Accounts Receivable maintains two types of customer accounts:
- Open item
- Balance forward
You assign an account type for each customer group you define. The selected account type becomes the default account type for the customers and national accounts you assign to the group.
You can select a different account type in a customer record, unless the customer is assigned to a national account. (You cannot change the account type for members of national accounts.)
Open Item Account Type
In open-item accounts, every customer transaction is kept as a unique current balance and document number. Generally, you apply receipts, credit notes, and debit notes to specific outstanding invoices, or as prepayments to future invoices. If any amount of a receipt or credit note transaction is unapplied after the transaction is posted, you can apply the amount to other transactions for the same customer.
If you enter entire receipts, credit notes, or debit notes on account (without invoice numbers) for open-item customers, you also later apply the amounts to outstanding customer transactions.
Statements for open-item customers show all outstanding transactions in the account and the opening balances net as of the statement date.
Charging Interest
For open-item accounts, you can charge interest on overdue documents or on overdue account balances.
Printing Statements
Statements printed for open-item accounts show all outstanding transactions for all periods.
Balance Forward Account Type
With balance-forward accounts, you generally apply receipts, credit notes, and debit notes to the oldest customer transactions, in order of transaction date, rather than to specific invoices or other documents.
If you want to apply a receipt, credit note, or debit note to a specific invoice, you can do so by entering the invoice number with the transaction. Accounts Receivable then applies the amount to that invoice, and if any excess remains, it is applied to the next oldest customer transaction, regardless of type.
Statements for balance-forward customers show a balance brought forward from previous periods, the transactions posted in the current period, and the outstanding balance in each aging period.
Charging Interest
For balance-forward accounts, you can charge interest only on overdue account balances.
Printing Statements
Statements for balance-forward accounts show a total balance forward from previous periods, the transactions posted in the current period, and the outstanding balance in each aging period.