Home > Direct Bill / City Ledger > Direct Bill Procedures > Fix Out of Balance Direct Bill Accounts
When a Direct Bill / City Ledger account is out of balance, there is a discrepancy between the Display Account Detail balance and the Enter Open Item Payments balance. This discrepancy is caused by a payment transaction, done through the Enter Open Item Payments screen, not being completed. It can be left incomplete either by the user escaping out of the program, or the computer turning off or losing its network connection. Whatever the case might be, the problem is that the payment transaction was not completed, leaving the account out of balance.
The balance on the Open Item Payments screen is calculated by adding all the invoice amounts, then subtracting the amount paid.
However, the Display Account Detail screen uses a different method of calculating the total. To calculate the balance on this screen, all invoices are added, then all payments are subtracted. The balance is the sum of all transaction amounts in the Amount column, not the Paid column. A payment and the amount paid are two different records. In the invoice record, the amount paid, as well as the invoice amount, are recorded. A payment is a separate record. This is done so we can keep track of a single payment that is used to pay several invoices.
The payment record is not generated until the Enter Open Item Payments screen is successfully completed, although the Amount Paid field is updated immediately. A discrepancy can happen by selecting the Invoice to pay and entering the Payment amount, then escaping out of the screen before the Ok? question at the bottom of the screen is answered.
Decide which balance is incorrect
When the customer’s Open Item Payments balance is not the same as their Display Account Detail balance, you need to determine which one is correct, and which one is incorrect. This will determine what method you should use to fix it.
►If Open Item Payments is incorrect…
Fix: Apply Prior Payment
Fix: Adjust Amount Paid
Fix: Force the Missing Payment
Fix: Reset the Amount Paid
Fix: Create an Adjustment and Force it Paid
Use this method when:
Example:
How to apply a prior payment:
After the fix:
Remember to update your Direct Bill transaction batch when you're finished. If you wish, you can wait until the end of the day if you have additional transactions to post.
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How to adjust the amount paid:
How to post the missing payment:
Customers using Execu/Tech's Back Office: You will need to see if the original payment transaction posted to General Ledger. If it did, you can delete this transaction from the G/L batch (not the Direct Bill batch). Remember to update your Direct Bill transaction batch when you're finished. If you wish, you can wait until the end of the day if you have additional transactions to post. Back to Top
With this method, the "amount paid" is reset to what it was before the faulty payment was made.
Once this is done, you can repost the payment.
How to reset the amount paid:
Invoices must be selected and reset ONE AT A TIME.
How to create the adjustment:
The first task is to get the Display Account Detail screen to show the correct balance. We accomplish this by creating a single adjustment, whether it be a credit or a debit.
How to force the adjustment paid:
Next, you will force the Amount Paid for this adjustment invoice.