Delivery window appears.
  2. Click Advanced Filters and select the Add Finance Charges to Amount Due option.
  3. Select any other report filters you want to apply and click OK.
  4. For more information about customer statements, see 'Send customer statements'.

When your customer pays the late-payment charge, enter the amount in the Finance Charge field of the Receive Paymentswindow. For more information, see 'To record payments against invoices'.

To receive finance charge payments

  1. Select Receive Payment from the Sales command centre. The Receive Payments window appears
  2. Type the full amount received and fill in the transaction details. See 'To record payments against invoices'.
  3. Type the late fee amount in the Finance Charge field and click Record.

Tracking finance charges Although the history of finance charges is not tracked, you can perform an account inquiry (using Find Transactions) on the income account you have set up to record late charges

The finance charges payable by your customers only appear on their statements, so you may want to keep copies of the statements sent to customers.

How finance charges are calculated For each open invoice, ABSS software calculates its due date using the terms specified in the Selling Details tab of the Card Information window. The overdue balance is then increased by 1/30th of the monthly charge for late payment for every day it is overdue.

The monthly charge is calculated by multiplying the amount overdue by the % Monthly Charge for Late Payment value you specified in the customer's card.

If the customer makes a partial payment during the overdue period, the finance charge is adjusted accordingly.

Deleting finance charges When you enter a finance charge in the Receive Payments window, two transactions are recorded-the full customer payment, including the finance charge, is recorded in the receipts journal and a transaction for the finance charge is recorded in the sales journal.

Therefore, if you want to delete a finance charge payment, you must delete both transactions. If only one entry is deleted, the Receivables Reconciliation Summary report may show an out-of-balance amount equal to the finance charge.

When you delete one of the entries, you are reminded to delete the other entry for the finance charge. Note that a warning appears even though you may have already deleted the corresponding invoice or payment.

Customer credits

Recording credits

You can create a customer credit note in the following ways:

  • Reverse an existing sale. Use this method if you are crediting the customer for the entire sale.
  • Manually create a credit. Use this method if you are crediting the customer for part of a sale.

To reverse a sale

To reverse a sale, the sale transaction must be unchangeable, that is, the Transactions CAN'T be Changed; They Must Be Reversed option must be selected in the Security view of the Preferences window.

  1. Find and display the invoice for the sale. See 'Finding a transaction'.
  2. Go to the Edit menu and choose Reverse Sale. A credit note appears in the Sales window. Note that the invoice amount is a negative amount.
  3. If you want, you can make a few changes to the customer credit note (such as changing the date and memo), but you cannot change the accounts, amounts and quantities that are associated with the credit.
  4. Click Record Reversal. A customer credit appears in the Sales Register window.

To manually create a credit for a non-item sale

Use this method if you want to credit the customer for a part of a non-item sale.

NOTE : Before you manually create a credit of this type, you need to have an account for tracking returns and allowances. Check your accounts list for an income account named 'Sales Returns and Allowances'. If it doesn't exist, you need to create it. For more information about creating an account, see 'To create an account'.

  1. Go to the Sales command centre and click Enter Sales. The Sales window appears.
  2. Type or select the customer you are creating a credit for
  3. Select the Invoice status from the drop-down list in the top left corner of the window.
  4. Click Layout, choose Miscellaneous and then click OK.
  5. In the Description column, enter a description of the credit for your records.
  6. Select the account to be credited. This is normally an income account called 'Sales Returns and Allowances'.
  7. In the Amount field, type the amount of the credit as a negative amount.
  8. Click Record. A customer credit appears in the Sales Register window.

To manually create a credit for an item sale

Use this method if you want to credit the customer for part of an item sale.

  1. Go to the Sales command centre and click Enter Sales. The Sales window appears.
  2. Type or select the customer you are creating a credit for
  3. Select the Invoice status from the drop-down list in the top left corner of the window.
  4. Click Layout, choose Item and then click OK
  5. In the Ship column, type the number of items being returned as a negative number. The costs of the items appear as negative amounts.
  6. Click Record. A customer credit appears in the Sales Register window.

Settling credit notes

You can choose to settle a customer credit by:

  • applying the credit to one or more of the customer's open invoices, thereby reducing the amount of money the customer owes you, or
  • recording a refund payment.

To apply a customer credit to an open invoice

  1. Go to the Sales command centre and click Sales Register. The Sales Register window appears.
  2. Click the Returns & Credits tab. A list of customer credits appears.
  3. If the credit you want to settle is not showing, select Customer from the Search By list to display a credit for a particular customer. Enter the customer's name in the adjacent field and press TAB. A list of credits for that customer appears.
  4. Highlight the credit you want to apply and click Apply to Sale. The Settle Returns & Credits window appears, listing all open invoices assigned to the customer.
  5. Enter the amounts you want to apply to one or more open invoices in the Amount Applied column.
  6. If the Apply Customer Payments Automatically to Oldest Invoice First preference is set, amounts will appear next to the oldest invoices in the Amount Applied column.

    However, you can apply the credit amount to any one transaction or you can divide it among many transactions in the list. Note that the total amount you apply in the Amount Applied column must equal the amount that appears in the Credit Amount field. This amount comes from the customer credit you selected above.

  7. Enter an amount in the Finance Charge field if you want to apply part of a customer credit to any unpaid finance charges the customer may have accrued.
  8. Click Record to apply the credit.

To record a refund payment

  1. Go to the Sales command centre and click Sales Register. The Sales Register window appears.
  2. Click the Returns & Credits tab. A list of customer credits appears.
  3. If the credit you want to settle does not appear, select Customer from the Search By list. Enter the customer's name in the adjacent field and then press TAB. A list of credits for that customer appears.
  4. Select the credit you want to refund and click Pay Refund. A refund cheque for the amount of the credit appears in the Settle Returns & Credits window.
  5. In the Account field, enter or select an account.
  6. For example, if you're paying a credit card refund and you group all your credit card sales, choose your undeposited funds account.

  7. If you want to, change other information in the window, such as the transaction date.
  8. If you are paying by cheque and you have already written it, select the Cheque Already Printed option.
  9. Specify how you want to send a remittance advice by selecting a delivery option from the Remittance Advice Delivery Status list and then click Record.

Dealing with a customer who is also a supplier

If your business sells goods and services to a business from which you also make purchases, you need to record the transactions using a separate customer and supplier card. You can then record a contra payment to offset the receivable and payable amounts.

Before you can record contra payments, you need to create a bank account called Contra Suspense. For more information, see 'To create an account'.

To record contra payments

  1. Record a payment from the customer
    1. In the Receive Payments window, click Deposit to Account and type or select the Contra Suspense account.
    2. In the Customer field, type or select the customer's name.
    3. Type the amount that you are offsetting against an invoice and click Record.
  2. Record a payment made to the supplier:
    1. a In the Pay Bills window, type or select the Contra Suspense account in the Pay from Account field.
    2. In the Supplier field, type or select the supplier's name.
    3. Type the amount that you need to offset against a purchase.

After these entries are made, your bank accounts will not have been affected; yet the receivable and payable accounts have been reduced. The Contra Suspense account should be zero.

Accounting for bad debts

When you know that a debt will not be recovered, you need to write it off.

  1. Create a Bad Debt expense account in your accounts list. For more information, see 'To create an account'.
  2. Create a credit sale for the customer.
    1. Go to the Sales command centre and click Enter Sales.
    2. In the Sales window, click Layout.
    3. In the Select Layout window, click Miscellaneous and then click OK.
    4. In the Settle Returns & Credits window, apply the credit against the customer's original open invoice.

    5. In the Customer field, type or select the customer's name.
    6. In the Description field, type a description of the transaction.
    7. In the Acct No. field, type or select the account for Bad Debts.
    8. If you account for bad debts by posting a provision to an asset account, you can select that account.

    9. In the Amount field, type the bad debt amount as a negative number.
    10. Click Record.