Customer and vendor balances
See each customer's and vendor's balance on a date, check that the invoice and bill lists agree with the ledger, and find receipts that haven't been matched to an invoice.
Before you start
- Set up customer posting groupsThe receivable and customer advance accounts these reports read come from customer posting groups (or default accounts).
- Set up vendor posting groupsThe payable accounts come from vendor posting groups (or default accounts).
- Set up default accountsIf your company doesn't use posting groups, the control accounts come from here.
In this article
Five reports, under Reports › Receivables Reports and Reports › Payables Reports:
| Report | Answers |
|---|---|
| Customer Balances | What does each customer owe on a date? |
| Vendor Balances | What do we owe each vendor on a date? |
| Receivables Reconciliation | Do the open invoices and advances agree with the receivable accounts in the ledger? |
| Payables Reconciliation | Do the open bills agree with the payable accounts? |
| Unapplied Receipts | Which customer advances and payments haven't been matched to an invoice yet? |
Steps
Run Customer Balances (or Vendor Balances)
Select Reports › Receivables Reports › Customer Balances. Choose the As at date and select Run.
- As at: the date of the balances.
- Run.
- Export to Excel.
- Total receivable (base currency) and how many customers have a balance.
- One line per customer: Receivable (open invoices), Advances (money held for them), Balance (base), and the balance in each Document currency.
Below are Totals by currency and Control accounts: the accounts read and each one's closing balance. Vendor Balances (under Payables Reports) is the same for vendors.
Run the reconciliation
Select Reports › Receivables Reports › Receivables Reconciliation (or Payables Reports › Payables Reconciliation) and select Run. There are no filters: it always compares things as they are now.
- Sub-ledger (the open invoices and advances), General ledger (the receivable and advance accounts) and the Difference.
- Status: Reconciled or Not reconciled.
- Each document that differs, with the reason.
- Customer advances: the same check for advances.
Find unapplied receipts
Select Reports › Receivables Reports › Unapplied Receipts, choose As at and, if you like, one Customer, then select Run. You get Customer advances and Unapplied credits totals and one line per item with its Kind, Reference, Date, Age (days), Age band, Currency, Document amount and Open amount. Match them to invoices in receive a payment.
How the figures are worked out
| Figure | How it's worked out |
|---|---|
| A customer's balance | Debit less credit on the receivable and customer advance accounts up to the as-at date. Positive: they owe you. Negative: you hold money for them. |
| A vendor's balance | Credit less debit on the payable accounts. Positive: you owe them. |
| Sub-ledger | Each posted invoice's (bill's) balance due at its own exchange rate, plus each customer advance's open amount, as they are now. |
| General ledger | Every posting to the control accounts. |
| Difference | Sub-ledger less general ledger. |
Reasons a document differs:
| Reason | Usually means |
|---|---|
| Posted to the control account without a customer or vendor | A journal posted to the receivable or payable account with no party. Post such journals with the customer or vendor chosen. |
| Posted to the control account without a document | Something credited or debited the control account for a party but without an invoice or bill, for example a stock adjustment or opening balance posted to the payable account. |
| Open in the sub-ledger, nothing open in the ledger | The invoice shows a balance due, but its ledger postings have been settled or reversed. |
| Open in the ledger, settled or missing in the sub-ledger | The ledger still has an amount for a document that is paid or no longer exists. |
| Open amounts differ | Both have an amount, but not the same one. Open the document and its posting batch in the Journal Register. |
Related
- Customer and vendor ageing: the same balances split by age.
- View customer transactions: a customer's statement of account.