Introduction

As important as the invoicing itself is the filing of incoming payments in the Receipts register. It is by keeping the Invoice and Receipt registers up to date that you can operate an efficient debt-chasing system.

Entering a Receipt

To open the Receipt register, click the [Receipts] button in the Master Control panel, or use the Ctrl-2 (Windows and Linux) or ⌘-2 (Macintosh) keyboard shortcuts.

The 'Receipts: Browse' window is opened, showing Receipts already entered.

Receipts are numbered consecutively. In the list, the Receipt Number is followed by a check mark if the Receipt is approved, by the Date, any Comment and the total value of the Receipt.

To enter a new Receipt, click [New] in the Button Bar or use the Ctrl-N (Windows) or ⌘-N (Macintosh) keyboard shortcut. Alternatively, select a Receipt similar to the one you want to enter and click [Duplicate] on the Button Bar.

The 'Receipt: New' window is opened, empty if you clicked [New] or with a copy of the copied Receipt. Complete the Receipt record as described below, then save it using the [Save] button and close the window by clicking the close box. Then, close the browse window using the close box again.

The principle for entering a Receipt is that you know at least:

1. How much has actually been received; and
   

2. any extra fees charged by the bank.

First a run-through of the fields.

No.

The Serial Number of a new Receipt is provided automatically by FirstOffice following on from the Number of the last Receipt entered.

When you start using FirstOffice, the Serial Number sequence will start at 1 and continue consecutively. If you want the sequence to start from another number, change the Number of the first Receipt: FirstOffice will then continue the sequence from there. You can then change the Number of any subsequent Receipt if you want to use another number sequence. Note that you must change the Serial Number before you save the Receipt: it cannot be changed afterwards.

Trans. Date

Paste Special    Choose date

The Transaction Date for the Receipt: the date when the Receipt is posted to your Nominal Ledger.

Payment Mode

Paste Special    Payment Modes setting

The Payment Mode is the method of payment (e.g. cheque, credit card or cash). It determines the Nominal Ledger Account that will be debited by the Receipt.

On a single Receipt it is possible to enter payments from different Customers against different Invoices.

However, it is not possible to enter payments across Payment Modes.

Comment

Default taken from    Payment Mode

The text for the Payment Mode. This text may be changed.

Use the grid area that takes up most of the screen to list the Invoices being paid by the Receipt. A single Receipt can be allocated to several Invoices, but all payments on a single Receipt must use the same Payment Mode. The Payment Mode reflects not only the payment method (i.e. cheque, cash or credit card) but also the Bank Account debited. So, all payments received in a single day and paid into a particular Bank Account can be entered using a single Receipt record.

Each record in the Receipt register results in one Nominal Ledger Transaction, with bank or other institution as debit Account (taken from the Payment Mode).

You can also bring Invoices into a Receipt by opening the 'Invoices: Browse' window, selecting a range of Invoices by clicking while holding down the Shift key, and then dragging them to the Invoice No field in the first empty Receipt row. You can also copy a list of Invoice Numbers in a spreadsheet or word processor and paste them in the Invoice No field in the first empty row.

Flip A

Inv. No.

Paste Special    Open, approved Invoices, Invoice register

The number of the Invoice being paid. When you enter an Invoice Number, the Open Invoice Value (the amount outstanding) is shown, and this figure is also brought in to the Received Value field as a default.

Note that when you use 'Paste Special', only unpaid Invoices will appear in the selection list. However, Invoices against which an unapproved Receipt has been entered are treated as unpaid and thus will be listed. Sorting the 'Paste Special' selection by Customer will allow you quickly to find the Invoice that is being paid.

If the Receipt is an On Account Receipt from a Customer with an account (marked using the On Account box on the 'Terms' card of the Customer screen) for which an Invoice has not yet been raised, leave this field blank. This is fully described on the On Account Receipts page.

Customer

Paste Special    Customers in Customer register

Default taken from    Invoice

Entered by FirstOffice when you enter an Invoice Number.

Pay. Date

The date when the payment was made. If you are not using the Allow Trans. Date Changing option in the Transaction Settings setting, this date must be the same as the Transaction Date (in the header) and cannot be changed independently.

Text

FirstOffice will enter the Customer's Name, as entered in the Customer register. You may change this if you wish.

Open Inv. Value

The outstanding amount of the Invoice being paid. This field cannot be changed.

Received Val

Default taken from    Outstanding amount on Invoice

The amount paid. You can change the default figure in the event of partial payments or overpayments.

Flip B

VAT Code, VAT Value

These fields are only used if you are using the Post Receipt VAT option in the Account Usage S/L setting. This will be the case for users of the Cash VAT scheme in the UK, and may be the case for users in Poland.

If you are using the Post Receipt VAT option, your output VAT liability is calculated from your Receipts, not from your Invoices. In this case, the VAT Code and VAT Value will be brought in to these fields automatically when you enter an Invoice Number on flip A (the VAT Code comes from the first row of the Invoice). When you approve and save the Receipt, the VAT amount will be moved from the temporary VAT Output Account to the final one (the O/P Account), as specified in the VAT Codes setting.

The Post Receipt VAT option also adds a VAT element to On Account Receipts. Once again, the O/P Account for the VAT Code is credited and the Output Account for the VAT Code is debited with the VAT amount.

Take care with these fields when entering On Account Receipts. As On Account Receipts do not have an Invoice Number, you must enter a VAT Code manually if you are using the Cash VAT scheme (i.e. if you are using the Post Receipt VAT option). The VAT Value will then be calculated from the Received Value. The Nominal Ledger Transaction resulting from the Receipt will not have a VAT element if the VAT Code or VAT Value is blank.

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OK

You can approve a Receipt by clicking this check box. When you click [Save] to save the Receipt, the Bank Account specified for the Payment Mode will be debited and the Debtor Control Account of the Invoice(s) being paid will be credited. No further modifications to the Receipt will be possible.

References in these web pages to approved Receipts are to Receipts whose OK check box has been switched on.

Deposited

The sum of the Received Values: the total for this Receipt.

Checking and Approving Receipts

Before you approve a Receipt, you should check it to ensure that no mistakes have been made in entering it to FirstOffice.

Once you have checked it, there are two ways to approve a Receipt:

1. Click the OK check box with the Receipt on screen and then save it by clicking [Save].
   

2. Select a Receipt by clicking on it in the 'Receipts: Browse' window, and select 'OK' on the Operations menu. By holding down the Shift key you can highlight a batch of Receipts to approve at a single stroke using this method.

The approval causes the Receipt to be inserted into your Sales Ledger. Except when expressly instructed otherwise, only approved Receipts are shown in the reports. Just as with Invoices, a Nominal Ledger Transaction is generated and passed to the Nominal Ledger when the Receipt is approved.

!	After approving a Receipt, it cannot be altered.

Nominal Transactions from Receipts

When a Receipt is approved and saved, a Nominal Ledger Transaction will be generated automatically. Please refer here for full details of this Transaction.

Operations Menu

The Operations menus for Receipts are shown above. The first illustration shows the Operations menu for the 'Receipts: Browse' window: highlight one or more Receipts (hold down the Shift key while clicking) in the list before selecting the function. The second illustration shows the Operations menu for the 'Receipt: New' and 'Receipt: Inspect' windows.

Operations Menu - OK

This command is available on the Operations menu only from the 'Receipts: Browse' window. It allows you to approve a Receipt and is therefore the equivalent of checking the OK box in a Receipt record. You can also select several Receipts (hold down the Shift key to select a range of Receipts in the list) and approve them all at once. Remember that this action causes Transactions to be created for each Receipt in the selection and that therefore once it has been carried out you will no longer be able to modify those Receipts.

Operations Menu - New Write-off

You can use this function to write off an Invoice. Specify the Invoice to be written off and change the Received Value to zero. If you need to record a partial payment and wish to write off the remainder, change the Received Value to the value of the partial payment. Press Tab or Return (but make sure the cursor is in the same row) and then, select this function. A new row will be created, containing the phrase "Write off". The Received Value field will be set to the remaining outstanding amount (i.e. the amount that is to be written off). This can be changed if you do not want to write off the whole of the outstanding amount. Approve and save the Receipt in the usual way. When the Nominal Ledger Transaction is created, the Write Off Account specified in the Account Usage S/L setting will be debited.

Operations Menu - New Fee

You should use this function when you need to pay bank charges.

Start by entering the Invoice number in the left-hand column. Then select 'New Fee' from the Operations menu. A new row will be created, containing the phrase "Fee" and a zero amount. Change the Received Value in this new row to the value of the bank charge. Approve and save the Receipt in the usual way. When the Nominal Ledger Transaction is created, the Bank Fee Account specified in the Account Usage S/L setting will be debited with the value of the bank charge.

Operations Menu - Open NL Transaction

When you approve and save a Receipt, a Nominal Ledger Transaction will be created. This function allows you to view that Transaction.

On selecting the function, the Transaction will be opened in a new window.

On Account Receipts

You can use On Account Receipts when you receive payments from Customers without reference to specific Invoices (usually before you have raised the Invoices). You can enter these payments to the Receipt register without specifying an Invoice Number:

For each Customer likely to pay deposits, switch on the On Account check box on the 'Terms' card. Then specify a separate control or suspense Account in the Account Usage S/L setting, using the On Account A/C field. In the example illustration below, the special Account for on account Customers is 806, since receiving a Prepayment creates a liability. The Nominal Ledger Transaction generated when an On Account Receipt is approved and saved will credit the Received Value to this Account. The debit Account is taken from the Payment Mode as usual:

You can then connect the On Account Receipt to a subsequent Invoice, to remove it from your Sales and Nominal Ledgers. First, enter and approve the Invoice as normal and without reference to the On Account Receipt. You must then register that the Invoice has been paid by the On Account Receipt. You can do this in a Receipt record as a two-step process:

In order to update the Sales Ledger correctly, you must enter the payment information twice as shown above: first as a normal row, and then with a negative sign as an On Account Receipt. The example Periodic Customer Statement below shows how the Invoice for 164.50 has been paid by the earlier On Account Receipt of 1,000. The remainder of the On Account Receipt is outstanding:

In the Nominal Ledger, the Invoice is removed from the Debtor Account, and the balance of the On Account A/C is reduced by the value of the Invoice:

Correcting Mistakes in Receipts

Even with the tightest quality control, it is probable that the occasional mistake will be made when entering Receipts. Once you have approved a Receipt, you cannot change it, but you can correct mistakes easily using the following procedure. It is important that you follow this procedure, to ensure the Customer's payment history remains correct.

1. In the 'Receipts: Browse' window, highlight the Receipt containing the error.
   

2. Click [Duplicate]. A new Receipt record is created, containing the details of that copied.
   

3. Insert a minus sign in front of the Received Value, ensuring the Received Value figure itself remains unchanged.
   

4. Click the OK check box and save the Receipt.
   

5. Enter a new, correct, Receipt.