Data Images, Inc.

Golden Lion Accounts Receivable

The Accounts Receivable module from Data Images' Golden Lion Accounting System handles six basic transactions that are encountered every day:

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Customer Deposits

If your business accepts orders that require deposits, the Customer Deposits program will record your deposits and track them until used.

Each Deposit may be ear-marked for one or more invoices. When these invoices have been entered into the Accounts Receivable system, the program can match each deposit to its list of invoices, determine if the list is complete and matches the total of the deposit, and apply the deposit as required.

Deposits may also be matched manually. Each deposit can be applied to one or more invoices.

If a balance remains on a given deposit, it may be refunded to the customer.

Reoccurring Bills

The Accounts Receivable program handles reoccuring bills. If a customer contracts for the same service month after month, then set up a bill and enter a schedule for the production of invoices.

At the beginning of each month, or other period of time as determined by your business, process the reoccuring billing file and produce the appropriate invoices. Print them and send them to your customers.

Bills may be suspended. This means that no invoices result from a suspended bill. If the suspension is removed, all scheduled invoices that had not been created during the suspension will now be created. These invoices may be updated and/or deleted as circumstances dictate.

An expiring report tells you which customers have reoccuring bills that expire within a specified time. You may then contact these customers, and renew their contract.

A bill that has been completed (its schedule has been completely invoiced) may be retired. If a customer renews your services, the bill may also be renewed, with a new schedule, thus saving the time and effort of re-entering the contract information.

Invoicing

Invoices in the Accounts Receivable system may originate in two ways. They may originate in another program such as the Order Entry portion of the Inventory Control module, and then posted to the Accounts Receivable program.

Invoices may also be entered manually. Many service businesses find the Invoice Entry program sufficient to cover all their requirements for billing.

An invoice first and foremost contains one or more entries covering the services or products sold. Each entry requires a Merchandise Code . Every merchandise code has a description, as well as all the General Ledger infomation required for the transaction. An additional description may be entered, along with the quantity sold, the price and the cost. Both the price and cost may default to the price and cost recorded in the merchandise code record.

For certain customers that have the same types of charges on every invoice, merchandise codes may be entered into the Customer Record . If this is done, each such merchandise code is automatically brought up on any invoice for this customer. The price may be unique in each customer record. This speeds the entry of an invoice. Further, additional routine charges such as sales taxes and freight can be set up in the customer's record.

After all the merchandise code entries are made, a variety of additional charges and credits may be entered:

For each of these A/R Codes , there is a code file record that contains the General Ledger accounts associated with the transaction.

Comments may be added to the invoice. This feature can be used to document time spent on a project, to further discuss details of work performed, or otherwise clarify the services being billed.

Cash Receipts

Cash Receipt records track cash, checks and credit cards used for payment of invoices. Further, non-cash adjustments of invoices and debit memos can be made: write-off sales taxes that were incorrectly applied to sale; write off a two-cent balance (it would cost you 20 bucks to collect the two cents); and (occasionally) write-off a bad debt.

If cash is received, and the proper application cannot be determined immediately, then the un-applied amount may be sent to cash-on-account. This allows time for the customer to be contacted, and proper allocation to be determined.

If an invoice is overpaid, you have a choice of placing the un-applied balance on-account, or of overpaying the invoice. This would leave the invoice with a credit balance, which may later be applied to another invoice or debit memo. If the un-used amount cannot be reconciled, it can be sent to cash-on-account.

Cash-on-account amounts can be handled in a two (2) ways. First, it may be applied to an existing invoice or debit memo. Second, it may be refunded. Refunds can be made to the customer. On occasion, a cash-on-account balance cannot be reconciled. It may be refunded to a miscellaneous revenue account, thus clearing the unused balance.

Debit Memos

Debit Memos are fundamentally the same as Invoices, and share all of the same features. Once they have been entered, printed and accepted, they share the same attributes as invoices concerning cash receipts, application of deposits or cash-on-account, or the application of credit memos.

Credit Memos

Credit Memos are fundamentally the same as Invoices, except they reverse charges. The credit may be applied to one or more invoices or debit memos at the time the credit memo is being generated. Or, the credit memo may be accepted and put to credit-on-account. Credit-on-account works the same as Cash-on-account.

Other Features

A/R Code File Records

A/R Codes are grouped by Category:

Merchandise Codes

Merchandise codes are used by Invoices, Debit memos and Credit memos. The contain:

Merchandise codes may be included in a customer's record. When an invoice is created for that customer, each merchandise code, and the price in the customer master, is presented to the entry clerk in sequence.

Discount Terms Codes

Discount terms codes are entered into a customer's account, if discounts are allowed. They then influence cash receipts processing of invoices.

Discount terms codes are also used by the order entry portion of the Serial Inventory system.

Customer Master File

The Customer Master file contains:

A customer account is first set up for the billing account. If the Bill-to and Ship-to information are the same, or there is only a seperate Bill-to address, then a single account will suffice

If there are multiple Ship-to locations, all having a single Bill-to location, then each Ship-to has a seperate account, and is tagged with the Bill-to account.

Mailing List File

The mailing list file contains entries for names, addresses and phone numbers and can be used for any purpose you wish.

Accounts Receivable Reports

There are more than a hundred specialized reports in the A/R module covering all transactions and summarized history:

The Accounts Receivable Aging reports cover receivables both by Bill-to customer accounts and Ship-to customer accounts:

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