Accounts Receivable Reconciliation: A How-To

Every business needs positive cash flow. That’s probably not a revelation, but how do you know how much money you’ve been paid and how much is still owed to you? Accounts Receivable Reconciliation is the answer.

Understanding accounts receivable reconciliation and how to keep an accurate general ledger account helps you to keep track of every dollar that has already come in and everyone that has yet to.

The accounts receivable reconciliation process can reveal discrepancies in your account balances and ensure you’re tracking debits and credits properly.

What is an Accounts Receivable Reconciliation?

In essence, an accounts receivable reconciliation report shows the difference between what customers owe you and how much you’ve been paid so far. The accounts receivable balance in the general ledger is the total amount owed to you.

The subsidiary ledger contains the customer’s account balances and the aging report gives a detailed listing of the amounts owed and how long those amounts have been outstanding.

Reconciliation is the process of ensuring that there are no discrepancies between the accounts receivable balance in the general ledger and the subsidiary ledger. This can be done manually or with automation. Software such as Excel and QuickBooks can greatly simplify the process, as do pre-made templates.

Why Is It Necessary to Reconcile Accounts Receivable?

One of the more important ways that a reconciliation of accounts receivable helps any large or small business is that it ensures that financial statements are clean and ready to audit. If the IRS comes calling, they’ll want to see that there are no discrepancies in a company’s receivable reports.

It also helps to prove amounts owed by customers. Customer balances paid so far and outstanding balances may not match up, and a business might have to reach out to the customer with proof that more payment is owed. Alternatively, it may show the opposite, that the company needs to extend a refund payment to a customer’s credit card or debit card.

Your business might require customer payment in 30 days, 45 days, 60 days, or some other amount of time. Tracking payments over a specific reporting period in aged accounts will let you know whether your payment structure and timeline are working or not.

If you run into reconciliation issues, you can identify collections, invoicing, and payment structure problems. Your reconciliation might be something that’s done by month-end, or it might be possible to wait until the end of the fiscal year. Keep in mind that monthly reconciliation is the standard, however.

What Is a General Ledger?

In double-entry accounting, the general ledger is where companies store their financial transaction data for the preparation of their financial statements. The general ledger lists assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expenses.

General ledger transactions summarize transactions made as journal entries to sub-ledger accounts. A list of general ledger accounts is called a trial balance. The trial balance allows the bookkeepers to make the company’s financial statements. These include the balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows, and other similar financial reports.

You will need to make a general ledger report, as well. This will give you a detailed list of your transactions going in and out of your accounts. It’s best to organize this by date and account type.

What Is a Subsidiary Ledger?

The subsidiary ledger is a detailed listing of customer transactions and payment history. Customer account balances are then reconciled with the general ledger accounts receivable balance.

How to Reconcile Accounts Receivable

Now that we’ve discussed the reasoning behind creating an accounts receivable reconciliation report, let’s go through the steps to creating the report.

First, compare the balance on your customer aging report and your general ledger balance. If there’s no difference, congratulations! The reconciliation is done.

If there is a difference — and there usually is — you’ll need to keep going.

Next, make sure all transactions are up to date for the reporting period for which you’re reconciling. Record all invoices and payments and update subsidiary ledger balances if applicable.

Now, it’s time to create an aged trial balance report. You will see all unpaid balances for the reporting period. This will be followed by creating a general ledger report for the same time period.

Look for discrepancies. Compare your accounts receivable balance with your accounts receivable report. If the ending balances are not the same, you need to find out why.

Correct any discrepancies that you find. Perhaps there was a recording error, such as placing a payment under the wrong reporting period or incorrectly recording payment amounts.

While this seems like a simple five-step process, it does involve a lot of math! Using automation software makes reconciling easier, more accurate, and faster.

Accounts Receivable Reconciliation with QuickBooks

If you’re using QuickBooks, this process is much simpler than if you were performing a manual reconciliation.

QuickBooks’ reconciliation feature allows you to make edits to existing transactions and create new ones to ensure the numbers are correct in your reconciliation report.

In QuickBooks, you need to click the gear icon on the top right, select the Tools tab, and then click Reconcile. Find the account you want to reconcile and then click Reconcile Now. Choose your start and end dates, fill in the fields, and select OK.

Now, you can compare your reconciliation report transactions with your bank statement. The difference should be zero. Click Finish when you are done.

Accounts Receivable Reconciliation with Excel

Excel makes reconciliation convenient because you can use pre-made templates. You will need to customize whichever template you choose to your specific needs. The process of reconciliation is similar to how you’d do it manually on a sheet of paper, but Excel does all the math for you.

Here’s a simple explanation of the process. Assign columns for Account, Invoice Total, Paid, and Outstanding Due. Your customers get listed under Account, the invoice amount for each customer goes under Invoice Total, how much payment has been received from each invoice goes under Paid, and the difference between the invoiced amount and the payment amount gets put into Outstanding Due.

Now, compare the general ledger accounts receivable balance with your spreadsheet. Look for discrepancies and, as described in previous sections, fix them. Templates do make this process easier and will contain the necessary fields and columns you need.

Make Reconciling Easier with HappyAR

HappyAR is a seamless SaaS that quickly and easily boosts your accounts receivables work. We save companies of all sizes thousands of dollars each year by optimizing the speed and efficiency of their collections methods. No more guessing if someone has received an invoice or trusting that it will be paid on time. This is a fully integrated solution that pays for itself over and over each month by preventing defaults and preserving client relationships.

HappyAR is an ever-evolving toolkit that helps optimize your invoice collections process and our solution starts at $0/month and scales up based on your invoice volume. Visit us at www.happyar.com to learn more.

Terminology is important. When you call something a "liability" or an "asset," you need to remember that you're not describing how we feel about that object or concept — you're using terms that someone in bookkeeping would use to relate to very specific concepts, like Accounts Receivable.

Let's take accounts receivable and accounts payable as examples to illustrate this important point.

Accounts Receivable vs. Accounts Payable — Liabilities or Assets?

Accounts receivable, which represents the amount of money that debtors owe you, is an asset. Accounts payable, which represents the amount of money you owe someone else, is a liability.

Many people might think that seeing accounts payable in the general ledger would represent a liability because it doesn't represent money in the bank, but that payment will actually come in at a future date.

While both accounts receivable and accounts payable will show up in a company's balance sheet, they have very different purposes.

Why Is Accounts Receivable Considered to Be an Asset?

Since the receivable balance is based on a large or small business's outstanding invoices — and invoices represent a legal obligation on the part of customers to pay — it's considered by lenders to be a representation of the strength of your business.

Even though every accounts receivable journal entry represents money you technically don't have — and accounts receivable definitely isn't a cash account — it's still considered to be a current asset.

As an aside, current assets are short-term assets because they can be converted into cash within a fiscal year. Noncurrent assets are long-term assets or fixed assets, which are useful over a long period of time to a company (including vehicles, buildings, real estate, etc.).

Back to accounts receivable as assets and how they're helpful. Let's say that you're a business owner and your company needs to borrow money like a working capital loan. You have a large number of assets in the form of accounts receivable and, factoring in good payment rates and other positive financial solvency, your history of collecting on outstanding invoices is solid.

The bank would see these positives and you could likely get some excellent rates for short-term liquidity.

Remember also that your net income is calculated by dividing operating profits by your assets, which includes accounts receivable. Accurate reporting in this area will be beneficial when tax time comes around!

Why Is Accounts Payable a Liability?

The reason accounts payable is a liability account is because it represents credit sales or unpaid debt. Rather than debits, which would mean the money came out of your account balance immediately, they are representative of money outstanding that would cause problems if your company never paid them.

Just as accounts receivable represents a current asset, accounts payable represents a current liability. Current liabilities refer to a company's short-term obligations that are due within one year. The company's accounts are strongest when accounts payable is kept to a minimum or, even better, stands at zero.

Are There Times When Accounts Receivable Is Bad?

When it becomes impossible to collect on accounts receivable, you have what's known as a bad debt expense. Perhaps you've tried to collect on the debt, sent dunning letters, contracted with collections agents, and still never got the funds.

If your company extended credit to a customer and they can't pay, you'll have to report the bad debts as an allowance for doubtful accounts in your company's balance sheet. Bad debt expenses get recorded in the income statement, which is one of the three key financial statements for your company (along with the balance sheet and statement of cash flows).

What Can I Do About Bad Debt?

When filing taxes in the U.S., you'll have to write off the bad debt as an expense. Now, if you use accrual accounting, simply writing it off won't work because it violates the matching principle.

The matching principle only allows expenses to have related revenues during the same accounting period in which the revenue transaction happened.

What About the Accounts Receivable Turnover Ratio? Is that Important?

The turnover ratio is essential for understanding how well a business collects debt and offers credit.

Divide net credit sales by the average accounts receivable to find your ratio. The higher the ratio, the more efficient your company is at turning over accounts receivable into money.

A low ratio could mean that your company isn't very effective at collecting on debts and could spell financial trouble in the future, as well as difficulty borrowing money.

Are Prepaid Expenses Assets?

While accounts payable is a liability because it represents money you haven't paid yet for goods or services, prepaid expenses are current assets because they represent money you've set aside to pay for those goods or services.

This doesn't mean that there can't be problems associated with prepaid expenses, though. If your company pays but never receives the entirety of what was paid for, it can be difficult or impossible to get those funds back.

Are Notes Receivable and Accounts Receivable the Same Thing?

These concepts are similar, but notes receivable are more formal. Notes receivable involve promissory notes that have to be signed by both the customer and the company. They also contain far more information about payment terms, they are often negotiable, and they can include noncurrent or current assets. They are both recorded in a company ledger as customer debts but are different in their execution and purpose.

Make Accounts Receivable Easier than Ever Before with HappyAR

HappyAR is a seamless SaaS that quickly and easily boosts your accounts receivables work. We save companies of all sizes thousands of dollars each year by optimizing the speed and efficiency of their collections methods. No more guessing if someone has received an invoice or trusting that it will be paid on time. This is a fully integrated solution that pays for itself over and over each month by preventing defaults and preserving client relationships.

HappyAR is an ever-evolving toolkit that helps optimize your invoice collections process and our solution starts at $0/month and scales up based on your invoice volume. Visit us at www.happyar.com to learn more.

What is the difference between an invoice vs a statement? Invoices and statements can sometimes seem identical. If you’re a small business owner, your bookkeeping staff has sent and received both types of documents many times, but perhaps never really considered the difference between them. And if you are a small business owner, you truly do need to know what those differences are.

Invoice vs Statement

Let’s examine the definitions of each so we can highlight the main differences between them. We’ll also go over some other documents you need to be aware of and their key differences as well.

Invoices

An invoice, sometimes called a sales invoice, is something a supplier will send to a customer or client that gives a detailed breakdown of items purchased, the cost per item, the total amount of money due, the due date for payments, other payment terms, an invoice number, and other relevant details. They often include the customer name, their contact information, your company’s name, and your contact information, too.

Invoices are invaluable for maintaining your company’s cash flow.

Invoices are legal documents and are only sent when a business is expecting to collect payment. An invoice indicates an obligation on the part of the buyer to pay for products or services rendered.

Once you send an invoice, it becomes part of your accounts receivable until it’s paid. Once it’s paid and your invoice payments are in hand, it’s money in the bank.

Statements

Statements are lists of unpaid invoices that businesses send to customers and clients. A statement is meant to be informative, rather than demanding, and serves as a reminder that payment hasn’t happened yet.

While a statement aims to be as current as possible, in the intervening time between sending the statement and receiving the statement, new charges could be incurred. This is part of the reason why statements don’t carry the same legal weight as invoices.

When sending statements, they should include the following information:

• A list of recent invoices
• The customer’s contact information
• The seller’s contact information
• Statement dates covered
• The current statement date, including the date the statement was prepared
• The statement number

While an invoice serves as a formal request for payment for a sales transaction, a statement is an informal reminder that payment is due.

To find out which customers need to get statements, check your aged accounts for outstanding balances in a given period of time. The statements you send will let customers know the amount due for your products and services.

You may send statements out on a regular basis, unlike invoices, which will be sent immediately when a project is complete and you require payment from the customer.

For example, credit card companies use statements to keep their customers informed about payments owed and payments made for specific time periods. You might never receive an invoice from your credit card company, but you will receive credit card statements on a regular basis.

What About Financial Statements?

As opposed to a statement your business would send to a customer, financial statements are internal documents made for record-keeping purposes. They contain the totality of your financial transactions.

A balance sheet records all of your assets, liabilities, and stockholder equity. You will record your net income by subtracting expenses from revenue and creating a cash flow statement (CFS) to demonstrate your solvency and debt payment ability.

Then What’s a Sales Receipt?

Sales receipts are generally reserved for transactions with immediate payment where there is no opportunity to send an invoice.

Unlike invoices and statements, receipts show that payment has been made already. They will usually contain a breakdown of individual charges, as well as any sales tax and whether a debit or credit card was used for the transaction.

There’s no balance due or due date listed on a sales receipt because the purchase is in the past.

What Are Bills?

Bills are demands for payment but from the perspective of the buyer. When you receive an invoice from someone else, you would classify it as a bill. The same document not only has different purposes depending on who it’s for but it’s known by different names, as well!

How About Purchase Orders?

A purchase order is almost like a reverse invoice. Purchase orders are sent from buyers to vendors. They detail the items or services the buyer would like to purchase, the amounts of each, and the agreed-upon prices.

When the vendor receives the purchase order, they begin the act of fulfilling the order for the buyer. A purchase order obligates payment from the buyer.

Creating Invoices and Statements in Accounting Software

Accounting software, such as QuickBooks, let you create and send invoices and statements easily. Tools for creating these forms make it simple to keep the concepts separated, while integration with your other financial software and bookkeeping records makes the process fast, too.

You don’t even necessarily need to remember which pieces and parts go into an invoice vs statement. The software will give you the fields that you need to fill in, automatically generate an invoice number/statement number, and fill in the customer’s details.

Creating Invoices and Statements Using Templates

If you run a small business or work as a freelancer that doesn’t require extensive accounting software, you can use supplied templates for creating your invoices and statements. They are customizable so that you can find the right fonts, insert your company logo, and input the necessary information.

Templates make sure that invoices and statements aren’t missing any information, so if you’re still doing them by memory, get some templates!

Invoices and Statements Made Easy with HappyAR

We hope this article helped shed light on the key differences in using an invoice vs a statement in your accounts receivable collections process.

HappyAR is a seamless SaaS that quickly and easily boosts your accounts receivables work. We save companies of all sizes thousands of dollars each year by optimizing the speed and efficiency of their collections methods. No more guessing if someone has received an invoice or trusting that it will be paid on time. This is a fully integrated solution that pays for itself over and over each month by preventing defaults and preserving client relationships.

HappyAR is an ever-evolving toolkit that helps optimize your invoice collections process and our solution starts at $0/month and scales up based on your invoice volume. Visit us at www.happyar.com to learn more.

If you spend a lot of time using QuickBooks, you might be pleased to find out that you can send email through the software. Intuit QuickBooks integrates with several major email providers, allowing you to send messages quickly and easily. In this article, we’ll show you how to integrate your Google account with Intuit QuickBooks, letting you send emails quickly and easily from QuickBooks through Gmail. In addition, we will show how you can integrate with Outlook and Webmail.

When you connect QuickBooks to your Gmail account, you’ll be able to access all of your business contacts without having to re-enter their information.

This is more than just a time-saver. These integrations allow you to email invoices and send forms to your clients quickly and easily, streamlining your financial processes to ensure a steady revenue stream.

Is QuickBooks Desktop Compatible with Gmail for sending emails?

First, make sure that you’re using the right version of QuickBooks. QuickBooks 2019 and 2020 let users connect their secure webmail accounts to QuickBooks. QuickBooks 2018 can also be used to connect to Gmail and Hotmail/Live accounts.

If you have a different version, you may want to upgrade to the latest release of QuickBooks. This will also ensure that your bookkeeping software is up-to-date and able to provide maximum benefit for your business!

How to Send Emails From QuickBooks Desktop Through Gmail, Outlook, and Webmail

Intuit QuickBooks Desktop will allow you to send mail through Webmail, Outlook, and Gmail. This means that email users can connect their accounts to QuickBooks just as they would to an address from any service provider.

Here’s how you do it:

Connecting QuickBooks to Microsoft Outlook

To connect QuickBooks to Outlook, you’ll first need the following information and server details:

• Username
• Password
• Incoming email server address
• Incoming email server type
• Outgoing email server address

Naturally, you may know some of this information by heart, but you’ll probably need to contact your email provider for more technical data.

Next, you’ll simply set up Microsoft Outlook using the following steps:

• Go to the edit menu on QuickBooks
• Select the “my preferences” tab and select “send forms”
• Select Outlook and click the “okay” button

If for some reason you don’t see Outlook listed on your options, contact the QuickBooks support team.

You may be asked to complete further setup steps based on the information you entered about your account, but otherwise, you’ll be ready to unite your Outlook and QuickBooks accounts.

Connecting QuickBooks to Webmail

You can also directly connect QuickBooks with your secure Webmail account. However, in general, you can only integrate these accounts if you’re using QuickBooks 2019 and 2020 — though QuickBooks 2018 is available for Gmail and Hotmail/Live users.

Integrating your Webmail with your Intuit account is simple:

• Go to the edit menu in QuickBooks and select “preferences”
• In the preferences window, select “send forms”
• Select webmail and click the add button
• Find your provider from the drop-down list
• Enter your email address
• Select the “use enhanced security” checkbox and select “okay”
• When prompted, sign in to your Intuit account

It’s possible that you’ll see a “network error” message pop up. If this happens, simply unselect the “use enhanced security” checkbox.

Now, your Intuit account is integrated with your email account. This means that you’ll no longer have to sign in to your email separately when you’re using QuickBooks email features.

Connect a Gmail Account Through QuickBooks Online for sending emails

Though the programs have a lot of similarities, the process of connecting your Gmail account is a bit different when you’re working with QuickBooks Online.

Follow the following steps to connect your Gmail account:

• Click the “create” menu button (+) at the top of the screen
• Choose a type of transaction (e.g., an invoice)
• Click add new in the customer field at the top left side of the screen
• A new field will open. Click the bottom text that reads: “Connect your Gmail account”
• QuickBooks will ask your permission to access your account, so you’ll need to click “accept”

You will now be able to access your Gmail contact list directly through QuickBooks.

You may be asked to enter your Email ID at some point in this process, giving QuickBooks permission to access your contacts.

Once your accounts are linked, you’ll be able to send messages through QuickBooks just as easily as through your email account, creating a company file that can be accessed for business communications.

How to Send Invoices Through QuickBooks Online

Once you’ve linked your Gmail account to QuickBooks Online, you’ll have all of your contact details available every time you open QuickBooks. This also means you won’t have to manually add email info or other contact details twice, making it easier to keep customer records and streamline business communication.

One of the most important types of communication you can send is an invoice, the document you send to your clients to request payment for your services. Once you link accounts, this process is simpler than ever before. You can send invoices to your clients in just a few easy steps.

Creating and Sending an Invoice From Scratch

If this is a brand-new invoice, you can simply create the invoice from scratch:

• Click the create button (+) to start a new transaction
• Select “invoice” from the list
• Select a customer, or enter data (email, phone number, etc.) for new clients
• Enter all necessary data for products or services, descriptions, quantities, etc.
• Enter an invoice message
• Click “save” and send
• QuickBooks will email your invoice to your client

Again, this can now be completed through your integrated Gmail address, simplifying the process of communicating with your clients.

Don’t forget that your invoices can also be saved as templates. This can save you time when sending invoices to the same client or creating future invoices for projects of the same type.

Creating and Sending Invoices From Estimates

What do you do if you’ve already sent the customer an estimate prior to beginning your work? You can save time by converting this document to an invoice quickly and easily using the program:

• Hover over “sales” and select “customers” to find an existing estimate
• Scroll through your list to find a customer with an existing estimate
• Click on “estimate”
• Once the estimate is open, click “create an invoice”
• You can now select how much of the estimate you want to invoice for
• Click “create an invoice” to generate the final invoice
• QuickBooks will email your invoice

This process can be particularly useful for business owners whose clients make milestone payments or pay as the job is completed over time.

Construction companies and contractors, for example, might use QuickBooks to produce an initial estimate and then send invoices as various phases of the project are brought to completion.

How Do I Stop Gmail From Sending Emails From QuickBooks?

What happens if you want to disconnect your Gmail address from QuickBooks? This might happen if you switch to a different email service provider (such as Yahoo) or convert to a company email address.

Removing your Gmail account is as simple as adding it in the first place, and the steps are essentially the same:

• Create an invoice or open an existing invoice
• Above the customer’s email, click on the drop-down menu
• Select “remove Gmail address”

QuickBooks will now use your default email address for outgoing messages.

Keep in mind that any customer contacts stored exclusively on your Gmail server will not remain in your QuickBooks account when this process is complete.

Troubleshooting Your Gmail Account in QuickBooks

Some users have reported problems when connecting their Gmail address to QuickBooks using the method we described above. If this happens, there are some basic troubleshooting procedures you can try.

Security Issues

Usually, what’s happening is that Google is preventing you from signing into your email account, fearing that the accounting software doesn’t meet its security credentials. You can fix this by logging into your G-suite account and clicking the link for connected apps and sites.

At the bottom of the page, you’ll find an option that says “allow less secure apps.” If this option is turned off, simply click it on.

Once you’ve completed this step, return to QuickBooks and try to connect your Gmail account to QuickBooks. If this still doesn’t work, you may need to contact QuickBooks’ technical support team to address the issue.

Reauthorizing QuickBooks

Google frequently updates its app privacy policies, which will require users to reauthorize integrated programs to continue using Google products with other applications. If this happens, you may receive a message that the app isn’t verified.

Here’s how to fix it:

• From any transaction or report in QuickBooks, select “email”
• Select “send”
• You may be prompted to re-enter your Intuit credentials
• Select “continue” in the authorization window that opens
• Select “allow”

This will reauthorize QuickBooks to continue using your Google account, and you won’t be required to change any default settings on Google.

Recent Upgrades

If you’ve recently upgraded your version of QuickBooks Desktop, you may receive a pop-up “Network Error” message when you try to use Gmail. This might indicate that you need to go edit your email preferences.

Here are the steps to take:

• Go to the edit menu in QuickBooks and select preferences
• Select “send forms”
• Select webmail and add your email if it’s not already listed
• If the “use enhanced security” box is checked, unselect this option

This will now enable you to use Gmail with QuickBooks.

Technology that Works for You

HappyAR is a seamless SaaS that quickly and easily boosts your accounts receivables work. We save companies of all sizes thousands of dollars each year by optimizing the speed and efficiency of their collections methods. No more guessing if someone has received an invoice or trusting that it will be paid on time. This is a fully integrated solution that pays for itself over and over each month by preventing defaults and preserving client relationships.

HappyAR is an ever-evolving toolkit that helps optimize your invoice collections process and our solution starts at $0/month and scales up based on your invoice volume. Visit us at www.happyar.com to learn more.

So you accidentally gave a double-click on the wrong invoice number. Whether you saw the customer’s name and it looked like another customer’s name or there are open invoices where there shouldn’t be, it’s important to fix the problem before the mistake makes it out to a client. This article discusses how to void an invoice in QuickBooks.

Thankfully, if you’re using Intuit’s QuickBooks accounting software — whether it’s QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Pro, or QuickBooks Desktop — this is an easy fix. To void or delete an invoice, follow these three steps:

1. Open QuickBooks and find the open invoice you need and select it
2. In the Invoice window, you’ll see the word “More” at the bottom — click on it
3. Either choose Void Invoice or Delete Invoice and just click “Yes.”

That’s it, you’re done! You might still have some questions about which option to choose. If so, keep reading!

Which Is Better: Delete Invoice or Void Invoice?

When you create invoices, you’re making a paper trail that shows the flow of money. You don’t rely on handshakes or verbal promises of payment.

Instead, you keep track of accounts receivable and use accounting software to keep tabs on every transaction, whether you work for a large organization or own a small business, enjoy a freelance writing gig, or mow lawns. The IRS wants to see that paperwork so it knows how to tax your income.

When you delete invoices, you’re destroying a part of that paper trail. In that scenario where you sent an invoice to the wrong customer, you may need to show evidence that this happened.

The voided transaction won’t show up in your account balance, but the invoice number will still exist. If the customer or anyone else in your company needs to understand what happened at a later time, you’ll have the evidence in hand. Voiding invoices keep the paper trail. That is why it is important to know how to void an invoice in QuickBooks.

If the invoice was never sent to the customer and it was only a problem that happened on your end like if you were going to send the invoice but noticed the error first, that would be the time to select the option to “Delete Invoice”.

This is the best option when the document is not something that needs to be kept in the company file because no one other than yourself ever saw the incorrect invoice. You’re not going to delete transactions or affect bookkeeping by doing this.

What If I Have to Void an Invoice, But It’s Not from a Mistake?

Sometimes, customers don’t pay. Perhaps they can’t pay or simply won’t. Once an invoice is uncollectible and you know you won’t receive payment, you need to write it off as bad debt.

You’ll need to create an expense account for the express purpose of tracking bad debt. Here are the steps to take:

1. Under the drop-down menu for Lists, select “Chart of Accounts”

2. Find the Account menu, select it, then click “New”

3. Click “Expense,” then “Continue”

4. Choose an account name

5. Save and close

Once you’ve done this, you’ll need to close out the unpaid invoices. Here are the steps to follow:

1. In the Customers menu, you’ll find “Receive Payments” and click on it

2. Input the customer’s name in the “Received From” section

3. In “Payment Amount,” you’ll type in $0

4. Click on “Discounts and Credits”

5. Under the “Amount of Discount” section, this is where you’ll enter the amount to write off

6. In “Discount Account,” select the account name you created for tracking bad debt and click “Done”

7. Save and close!

That’s all it takes!

What If the Invoice Has Been Sent to the Customer?

Sometimes, you’ll run into a tough issue where QuickBooks will think there’s a sales order still attached to an invoice when you’re trying to void it. When you try to void the invoice and select “Save and Close,” you’ll get an error that you can’t email void transactions. When you hit “OK,” it will take you right back to the invoice.

QuickBooks users might feel like they want to pull their hair out, but all you need to do is get rid of the “Email Later” checkmark on the invoice itself. This will allow you to void the invoice without any further problems.

What If I Void a Paid Invoice?

When you void an invoice in QuickBooks that already has a payment attached, the payment becomes detached and turned into credit. At this point, what you do next depends on what the purpose of voiding the paid invoice is.

It Was an Accident

If you accidentally voided the invoice, thankfully, you can create a new invoice and attach the credits to that new invoice. If there’s a price disparity that needs to be rectified, you may need to talk to the customer before you place a charge on their credit card they’re not expecting, however!

I Need to Change Some Customer Information

Perhaps you made a mistake, such as typing the wrong address or misspelling a name. This is information you can change without voiding the invoice, by the way. To keep from having to create a new invoice in the future, change the info you need by editing the invoice.

I Need to Change the Details of a Particular Payment

If you need to change the details on a specific payment, you’ll need to make a new invoice. If you need to alter anything having to do with the final total, such as the price of items or the sales tax, there’s no way to undo it on the invoice. Void the old one and create a new one.

Couldn’t I Just Send a Credit Memo?

There are ways around having to void an invoice. Sometimes, you can use a credit memo instead of creating an entirely new invoice.

A credit memo is useful when a seller needs to reduce the price of a previously issued invoice. Perhaps prices changed or there was an error in calculation. A credit memo can be sent to the customer informing them that they won’t have to pay the original amount.

If the customer has already paid the invoice, the credit memo will either entitle them to a reduced payment on a future purchase or allow them to ask for a refund of the difference. Either way, you’ll need to record it on your accounts receivable balance.

Superior Invoicing with HappyAR

HappyAR is a seamless SaaS that quickly and easily boosts your accounts receivables work. We save companies of all sizes thousands of dollars each year by optimizing the speed and efficiency of their collections methods. No more guessing if someone has received an invoice or trusting that it will be paid on time. This is a fully integrated solution that pays for itself over and over each month by preventing defaults and preserving client relationships.

HappyAR is an ever-evolving toolkit that helps optimize your invoice collections process and our solution starts at $0/month and scales up based on your invoice volume. Visit us at www.happyar.com to learn more.

Now that technology companies are providing software solutions on a subscription basis as the norm, SaaS billing has become a critical strategy for processing recurring payments. But with the number of services and pricing plans offered by modern businesses, it can be hard to achieve accurate recurring billing and still provide a frictionless customer experience.

In this article, we'll cover the basics of SaaS billing, and help you understand how you can optimize the cash flow of your subscription business.

What Is SaaS Billing?

Buying software was once a simple transaction. You would find a store and exchange money for a CD-ROM. Today, the software is sold online, with customers often gaining access to a company's software or services through some type of subscription. This is what's known as "Software as a Service" — or SaaS billing.

This sounds simple enough until you consider the various options and pricing plans offered by SaaS companies.

Subscription billing requires three things to happen in the right sequence:

• Subscribers must choose a plan and a payment method
• Merchants must collect payment information from their subscribers
• Customer data must be stored for recurring billing and to manage upgrades or add-ons

Each of these steps requires a different system, which we'll explain below.

Payment Gateway

A payment gateway allows subscribers to enter their payment information securely. The payment gateway collects credit card data and other information, communicating to the bank about how much the customer should be charged.

Merchant Account

The merchant account is on the other side of the payment processing platform. At its simplest, the merchant account is simply the account in which subscribers' money is deposited.

Typically, the payment gateway provider also provides a merchant account, which minimizes the number of moving parts.

Subscription Management

A subscription management platform allows you to charge your subscribers on a recurring basis. Subscription billing software can help you manage your customers' payment details and even automate recurring payments so you can establish your desired billing cycle.

Many subscription management services will have a self-service system built-in, which allows subscribers to manage their own subscriptions, including upgrades and downgrades to their existing pricing plan.

The Benefits of SaaS Billing

Why should a company utilize a SaaS billing system? There are several reasons to consider using this pricing strategy, which includes the following:

A Recurring Billing Solution

First and foremost, you may simply need a way to manage your subscription-based services. A SaaS subscription platform can help you attract and retain more customers, providing them a valuable service in exchange for recurring payments.

Automate Your Billing Process

Manual data entry is not only prone to error; it can also waste significant time for you and your team. With the right tools, you can dramatically increase the functionality of your subscription services, automating core processes that relate to customer management, payment processing, invoicing, and more.

Accurate Revenue Recognition

Believe it or not, many companies offer a service without ever being fully and fairly compensated for it. SaaS can eliminate revenue leakage by ensuring that customer payment data is processed in an efficient, timely manner.

Access to Metrics

A SaaS billing solution can give you access to data throughout the customer lifecycle. These metrics can help you keep track of your company's information. With real-time notifications and alerts, users can make quick decisions based on up-to-the-minute business data.

These metrics are often incorporated into an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that can help you streamline your processes and hone your business strategy.

Reduce Churn Rate

What is the churn rate? Churn refers to the number of customers you've lost during a given timeframe.

The churn rate can be determined by dividing the number of customers you lost during a quarter by the number of customers you had at the beginning of that period.

Using a SaaS billing platform can reduce churn by providing the right customer relationship management (CRM) tools, helping you stay in touch with customers and maintain active accounts.

Similarly, SaaS billing software can help with dunning management. Dunning refers to the process by which a business asks its customers for payment. Dunning commonly becomes necessary when a customer's credit card expires or the charge has been blocked by the bank.

Customer Retention

Finally, a SaaS pricing strategy can be an ideal way for companies to attract and retain customers. This business model ensures that you have a steady revenue stream, thanks to the commitments made by your subscribers.

This also allows you to grow your revenue by offering upgrades and new products to your customers, sometimes enticing them with promotional offers or other incentives. Maintaining customer loyalty can help to sustain your business long-term.

Best Subscription Business Billing Software

If you need to manage recurring payments for your subscription business, you may want the latest software to guide the process. Keep in mind that not every software provider will offer both a payment gateway and a merchant account (see above), so it's important to match your SaaS business needs with the right tools.

Stripe Billing

Stripe Billing is arguably one of the most popular SaaS billing systems used today. Users appreciate the following features:

• Easy setup
• Great introductory pricing models
• All-in-one solution with lots of integrations

These features have made Stripe Billing a great option for startup companies, though the pricing models tend to get steeper as your business grows.

However, many business owners appreciate the fact that Stripe charges no monthly fees, instead of charging a fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. Additional fees are associated with add-on services, such as fraud detection, instant payout, etc.

Braintree

Like Stripe, Braintree offers an all-in-one SaaS billing system, providing a payment gateway, merchant account, and subscription management system all in the same package.

As a subsidiary of PayPal, Braintree allows users to offer PayPal as a form of payment, which can be helpful for attracting customers. The service integrates with your existing merchant account, providing a comprehensive platform for managing your subscriptions.

Braintree users can expect to pay a fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. However, Braintree lacks some of the reporting capabilities of other products and apps, which can make it challenging to manage cash flow.

Chargebee

Chargebee is exclusively a subscription management platform, so you'll need to integrate with other services for merchant accounts or a payment gateway.

Thankfully, Chargebee integrates well with other products and offers additional benefits including:

• Flexible options for pricing and billing
• Easy setup
• A platform that's simple to customize with the API

The product's flexibility makes it ideal for companies looking to experiment with different pricing models and plans. Chargebee plans start at $249 per month. The company offers monthly and annual plans.

Recurly

Like Chargebee, Recurly is a subscription management platform, which means that users will have to find other solutions for a payment gateway and merchant account.

The benefit, however, is that users get flexible options and better reporting than most of the other services currently available. This can be great for SaaS businesses looking to offer tiered pricing plans or other flexible options for their subscribers.

Recurly's pricing plan starts at $149 per month, with an additional charge of 0.9% of business revenue.

Chargify

Chargify is also a subscription management platform that doesn't offer a payment gateway or merchant account. But what makes Chargify stand out is its commitment to B2B solutions.

Chargify is particularly useful for companies that handle multiple products and/or complex billing plans, as Chargify can handle the entire customer lifecycle. Users pay $149 per month for up to $10,000 in MRR, plus 1.5% for any overages.

Fast Payments, Happy Business

HappyAR is a seamless SaaS that quickly and easily boosts your accounts receivables work. We save companies of all sizes thousands of dollars each year by optimizing the speed and efficiency of their collections methods. No more guessing if someone has received an invoice or trusting that it will be paid on time. This is a fully integrated solution that pays for itself over and over each month by preventing defaults and preserving client relationships.

HappyAR is an ever-evolving toolkit that helps optimize your invoice collections process and our solution starts at $0/month and scales up based on your invoice volume. Visit us at www.happyar.com to learn more.

If you work in accounts receivable, you're in a position where you'll be responsible for calling clients about outstanding invoices and collecting money. This can be a stressful job for some personality types, while others will head into the office every day and happily do their work without issue. There are many positions within the world of accounts receivable, which means that those who are in the profession will have a wide salary range, depending on whether they are entry-level, full-time, what their work experience is like, and where they live.

In this guide, we'll answer all of your burning questions about what it's like to work in accounts receivable.

What is Accounts Receivable?

The job description of someone working in accounts receivable will vary depending on their specific role.

The term "accounts receivable" itself refers to money that is owed to a business for the purchase of products or services but has not yet been paid. These debts are listed on a balance sheet for the company's financial records.

As for different positions within the world of accounts receivable, here are the main ones:

Accounts Receivable Clerks

The clerk, also known as an accounts receivable specialist, is the most entry-level position. This role requires the least education and work experience so it’s a great one if you’d like to get started early on but don’t have the experience or credentials yet.

These employees largely do the work of preparing, posting, verifying, and recording payments, creating invoices and financial reports, and maintaining files.

Accounts Receivable Analyst

An accounts receivable analyst's area of expertise is in compliance. Analysts are responsible for ensuring that accounts receivable best practices are being followed. They usually report to an accounts receivable manager.

Accounts Receivable Supervisor

This role oversees a small group of staff but also has duties much like a clerk or specialist. A supervisor will generally process invoices, update records, and maintain receipts, in addition to providing oversight to small teams or departments.

Accounts Receivable Manager

Managers oversee the accounts receivable department, monitor processing, and ensure that collection happens in a timely manner.

What's an Accounting Clerk?

You may have heard the term, "accounting clerk," read the job description, and thought, "This sounds just like an accounts receivable clerk!" Yes, the two are similar and many duties will overlap, but they have a few key differences.

Accounting clerks have a far wider range of accounting tasks they may be responsible for. They may work in various departments, from accounts receivable to accounts payable. Their duties can be as high level as updating financial reports or as basic as retrieving mail.

Accounts Receivable vs. Accounts Payable

Accounts receivable and accounts payable are direct opposites. For Accounts Receivable, you will be responsible for getting payments from customers, clients, and vendors. You will send out invoices and track cash flow.

Accounts payable employees are not just bookkeepers, either. Accounts payable involves sending out payments for incoming invoices. When invoices come in, they're tracked, recorded, approved (or rejected), and then payment is sent. This can still be a stressful job.

Education Requirements

Starting positions in accounts receivable usually only require a high school diploma or G.E.D. However, some businesses will desire higher education, such as a bachelor's degree. They may also require candidates to have a CPA license and a minimum of two years of experience as a professional accountant.

Certifications

To increase the chance of getting hired, many hopeful accounts receivable clerks, managers, and specialists will seek certifications such as the Institute of Finance and Management's (IOFM) Accounts Receivables Specialist (ARS) or Accounts Receivables Manager (ARM) designations.

These certifications show dedication to accuracy and compliance, as well as an ability to adapt to new systems and processes.

Licenses

A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license may also be a prerequisite for employment. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) is the top institution for accounting in the U.S., and their license carries weight with potential employers.

Training

While there are basics that every accounts receivable employee will need to know — including how to keep accurate records and how to deal with late payments — most training is job-specific. Because each company has its own methodology and billing/invoicing system, there are certain details you won't know until you're actually working in their accounts receivable department.

There are training courses you can take to improve your abilities, however, and mentoring with older, more experienced accounts receivable specialists will help you learn your particular role. As you advance in your abilities, you can work toward promotions from a clerk job to being a manager or analyst.

Other Crucial Skills

You can break your way into the role by getting all the right education, training, and certifications, but at the end of the day, you'll need to have the skillset to have a long career. You'll also need strong communication skills.

Distilling complex financial data into a common language helps your customers and clients understand their bills, allowing your company to get paid faster.

People in accounts receivable must also be adaptable, especially when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decides to change some rules. Tax laws change, Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP) standards will evolve, and you'll need to understand how they impact your job and your company.

It's also essential to have solid technical skills. You'll be working with lots of technology, such as accounting software and various invoicing apps. These skills will help you to troubleshoot problems on your own, which can save you time and hassle.

Finally, accounts receivable jobs require excellent time management. It's easy to get behind and let the stress push work onto the back burner. The better time management skills you have, the less that will happen.

Who Shouldn't Work in Accounts Receivable?

There are personality types that just aren't suited to working in accounts receivable, and that's okay! Not everyone is meant for the job.

Accounts receivable can be highly stressful and if someone isn't prepared for the issues the job can face, they'll experience burnout fast. This isn't to say that someone can't learn the ropes and be incredible at the job, but if it's not what you're suited for, why pursue a career in the field?

Avoid accounts receivable jobs if you:

• Procrastinate: Invoices need to be sent out immediately. Financial records must be updated immediately. Follow-ups must be done. Don't get into this job if you have a tendency to put off difficult tasks.
• Get mad: Being aggressive towards late or non-paying clients isn't the solution. Ironically, your company is less likely to get paid with this strategy. Be professional, be polite, and work with your clients. You'll get better results! Sending a dunning letter before you send a scathing demand letter, for example, is the right way to approach non-payment.
• Are a pushover: While being too aggressive is a turn-off, failing to appropriately seek out clients for payment is the other end of the ineffectual spectrum. There's a point where the excuses won't cut it anymore and the customer needs to pay.
• Don't write things down: Documentation and details are essential. Missing and inaccurate records can take don entire companies if they are hit with an audit.

Average Accounts Receivable Salary

This is the part that you've probably been waiting for! Full-time employment with healthcare in the financial services industry depends on the health of the job market.

With accounting jobs in general increasing at a rate of about 6%, there is good potential for those who are seeking positions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects 170,200 openings in accounting and auditing positions each year over the next decade.

The national average for Accounts Receivable salary positions is:

• Accounts Receivable Clerk/Specialist: $36,613
• Accounts Receivable Analyst: $53,665
• Accounts Receivable Supervisor: $66,154
• Accounts Receivable Manager: $89,591

The base salary for someone starting out as a clerk or specialist is usually about $26,000, although that's sometimes lower or higher depending on location and exact duties.

Those in the largest, most populated areas will be in the top percentile of earners, thanks to the cost of living. For example, the average accounts receivable clerk in San Francisco earns an hourly rate of $22.91 for an average annual salary of $47,660. An accounts receivable clerk in Branson, Missouri typically earns an hourly rate of $13.76 for an average annual salary of $28,627.

The average pay is just that — the average. You may work for a nonprofit in a large city like Los Angeles and earn less than someone working for a massive corporation with an office in Pensacola. Years of experience, the right schooling, and connections can also net you a better job with better pay.

Transform Your Accounts Receivable with HappyAR

HappyAR is a seamless SaaS that quickly and easily boosts your accounts receivables work. We save companies of all sizes thousands of dollars each year by optimizing the speed and efficiency of their collections methods. No more guessing if someone has received an invoice or trusting that it will be paid on time. This is a fully integrated solution that pays for itself over and over each month by preventing defaults and preserving client relationships.

HappyAR is an ever-evolving toolkit that helps optimize your invoice collections process and our solution starts at $0/month and scales up based on your invoice volume. Visit us at www.happyar.com to learn more.

Contrary to popular belief, simply sending out invoices doesn’t mean you’ll definitely get paid on time — or even at all. Until the customer’s money appears in your company’s bank account, you can’t use it to pay employees, pay bills, or pay yourself. Your collections manager might be on pins and needles waiting for invoice payments to come in — but it doesn’t have to be that way. Once your invoices have been sent there are a lot of different approaches you can take to speed up collections while keeping your customers happy.

Let’s back up a bit. Before you send the invoice, there are things you can do to give it the best chance of getting noticed so your customers remember to send payment.

Today, we’ll dive in and take a look at the best tips and tricks for optimizing your invoice and what to do once your invoice is sent!

What Exactly Is an Invoice?

An invoice is an itemized list of products or services rendered to a customer. Each item’s price is added up to the total amount shown at the bottom of the invoice, which represents what the customer owes.

Once you send your invoice to the customer, it becomes a bill. Companies and individual freelancers can both send invoices. Customers receive them as bills, which is what they would call your invoice from their perspective.

Once payment is made — whether with cash, debit or credit cards, PayPal, or some other method — you will send the customer a receipt. A receipt also has a list of products and/or services itemized added up for the total amount. Unlike an invoice or bill, receipts show payment has already occurred.

Why Does Optimizing Invoices Matter?

Large businesses may have the art of invoicing down to a science, but small business owners or fresh startups might not understand the possible pitfalls to watch for.

If budgets are tight and expenditures are outpacing profits, every dime that rolls in the door is essential.

According to a report b Get Paid + Amalto, your invoice has less than a perfect chance of getting paid. In fact:

• 39% of all invoices sent in the US get paid late
• Incorrect invoices are responsible for 61% of late payments
• 11% of customers never even receive their invoices

If your invoicing is sloppy, you’re leaving money on the table and setting yourself up for a longer payment cycle. This problem gets compounded because people generally don’t want to deal with a company that makes it difficult to pay them!

To get those customer dollars from their bank account to yours, you’re going to need to enhance your invoicing game.

Structuring Your Invoice

To ensure that your invoice looks as professional as possible, you’ll need to structure your invoices properly.

Here’s what you’ll need:

The Company Logo at the Top

Including the logo not only reminds the customer who’s sending the invoice at quick glance, but it also adds legitimacy to the invoice. Businesses that want to be taken seriously have a company logo!

The Sender’s Contact Information

This is your company’s contact info, but if necessary, you should include a “care of” name should customers need to reach back out to a specific person in the company.

The Client’s Contact Information

This is for internal purposes, such as recordkeeping or when multiple employees handle invoices and need to keep them organized.

Date the Invoice Was Sent

This date can verify when the clock starts running for payment.

Invoice Number

To keep accurate records, give each invoice a unique number beginning with the very first invoice. If your organization uses any kind of invoice filing automation software, this is vital.

Itemized List of Products Delivered or Services Rendered

Each product or service should have the individual cost, as well as the date the service was rendered or the product was sold.

Total Amount Due

You may want to include this as a summary, such as pre-tax total and post-tax total, as well as any balance forward (if applicable).

Payment Terms

This will give the customer information such as your preferred payment method, a time limit for paying the invoice, penalties for late payment on outstanding invoices (more on this later), etc.

A “Thank You” Message Once Your Invoices Have Been Sent

You’d be surprised at how this small detail can increase the likelihood of getting paid! You can include this as an email that comes over with the invoice. Or, if you’re sending the invoice through a third-party platform you can include it on the message the recipient would receive along with theeir invoice

One more tip here: Always spellcheck and review the grammar of your invoices. Programs like Grammarly will make sure you’re not putting any misspelled words or poorly structured sentences in your invoice!

Using an Invoice Template vs. Graphic Designer

You can hire a graphic designer to create your ideal template or you can turn to online invoice templates.

The benefit of templates is they already have all of the necessary fields for your information. Applying your company logo is as easy as dropping the picture into the template. Make sure you get templates in a file format your clients can access!

You can find plenty of free or paid templates online. The benefit of paid templates is that they generally give you more options and look more professional. That’s not to say you can’t find free templates, but keep in mind that many businesses will also be downloading and using those free templates!

Depending on your business, you may want the unique control that comes from a template no one else is using.

Whether you purchase your templates or get them for free, pay attention to the font and layout. Make sure that the design makes sense for your business. You might want to opt for thin, elegant typefaces for upscale merchandise or thick, typewriter-style fonts for a rustic antique shop, for example.

If you do turn to a graphic designer, these decisions can be made easier by a professional with an artistic eye. It will end up costing more, but depending on your business, the cost may be worth it.

Invoicing Management Software

To do invoicing like the big companies do, use invoicing management software. Creating this infrastructure automates the process and removes as much human error as possible.

Effective software automatically receives the invoice, extracts the pertinent information, validates and verifies the info, approves payments (or denies them), and archives the invoices.

Eliminating guesswork helps to keep you from letting customers slip through the cracks. It pays to talk with an invoicing management software provider to find out how they can integrate the software with your existing IT infrastructure.

Invoicing with QuickBooks

If your entire business is already set up to use QuickBooks, then you have a powerful invoicing tool at your fingertips.

In QuickBooks’ invoicing menu, under the invoices tab, there is literally a button marked, “Send your first invoice.”

Because QuickBooks should already be tied to your customer information database or B2B/B2C data gathering software, you can pull customer names from the dropdown menu.

You can enter your invoice info, preview it, add your logo, and send it off to the customer or client with an invoice email right through QuickBooks.

You will have to go through a sign-up process and fill out an application to be able to accept payments online, however.

QuickBooks also lets you choose from several different templates. Using these templates, invoice numbers will automatically be applied to each invoice.

PayPal and Square Invoices

If you run your business through a payment aggregator such as PayPal or Square, sending invoices is incredibly easy. The benefit is that you don’t have to work on setting up an online payment portal of any kind. Payment aggregators take care of that for you!

Keep in mind that you’re going to be paying to use these services. They aren’t free! PayPal charges 2.9% plus $0.30 for every invoice. But, PayPal also likes to remind their customers that 76% of PayPal invoices are paid on the same day they’re sent.

Set Up Recurring Invoices

The name of the game is making invoicing as easy as possible for you and your customers. If you manually send out invoices for regular services or product deliveries, set a calendar reminder.

If you’re using software such as QuickBooks or payment aggregators, you can set up recurring invoices that are sent at a specific time period of your choosing.

These recurring invoices ensure you don’t forget to send an invoice to a client. If you still need to send a specific invoice at a different time, you can still do that, of course.

Recurring invoices can be sent through the mail as well as through an online invoice or invoice email. Again, you want to avoid the response of, “Well, I just didn’t see the invoice!”

Invoicing for Freelancers

Freelancers are in a bit of a unique situation. When you work on your own as a freelancer, technically, it can feel like you’re unemployed between every job. Chances are that you probably don’t have staff to take care of invoicing for you, either!

You still need a professional company logo, you still need immaculate recordkeeping, and you could still benefit from automation software.

Your entire business is dependent on clients getting your invoices, more so than for, say, the power company, which has thousands (or millions) of customers. These companies know how to reach their customers with invoices and have dedicated staff as well as a massive payment infrastructure to handle payments. You probably don’t.

Spend time to set up an invoice system. It doesn’t have to be complicated. You can even create a simple one in a Word document. But the rules must be followed if you want to get paid in a timely manner.

Storing Your Invoices Once They Have Been Sent

Small business owners and freelancers will especially need to hear this. Back up your invoices! Invoices are how you prove that customers owe a certain amount of money.

Save invoices on a cloud storage service, on pertinent workstations, and, if need be, on paper with physical filing systems. Having invoices in multiple places keeps your business safe if a customer complains about an item on their invoice or says you never created one for them in the first place.

You also need to be concerned with security. These invoices can contain private financial information for both you and your customers. Having a secure network is vital. If you have physical backups, they need to be behind lock and key. Your entire business could be affected if a hacker finds your financial records and exploits them.

Adjusting for Late Payment

No one wants to be the bad guy. But if you’re going to run an effective business, you will need to spell out penalties for late or non-payment.

The general consensus for the business community is that 30 days is plenty of time to give a customer to pay their invoice. This is why you might want to have a “balance forward” section on your invoice.

The “balance forward” shows the customer any outstanding invoice payments that have not been received. You can add the balance forward to the total amount at the bottom of the invoice, as well.

Make sure your templates for invoices let you highlight the balance forward somehow. The total amount will usually be in an obvious place. The way people read documents is to get to the bottom as quickly as possible. On a bill or invoice, this is usually where the eyes will go first.

If you want the customers to notice the balance forward, put it in bold, highlight, and make the box surrounding it a loud color. That way, they can’t miss it.

For some best practices on late fee’s read QuickBooks breakdown here.

Invoice Translation

If your customer doesn’t speak your native language, you will need an invoice translator. The translation that communicates intent is something that is difficult to do using the software. In most cases, a human translator is the safest way to go.

If your invoices are simple, you might be able to get away with using Google Translate. For small business owners and freelancers, this will often be your best bet. Large companies that have many international clients will probably need to seek access to translators that can make sure their invoices are readable and clear in other languages.

Invoice Like a Champ with HappyAR

We save companies of all sizes thousands of dollars each year by optimizing the speed and efficiency of their collections methods. No more guessing if someone has received an invoice or trusting that it will be paid on time. This is a fully integrated solution that pays for itself over and over each month by preventing defaults and preserving client relationships.

HappyAR is an ever-evolving toolkit that helps optimize your invoice collections process and our solution starts at $0/month and scales up based on your invoice volume. Visit us at www.happyar.com to learn more.

Remember when you were a kid, and your friend would write you an IOU for, maybe, a stick of gum or a baseball card? Those may be laughably out-of-date examples, but you get the picture. If you were a savvy, business-oriented kid, you would have provided them with a sales invoice.

In its simplest terms, a sales invoice is a record of a transaction between your business and a customer. They’re a little more complicated than that, so let’s delve into what goes into creating a sales invoice and why they’re important to an accounts receivable department, and indeed the entire company.

Is a Sales Invoice a Receipt?

A sales receipt shows that payment has already occurred, but a sales invoice is a payment request. Both are important for accurate record-keeping of cash flow and business transactions, but typically a receipt is given to the customer on the spot, and an invoice comes after services or products are delivered.

Is it a Sales Order?

No, a sales order doesn’t request payment. Sales orders are used to show what goods and services have been provided and the itemized and total costs.

How to Structure a Sales Invoice

Having the proper layout and flow in a sales invoice is vital. Here are the essential elements:

1. Header: This contains your company’s logo, as well as business details such as an address, phone number, email, or any other pertinent contact information.

2. Client’s Contact Information: Email, address, phone number, company name. Make sure this includes “care of” info if a specific person in a company needs to get the invoice directly. If your sales invoice is meant for one person, use the customer’s name instead of a company name.

3. Invoice Number: Invoice numbers should be part of your overall strategy to create a paper trail for your bookkeeping. If the IRS ever comes calling, you’ll want to have accurate records.

4. Itemized List: Include a list of products and services rendered to the customer. These should have corresponding dates and prices, as well. You may want to list unit prices depending on how detailed your records need to be for your sales transactions.

5. Payment Terms: Spell out penalties for late payments as well as acceptable payment methods, such as debit or credit cards, cash, or some other form of payment.

6. Payment Due Date: Including a due date gives a hard deadline to the customer for when you expect payment. Don’t make this vague; provide an actual, hard date by which you anticipate payment.

Never use phrases like “payment within 30 days,” since the customer will have no real way of knowing when you sent the invoice and assume they have 30 days from the moment it is received. Include an invoice date as well to clear up any confusion about when you sent the invoice.

7. Total Amount Due: Add all itemized product and service costs, as well as any sales tax or forwarded balance, to arrive at the total price.

Other Types of Invoices

Not all invoices are sales invoices, and it’s important to know the difference.

1. Standard Invoice: This is a flexible document that covers most bases for most companies. It includes contact information for the business and the customer, an invoice number, and a total amount due.

2. Purchase Invoice: These documents prove that an item or service was purchased and for how much. A purchase invoice is not a receipt because payment hasn’t been made yet. It is also not a purchase order since purchase orders are sent from the buyer, not the seller, and are meant to give the buyer control in the purchasing process.

3. Proforma Invoice: This is closer to the IOU mentioned in the opening of this article, except that a business sends it to a customer. A proforma invoice is a preliminary bill that is sent before services or products are provided. It’s not an estimate, as estimates carry no legal weight.

4. Recurring Invoices: While not specifically a different kind of invoice, recurring invoices continually request payment for a good or service provided at regular intervals. Some examples include power bills and subscription services.

Using an Invoicing Template

To make sales invoicing even easier, you can find templates that allow you to fill pertinent information into blank fields. Templates come in varied designs, which is important because your business needs to have a consistent brand identity. Fonts, colors, and overall design need to mesh with your business to provide cohesive branding.

There are a wealth of sales invoice templates online, both paid and free. Whether you pay for your templates or use free templates, modify them to be your own. Always make sure they’re in formats you can use, such as PDFs or Excel files. You can also turn to graphic designers to customize a template or create invoices yourself if you have the right tools and know-how.

Just because you’re creating a document to request payment doesn’t mean that document has to be boring. The more visually interesting the sales invoice, the more likely it is to be noticed and quickly paid.

Invoicing Software

Large businesses and small businesses alike want to reduce human error as much as possible. Using invoicing software helps eliminate common mistakes accounts receivable employees might make, such as misspelling a customer’s name, adding numbers incorrectly, or sending the sales invoice to the wrong customer.

QuickBooks, which is already used by many businesses for tax documentation, allows for quick and easy sales invoicing. The benefit is that most information, such as your company logo and contact information and the customer’s contact information, can be entered automatically by the software.

Typically, the software will do the math for tallying up the total amount, too. No matter what types of sales invoices you require, invoicing software should always make the process faster and smoother. Creating recurring invoices is far easier in software, as well.

Even using Excel makes the process simpler than creating a sales invoice by hand thanks to the ability to do complicated addition. You can open Excel files in Google Sheets, allowing easy cloud sharing among accounts receivable employees.

Sales Invoices Through Payment Aggregators

There’s some good news if your business relies on PayPal, Square, or other payment aggregators. A sales invoice is easy to send through these platforms using systems that are already completely integrated.

There’s far less room for human error than with other methods because business and customer information is stored and shared automatically, and invoices are numbered without you even having to think about it.

The downside is that payment aggregators take a cut of every invoice you send. The ease with which they let you do business comes with a cost, typically 2 to 3 percent of the sale plus anywhere from 30 to 60 cents per transaction.

Why a Sales Invoice is Important

Remember that line about the IRS knocking on your door? Having accurate sales invoices and sales receipts will be essential in case of an audit. If you want to file tax returns and not have an auditor show up, keep accurate paperwork.

Small business owners may not have the funds to retain accounts receivable departments full of staff, but they need to be every bit as meticulous in their record-keeping as large businesses. Budgeting for proper invoicing and AR collections needs to be in your business plan from the beginning.

Make Sales Invoicing Easy with HappyAR

When you sit down and calculate the cost of invoicing, you’ll find that many companies aren’t doing it in a cost-efficient way. Using HappyAR’s complete platform gives you a powerful tool for invoicing that integrates with the software you’re already using and without breaking the bank!

Better invoice collections get you paid faster. When you choose HappyAR, you start with paying $0 per month. The software scales up with you and your company, so you’ll never have to worry about outgrowing our platform. When you’re ready to up your invoicing game, contact HappyAR.

We’re looking forward to making your invoicing easier.

When your business receives a dollar from a customer, how long does it take for that dollar to become a dollar again? Cash comes into your business, that cash becomes inventory or other resources and eventually gets turned back into cash. This process is known as the Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC), or cash cycle for short. In this article, we’re going to discuss some cash cycle solutions for your business to optimize collections.

Why the Cash Cycle Matters

The less time your dollars take to become dollars again, the more efficient your company becomes. Streamlining business services and delivery times of your product or service helps dollars generate more dollars faster when they go through the cash cycle.

Calculating the CCC is a simple formula:

DIO + DSO – DPO = CCC

Let’s break that down:

• DIO = Days of Inventory Outstanding. This is the time it takes to transform your inventory into finished products and then sell them. To find your DIO, take your average inventory, divide it by the cost of the goods that have been sold, and multiply that figure by 365.
• DSO = Days Sales Outstanding. This is the average number of days required for collecting accounts receivable. Calculate this by dividing accounts receivable by net credit sales, and multiplying the result by 365.
• DPO = Days Payable Outstanding. This is the average time it takes for your company to buy items from vendors and then pay them (accounts payable). Take your accounts payable and divide by the cost of goods sold each day (i.e., the annual cost of goods sold divided by 365.)

The lower the CCC number, the better. In fact, this number can even be negative, which means your business has maximum liquidity with its cash flow, and your money isn’t tied up in an unusable state anywhere in your business process.

Finding Cash Cycle Solutions

Now let’s find some cash cycle solutions (CCS) to boost your company’s CCC number.

Analyzing Cash Flow

Knowing where your dollars are going is essential. Monitor your accounts payable, your accounts receivable, and your total billings. The better grasp you have on your cash flow, the more control you’ll have over your business. This is the first step in improving your financial operations and speed of collections. If you’re not already, use an accounting program such as QuickBooks or Xero to help you organize and analyze all of your expenses and revenues so you can make smart business decisions.

Automation

Moving away from human labor to software for things like remittance processing or transaction processing services leads to financial optimization. If a process can be handled by a computer, human error will decrease and cash will flow faster.

You need to look at your accounts receivable and account payable process thoroughly to determine if there are more opportunities for automation. Automation can also help speed up everyday tasks since they will happen automatically and not require waiting on an employee that may have many different responsibilities.

Improving Invoicing

Make your invoices easier to read and understand. Time your invoices to coincide with customer payment cycles. Be clear with your customers upfront about your payment terms and expectations. Make sure you have a regular follow-up cadence using messaging sequences + supporting with phone calls where needed. We also recommend using text messages and bringing in a second voice when needed. We automate all of this at HappyAR.

You can even outright ask that customers pay sooner once the project is underway. You’d be surprised how often this works!

You shouldn’t have to let things get to the threatening collections stage; your customers may have just forgotten and need a reminder. They may also just not be getting your message, that’s why it is important to run an omnichannel approach with your invoice follow-up. Whatever client services you offer, treat your customers well and they’ll keep paying on time.

Outsourcing Where Possible

If you’re the vice president of the company and you’re doing number crunching grunt work, you’re not doing your business any favors. Your time is better spent elsewhere.

Accounting firms, collections managers, CPAs, and invoicing software providers can make quick work of a tedious process. A bit of innovative technology goes a long way!

Shortening Sales and Delivery Cycles

Make sure your sales team is equipped with enough incentives, tactics, and flexibility to maximize their win rate and minimize their time to close a deal. The more business you close faster, the better cash cycle solution you have.

Once you have won business make sure to always complete outstanding projects as quickly as possible. If you’re having trouble making deadlines with your products or business services, find out what similar companies are doing better and put those best practices to work.

Lower Your Cash Conversion Cycle with HappyAR

HappyAR is a seamless SaaS that quickly and easily boosts your accounts receivables work. We save companies of all sizes thousands of dollars each year by optimizing the speed and efficiency of their collections methods. No more guessing if someone has received an invoice or trusting that it will be paid on time. This is a fully integrated solution that pays for itself over and over each month by preventing defaults and preserving client relationships.

HappyAR is an ever-evolving toolkit that helps optimize your invoice collections process and our solution starts at $0/month and scales up based on your invoice volume. Visit us at www.happyar.com to learn more.