AR invoices and payments
How a company's folio becomes an invoice, how credit notes and payments change what it owes, and which page to use.
A company on Direct billing does not pay at check-out. Estatell moves the folio to the City ledger, which means it makes an invoice for the company. The company pays later, and you match each payment to the invoices it covers. This folder explains each step.
The steps at a glance
| I want to | Use |
|---|---|
| Bill a company for a folio and close the folio | Settle to City ledger |
| Find an invoice, open it, print it or void it | Invoices |
| Lower an invoice that is too high | Credit notes |
| Record money a company paid | Record a company payment |
| Match a payment to invoices, or undo a match | Allocate and reverse |
How an invoice changes status
- An invoice is Open while the company still owes money on it, and Settled when the balance is 0.00. Estatell changes the status by itself.
- A Void invoice is no longer owed and never changes again. You can void only an Open invoice with no credit notes and no payments.
- A credit note is Settled when you issue it, because it lowers its invoice at once. You can void it.
How the balances work
Estatell works out every balance from the invoices, credit notes and payments. It does not store them, so they cannot drift apart.
| Balance | How Estatell works it out |
|---|---|
| Invoice balance | Invoice amount, minus its credit notes that are not void, minus the payments allocated to it |
| Payment unallocated | Payment amount, minus what you allocated from it |
| Company balance | Balances of its open invoices, minus its unallocated payments |
Money you do not allocate stays as credit on the company. It lowers what the company owes until you allocate it.
Example:
| What happened | Amount |
|---|---|
| Invoice KHS-26700004 | MYR 1,517.96 |
| Credit note for a goodwill discount | MYR -50.00 |
| Payment KHS-26500006, allocated to the invoice | MYR 500.00 |
| Invoice balance | MYR 967.96 |
| Payment KHS-26500007, not allocated yet | MYR 500.00 |
| Company balance | MYR 467.96 |
Credit note, or void and reopen?
Both fix a folio that went to the City ledger, but they do different jobs.
| Issue credit note | Void invoice and reopen | |
|---|---|---|
| Use it for | A part correction, such as a goodwill discount or a rate that was too high | Redoing the folio, such as a forgotten minibar charge or a line on the wrong folio |
| The invoice | Stays. The credit note is linked to it. | Becomes Void. Settling again makes a new invoice with the same number. |
| The folio | Stays closed. | Opens again, so you can post, reverse or move lines. |
| A payment already received | Reverse the payment, issue the credit note, then allocate again. | Reverse the payment in the dialog, void and reopen, settle again, then allocate again. |
- Choose a credit note once the company has the invoice. Its books then show the same invoice and a credit note.
- Choose Void invoice and reopen for a mistake you find before the invoice goes out. It is in the Invoice menu of the closed folio. See Close and reopen.
- Never issue a credit note just to reopen a folio. A credit note blocks the void until you void the credit note.
Who can do what
| Task | Permission | Who has it by default |
|---|---|---|
| See invoices, payments and receipts | View companies | Owners, managers, finance and front desk staff |
| Settle a folio to City ledger, void an invoice | Settle folios to City ledger and void AR invoices | Owners, managers and finance staff |
| Issue or void a credit note | Issue and void AR credit notes | Owners, managers and finance staff |
| Record or void a company payment | Record and void AR payments | Owners, managers and finance staff |
| Allocate a payment, reverse an allocation | Allocate AR payments and reverse allocations | Owners, managers and finance staff |
Front desk staff can only view companies, invoices and payments by default. An owner can change the roles in Settings.