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Home > Direct Bill / City Ledger > Direct Bill Procedures > Fix Out of Balance Direct Bill Accounts

Fix Out of Balance Direct Bill Account

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.

 

How to tell if an account is out of balance:
  • Compare the customer's balance on the Open Item Payment Entry screen to the balance on the Display Account Detail screen. (Make sure you answer "No" when asked if you want to show unpaid invoices only). If the balances are not the same, the account is out of balance. 

  • Print the Customer Aged Trial Balance report (below). If an account is out of balance, it will have two asterisks (**) on the far right.

 

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

  • Use when a payment is posted correctly in the Account Detail screen, but the payment did not apply correctly to the invoice(s) listed in the Open Item Payments screen.
  • This method will apply a prior payment to the correct invoice(s) without creating a new payment.

Fix: Adjust Amount Paid

  • Use when a payment is reversed or credited, but the invoice still shows the original paid amount on the Account Detail.
  • The invoice may not appear on the Open Item Payments screen if it was originally paid in full, or it will show an incorrect amount paid.
  • This method will allow you to correct the paid amount of the invoice.
►If Display Account Detail is incorrect…

 

Fix: Force the Missing Payment

  • Use when a payment is posted in Open Item Payments and correctly applied to the invoice(s), but the payment did not post in the Account Detail screen.
  • Use when you can easily identify the invoice(s) that the missing payment applied to. 
  • This method will add the missing payment on the Account Detail screen and leave the "amount paid" on the invoice as is.

Fix: Reset the Amount Paid

  • Use when a payment is posted in Open Item Payments and correctly applied to the invoice(s), but the payment did not post in the Account Detail screen.
  • Use when you can easily identify the invoice(s) that the missing payment applied to.
  • This method will undo or reset the amount paid on the invoice and allow you to repost the payment.

Fix: Create an Adjustment and Force it Paid

  • Use when a payment is posted in Open Item Payments and correctly applied to the invoice(s), but the payment did not post in the Account Detail screen.
  • This method is used when you just can't identify the invoice(s) associated with the faulty payment, usually because the account has a lot of activity.
  • With this method, the Account Detail is adjusted to show the correct balance.
Apply Prior Payment

 

Use this method when:

  • The Account Detail balance is correct, but an invoice or invoices show the wrong paid amount.
  • The Open Item Payments screen has an incorrect balance and shows invoices that a payment did not apply to correctly.


Example:

  • Customer 0419 has a $0 balance on the Account Detail screen, but a balance of $95.15 on the Open Item Payments screen.
  • You can see that an invoice for $611.60 shows a partial payment of $516.45.
  • On the Account Detail screen, the total of all of the payments equals the total invoice amount ($611.60) resulting in a $0 balance.
  • On the Open Item Payments screen, this invoice shows as only partially paid, resulting in a balance of $95.15.
  • In order for the account to balance, the unapplied balance ($95.15) must be applied to the invoice.

 

 


How to apply a prior payment:

  1. Go to Enter Open Item Payments and enter the Customer code and Payment date.

  2. Payment code: P

  3. Reference: Optional

  4. Payment amount: .00 (zero)

  5. Invoice/seq to pay: Enter the sequence number (first column) of the invoice to apply payment to. If there are credit invoices, select those first.

  6. Amount to pay this invoice: Enter the total amount of the invoice.


  7. Ok? (Y/N): Type +P and press <enter>.

  8. Note: The invoice table won't reflect this adjustment yet, but it has been made.

  9. The cursor will return to the Invoice/seq to pay field. Repeat steps 5-7 until all invoices that need to be adjusted have been done.

  10. When you have finished the last adjustment, you must press the <esc> button until the cursor returns to the Customer code field.

    Note: This is the only time you should escape out when posting a payment. If you need to cancel a regular payment before it is saved, you should answer N or type U (undo payment) in the Ok? field.

  11. Press <enter> to see the adjustments.


After the fix:

  • The invoice no longer appears on the Open Item Payments screen and the balance is now $0.
  • The customer's Account Detail now shows the invoice is fully paid:



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

 

Adjust Paid Amount

 

Use this method when:

  • The balance on the Account Detail screen is correct. However, a payment was reversed or credited, and the invoice still shows the original paid amount.
  • The balance on the Open Item Payments screen is incorrect. The invoice may not appear on the Open Item Payments screen if it was originally paid in full, or it may show an incorrect amount paid.


Example:

  • Customer 8359 has a balance of $3410 on the Account Detail screen. but a balance of $150.00 on the Open Item Payments screen.
  • An invoice for $5848.30 was paid in full by 3 ACH payments. Later, one of the ACH payments was reversed, and a new ACH payment was posted.
  • The paid amount on the invoice was not updated to reflect the correct amount paid, even though the balance on the Account Detail is correct.
  • The Open Item Payments screen shows an incorrect balance of $0, because the invoice is still "paid in full."
  • In order for the account to balance, the paid amount of the invoice needs to be corrected.

 

 


How to adjust the amount paid: 

  1. Go to Enter Open Item Payments.

  2. Enter the Customer code.

  3. Payment date is today.

  4. Payment code is P.

  5. Reference is blank.

  6. Payment amount is 0.

  7. Invoice/seq to pay: If the invoice you're looking for is "paid in full", type A and press <enter> to display all invoices.


  8. Enter the Seq number (the number in the first column of the invoice table) of the first invoice you want to adjust. Press <enter>.

  9. Amount to pay this invoice: Enter the correct amount paid for this invoice. In our example, the sum of all payments is $2438.30 (220.00 + 1550.20 + 4078.10 - 4078.10 +668.10). Press <enter>.



  10. Ok? (Y/N): Type +P and press <enter>. 

    Note: The invoice table won't reflect this adjustment yet, but it has been made.

  11. The cursor will return to the Invoice/seq to pay field. Repeat steps 8 -10 until all invoices that need to be adjusted have been done.

  12. When you have finished the last adjustment, you must press the <esc> button until the cursor returns to the Customer code field.

    Note: This is the only time you should escape out when posting a payment. If you need to cancel a regular payment before it is saved, you should answer N or type U (undo payment) in the Ok? field.

  13. Press <enter> to see the adjustments you've just made.


After the fix: 

  • The Open Item Payments screen now shows the correct balance ($3410.00) and the invoice as partially unpaid.

  • The Account Detail now shows the correct amount paid on the invoice. 

 

 


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

 

Force the Missing Payment

 

Use this method when:

  • The balance on the Open Item Payments screen is correct, but the balance on the Account Detail screen is incorrect.
  • A payment is missing on the Account Detail screen, but the invoice shows as paid.

Example:

  • Customer ABC has a balance of $1825.96 on the Account Detail screen, but a balance of $1394.86 on the Open Item Payments screen.
  • On the Account Detail screen, you can see that there is an invoice for $431.10 that shows paid in full. However, there is no payment of $431.10 in the customer's account.
  • Because the invoice is marked paid, it no longer appears under Unpaid Invoices on the Open Item Payments screen.
  • To correct the balance on the Account Detail screen, we can "force" the missing payment without affecting the Paid amount of the invoice.

 

 


How to post the missing payment:

  1. Go to Enter Transactions (rather than Open Item Payments.)

  2. Enter the Customer code and press <enter>.

  3. Enter P for Type and press <enter>.

  4. As shown below, a popup will tell you "No bal forward payment for an open item acc."


  5. To override this, type F and press <enter>.
    Note: Only do this when correcting an out-of-balance account as described herein. Otherwise, post all open item payments in the Enter Open Item Payment screen.

  6. Enter the transaction Date, valid transaction Code, Amount, Reference, and Comment, pressing <enter> after each entry.

  7. When your cursor is in the OK column, press <enter> again to move your cursor to the next line. If you do not press <enter> in the OK column, you will not save the transaction.


After the fix:

  • Below is the customer's Account Detail showing the "forced" payment.
  • The Paid amount of the invoice remained the same.
  • The balance is now $1394.86 and matches the balance on the Open Item Payments screen.

 


 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

 

Reset the Amount Paid

 

Use this method when:

  • The balance on the Open Item Payments screen is correct, but the balance on the Account Detail screen is incorrect.
  • A payment is missing on the Account Detail screen, but the invoice shows as paid.

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.

 


Example:

  • Customer ABCT has a balance of $0 on the Open Item Payments screen. but a balance of $150.00 on the Account Detail screen.
  • Looking at the Account Detail screen, we can see that there is a $150 payment missing, and that the likely invoice involved is the second one from the top, for $150.00. It shows Paid, but we see no matching payment.


 

 


How to reset the amount paid:

 

Invoices must be selected and reset ONE AT A TIME.

  1. Go to Enter Open Item Payments.

  2. Enter the Customer code.

  3. Payment date is today.

  4. Payment code is P.

  5. Reference is blank.

  6. Payment amount is 0.

  7. Invoice/seq to pay: If the invoice you're looking for shows paid in full, type A and press <enter> to display all invoices.


  8. Enter the Seq number (the number in the first column of the invoice table) of the first invoice you want to adjust. Press <enter>.

  9. Amount to pay this invoice: Enter the amount that will reset this invoice. If it was a partial payment, enter the amount before the faulty payment was made. If it was paid in full by the faulty payment, enter 0. Press <enter>.



  10. Ok? (Y/N): Type +P and press <enter>. 

    Note: The invoice table won't reflect this adjustment yet, but it has been made.

  11. The cursor will return to the Invoice/seq to pay field. Repeat steps 8 -10 until all invoices that need to be adjusted have been done.

  12. When you have finished the last adjustment, you must press the <esc> button until the cursor returns to the Customer code field.

    Note: This is the only time you should escape out when posting a payment. If you need to cancel a regular payment before it is saved, you should answer N or type U (undo payment) in the Ok? field.

  13. Press <enter> to see the adjustments you've just made.

  14. You will now need to repost the payment.


After the fix:

  • The Open Item Payments screen and the Account Detail screen now show the invoice is unpaid.
  • You can now repost the payment in Enter Open Item Payments.

 

 


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


Create an Adjustment and Force it Paid
  • Use when a payment is posted in Open Item Payments and correctly applied to the invoice(s), but the payment did not post in the Account Detail screen.
  • This method is used when you can't identify the invoice(s) associated with the faulty payment, usually because the account has a lot of activity.
  • With this method, the Account Detail is adjusted to show the correct balance.

Example:

  • Customer DEMO3 has 2 asterisks (**) on the Customer Aged Trial Balance, indicating this account is out of balance.
  • The Account Detail shows a balance of $120, but the Open Item Payments balance is $0.
  • All of the invoices show fully paid, but it is difficult to determine what invoices were paid by the missing payment.

 

 

 


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.

  1. From Customer Processing, go to Enter Transactions. (Older menus may have this option labeled something like "Enter Charges / Balance Forward Payments.")



  2. Enter the Customer Code.

  3. Type is "A" for adjustment.

  4. Date is today.

  5. Code should be "T" unless you want to create a new adjustment code.

  6. Amount should be the total amount of adjustment needed to bring the Account Detail screen into balance.

  7. Reference should be "FIX".

  8. Comment should be "FIX"

  9. Once the new invoice has been created, be sure to update your batch.

    You can see the adjustment on the Account Detail screen, but it shows as unpaid. 

How to force the adjustment paid:


Next, you will force the Amount Paid for this adjustment invoice.

  1. Go to Enter Open Item Payments and enter the Customer code.

    You should notice that the Balance shown in this screen is now incorrect. You've already fixed the balance in the Display Account Detail screen, so now you'll fix the balance in Enter Open Item Payments screen.


  2. Payment Date is today.

  3. Payment Code is "P".

  4. Reference is blank.

  5. Payment Amount is 0.

  6. Enter the Invoice/Seq to pay (the number in the first column of the invoice table) of the first invoice to adjust. Press <Enter>

  7. Amount to pay this invoice: enter the total amount of the adjustment invoice, whether it be a credit or debit. Press <Enter>.

  8. OK?(Y/N): type +P and press <Enter>.

    Important: The invoice table won't reflect this adjustment yet, but it has been made.

  9. Hit the <Esc> key several times to back out until the "Customer code" field is active, and press <Enter> to see the adjustments you've just made. 

After the fix:

  • The Account Detail screen now shows the adjustment invoice is paid in full.

  • You also see that there is no payment associated with this invoice. Had this been paid as a normal invoice, a payment would have been generated and the account would still be off.



  • The Customer Aged Trial Balance no longer shows this account as out of balance.


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





Article ID
 fix_out_of_balance_direct_bill_accounts
Views
 5488
Last Modified
 8/5/2024 3:58 PM