Allocate payment to "already paid" invoice

Question asked by Craig Lowe 11 years ago

I regularly have to duplicate and remove payments but presume there is an easier way? I import transactions monthly to reconcile them but quite often we have already processed the payments etc even though it flags as unexplained transaction.

The task we're left with involves adding a new transaction from the statement then deleting the original one we entered but presume there is a way to allocate the transaction on the import tool to the "already paid" invoice? It's easy to allocate to unpaid invoices but can't find how to allocate to existing transactions etc? Hope it's an easy fix

http://www.clearbooks.co.uk/support/guides/payment/allocate-a-payment-against-an-unpaid-invoice-allocate-button/

I found a similar question here (I think) https://clearbooks.co.uk/network/ideas/view/allocate-a-payment-to-an-invoice-1486.html

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6 Replies

Hi Craig - can I jump in

I have had similar issues with my own clients and, firstly, on the number of "Paid" transactions made available, you are right, this is currently limited, I think, to three and so, with lots of transactions a month from the same customer/supplier, you'd have to import & "Reconcile" on a more regular basis, with latest first I think.

Apologies if I'm telling you something that you already know but the import/explain process is most useful for entries that you have not already entered in the books and some users run their books entirely in this way.

For you and me however, where we will pay off invoices or bills manually, or enter transactions as they happen, all the import/explain process is doing is confirming something you already know but enabling you to double check the amount you entered originally. As Berhan says, this "Reconciliation" element should be available to you by showing "Reconcile" next to a Paid item but if, for whatever reason, you can't see this, then there's no need to delete your original entry & re-input from the statement.

Instead, as long as you are happy that the amount on the statement matches the sum you entered, go to the bank screen itself, find the entry you made, check the check box next to it and hit "Reconcile" at the bottom of the page, this will put a nice green tick next to the item showing that you have reconciled it to the bank statement. You then return to the statement imported and delete the line as it's now redundant.

Some users, who enter most entries manually, do this in a bulk process, ie they look at the statement first, check all the items already entered and "Reconcile" then delete the lines from the CSV, importing only the fresh entries they want to import from the statement.

Hope that's not too confusing or old news.

Cheers
Paul

Best answer
11 years ago

Just as an additional explanation - we manage OK by deleting transactions as "explained" on general bank accounts but the main problem relates to PAYPAL, particularly the "fees" which are added etc? Not sure the best way to process these?

11 years ago

Hi Craig,

You can match paid invoices/bills to the transactions on the bank statement through reconciliation. If the amounts on the transaction matches those on the invoice, then you will have the option to reconcile them. You can find out more through our help guide:

http://www.clearbooks.co.uk/support/guides/reconciliation/reconcile-a-paid-invoice-with-a-receipt-on-an-imported-statement/

As for the PayPal fees, if you are doing this manually you will need to enter in the fee as a negative transaction. Click 'add transaction' and then you can allocate the remaining amount to your invoice.

For example, if it is for £9 with a £1 fee then when explaining the £9 on the statement you will first need to explain the paypal fee by changing the amount to -1 and explaining using the transaction form. Once you have done this you can allocate the remaining amount to your invoice.

I hope this has made things clearer.

Kind regards,

Berhan

11 years ago

I have just started to process imported transactions for April and came across the same issue. The way it is described on the HELP link you provided seems excellent but for some reason the ADD column doesnt have RECONCILE as an option for me? The page I see looks a bit different - namely the ADD column. It does, however, allow me to add as a new transaction?? But this defeats the object a bit really. Perhaps I am missing something?

I don't want to duplicate and remove transaction ideally once a statement comes through etc

Craig

Step 3.

Select the customer in the From box.

A table with recent transactions will appear. Any paid invoices that match the amount of the receipt will have the option to reconcile under the Add column. Click on the Reconcile link.

11 years ago

Just double checked and there definately is no link to allocate to pre-existing transactions. At first I suspected it wasn't showing up if a transaction had previously been marked as RECONCILED so I tried it with a very recent transaction - one which I know hadn't been reconciled and to make it simpler I chose a bank transaction rather than Paypal.

The same happened - I would simply have to choose between deleting OR duplicated - none of which seem very productive and would only serve to confuse the whole process each month??

What am I missing or has this option been removed? It certainly isn't displaying the same page/links etc as shown on the help page screen shots?

As a side note, even if the link was working it only shows the most recent transactions yet some customers transact with us 12 or more times per month so how do we access these from the RECENT TRANSACTIONS to match up with the statement

I love ClearBooks but recocilliation is a right pain! Eating up any time we may have saved throughout the month etc. Your support is great though and I look forward to an informative response to help me with this matter.

Craig

11 years ago

Hi Craig - can I jump in

I have had similar issues with my own clients and, firstly, on the number of "Paid" transactions made available, you are right, this is currently limited, I think, to three and so, with lots of transactions a month from the same customer/supplier, you'd have to import & "Reconcile" on a more regular basis, with latest first I think.

Apologies if I'm telling you something that you already know but the import/explain process is most useful for entries that you have not already entered in the books and some users run their books entirely in this way.

For you and me however, where we will pay off invoices or bills manually, or enter transactions as they happen, all the import/explain process is doing is confirming something you already know but enabling you to double check the amount you entered originally. As Berhan says, this "Reconciliation" element should be available to you by showing "Reconcile" next to a Paid item but if, for whatever reason, you can't see this, then there's no need to delete your original entry & re-input from the statement.

Instead, as long as you are happy that the amount on the statement matches the sum you entered, go to the bank screen itself, find the entry you made, check the check box next to it and hit "Reconcile" at the bottom of the page, this will put a nice green tick next to the item showing that you have reconciled it to the bank statement. You then return to the statement imported and delete the line as it's now redundant.

Some users, who enter most entries manually, do this in a bulk process, ie they look at the statement first, check all the items already entered and "Reconcile" then delete the lines from the CSV, importing only the fresh entries they want to import from the statement.

Hope that's not too confusing or old news.

Cheers
Paul

Best answer
11 years ago

Thanks Paul, it was really helpful. Perhaps I would be better off ignoring the import option completely, as a lot (most) of the transactions are already input throughout the month. Instead I will just be using bank reconcilliation process instead to flag any un-entered transactions. Perhaps trying to use both is confusing. I can imagine the import option is extremely useful when using it exclusively but already having transaction entered it risks duplication adding a lot of unneccessary time/effort etc

It is still a mystery as to why the hyperlink doesn't display though?

I will certainly try the alternative you mentioned for CSV imports etc. I think I was tempted to use import for the Paypal transactions specifically adding the fees etc but it may be quicker and easier to do it all manually instead from now on

Thanks again

Craig

11 years ago

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