• From: Canada
  • Registered: 06/04/2008
  • Posts: 72

Topic: Modifying Sales Invoices vs Customer Credit Notes

Currently, I see two ways of modifying an existing invoice with FA. You can modify an existing customer invoice and change the quantity, which results in credit -# being showed or you do a customer credit notes which should be allocated to a particular invoice. I'm just wondering at which instance would one be use over the other?

* Also to note, when I do a 'credit this' on the invoice and go through generating the credit note shouldn't it not automatically allocate to that invoice? Cause right its done manually. Just an observation.

  • Registered: 12/25/2007
  • Posts: 2,446

Re: Modifying Sales Invoices vs Customer Credit Notes

Invoice edition should be used if the invoice was not send to customer yet. This is to fix errors after confirm of invoice entry but before sending invoice to customer. There is no additional documents produced in this process. When customer complains about prices or quantities on received invoice you should issue credit note. Fiscal authorities does not like the first method in this case smile. If customer withdraw the order in whole before items are send you can use the third way and void invoice.

Regarding allocation of credit note issued against invoice you are probably right. To be fixed in near future.

Janusz

  • From: Canada
  • Registered: 06/04/2008
  • Posts: 72

Re: Modifying Sales Invoices vs Customer Credit Notes

Ah ok. I tried to do a test and edited an invoice's qty and took off one item, the result is that it shows credited -1. But I also have to change the delivery note to reflect what's actually being delivered now with the invoice change. How do you do that?

  • Registered: 12/25/2007
  • Posts: 2,446

Re: Modifying Sales Invoices vs Customer Credit Notes

Oh, I see, here is the problem. This should be considered as a bug. I do not remember why here is 'silent' crediting done instead of changing of item quantities, maybe there was some problem with tracking of source delivery quantities related to changed invoice. I must check this.
I'm a little busy now so please report this issue on mantis, I will take care of it.

Janusz

  • From: Canada
  • Registered: 06/04/2008
  • Posts: 72

Re: Modifying Sales Invoices vs Customer Credit Notes

ok they are up.

  • joe
  • Administrator
  • Offline
  • Registered: 03/15/2007
  • Posts: 5,085

Re: Modifying Sales Invoices vs Customer Credit Notes

The -credit this- immediately allocation problem is now solved. Also eventually exchange variances as the other payment/credit notes allocation.
The CVS repository is updated. File /sales/includes/db/sales_credit_db.inc.

/Joe

  • Registered: 01/09/2009
  • Posts: 12

Re: Modifying Sales Invoices vs Customer Credit Notes

Hi everyone, the most common error in sales invoice is the unit price....since the "sales order Inquiry" we can modify the unit price....the only thing we need is to modify the price in "Transactions" so that the journal entries created will match against the sales order.....i think this is relevant issue.....

Thanks,
Joelg

  • Registered: 12/25/2007
  • Posts: 2,446

Re: Modifying Sales Invoices vs Customer Credit Notes

The logic behind this constraint is quite simple. The sales order is firm for both sides of transaction, so we cannot change the price in invoicing step, and therefore once issued invoice cannot have price changed. If you made a mistake in price during sales order receive you should void eventually issued invoices/deliveries, contact your customer , renegotiate the price andenter the delivery/invoice again.

Janusz

  • From: Ghana, Accra
  • Registered: 12/09/2008
  • Posts: 28

Re: Modifying Sales Invoices vs Customer Credit Notes

Hi there,
I sent a message concerning customer reporting but have not had a reply yet.

My issue is this.

When you enter a credit invoice it is supposed to debit the customer's account and throw the balance to the outstanding column when you open the customer report page so that at a glance one would know how much a credit customer owes. Similarly when a payment is effected by a customer, that customer's account is suppose to be credited to show a reduction in his indebtedness but it is observed to the contrary that the balance is thrown under a column named 'ALLOCATED' which fails to give you at a glance the balance of that customer.

Could this be a bug or something needs to be done.

Please help out.
Thanks

  • joe
  • Administrator
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  • Registered: 03/15/2007
  • Posts: 5,085

Re: Modifying Sales Invoices vs Customer Credit Notes

Hello,
When you read a customer/supplier balance, you see the values in either charges or credits column. The right most column (Outstanding) gives you what the customer ows you. The 'Allocated' column is just a mirror of how much of the absulute value that has been allocated.

/Joe

  • From: Ghana, Accra
  • Registered: 12/09/2008
  • Posts: 28

Re: Modifying Sales Invoices vs Customer Credit Notes

Thanks a lot Joe for your response,

I'm generally aware that the outstanding column must display what the customer owes but for some reasons I don't read the correct balance or read zero when there should be an amount owing and am very sure about the invoice and payment entries such that I know manually what should be owing.

I would also be grateful if you could tell me what the absolute value is allocated to.

Thanks again.

  • joe
  • Administrator
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  • Registered: 03/15/2007
  • Posts: 5,085

Re: Modifying Sales Invoices vs Customer Credit Notes

All the customer/supplier transactions have a field for allocations to keep track of the remainder. Even payments can have a remainder for more allocations. This is what the allocation fields are used for. A transaction can all have one or more allocations and there are specific tables to hold the history. The allocation field on the transactions is an accumulator of all this history.

Generally speaking:
For invoices: The allocation field is what has been paid on that invoice.
For credit notes and payments: The allocation field is what has been used of the credit notes or payments for allocations of other invoices.

/Joe

  • Registered: 01/01/2009
  • Posts: 2

Re: Modifying Sales Invoices vs Customer Credit Notes

itronics wrote:

The logic behind this constraint is quite simple. The sales order is firm for both sides of transaction, so we cannot change the price in invoicing step, and therefore once issued invoice cannot have price changed. If you made a mistake in price during sales order receive you should void eventually issued invoices/deliveries, contact your customer , renegotiate the price andenter the delivery/invoice again.

Janusz

I think I see a critical bug here.  FA has a mechanism that allows you to change an invoice, but the change isn't reflected in Accounts Receivable or GL.  It seems to me that FA either must prevent changes to invoices or FA must account for them correctly.  FA allows changes to invoicing but the accounting of the change is wrong.

For us, the accounting system we choose MUST allow modification of an invoice after it is printed and the accounting for the change must be correct.  We are trying to convert from Peachtree which allows us to change an invoice up until we close the year;  I will not get buy in to change to a system that doesn't allow at least some mistake correction. Sad to say, we are only human and we make mistakes.  To void and start over is not acceptable from a business point of view (any complex transaction will have an error on the second try too!).

So I would like to propose (and we can do this) one of these:
1. that we make it an optional / admin feature to change an invoice and do all the correct accounting. (preferred)
2.  Maybe we just need a "VOID and reissue" button that voids the old transaction and creates a new order entry screen from the previous transaction. 

What do you think?

  • From: Ghana, Accra
  • Registered: 12/09/2008
  • Posts: 28

Re: Modifying Sales Invoices vs Customer Credit Notes

Thanks again for the response Joe.

I now have an idea what the allocation fields do but I still have that same problem of the outstanding fields recording no figures when there should be some outstanding balances.

Could you help please, I really need to fix this urgently.

Thanks

  • Registered: 12/25/2007
  • Posts: 2,446

Re: Modifying Sales Invoices vs Customer Credit Notes

I think I see a critical bug here.  FA has a mechanism that allows you to change an invoice, but the change isn't reflected in Accounts Receivable or GL.  It seems to me that FA either must prevent changes to invoices or FA must account for them correctly.  FA allows changes to invoicing but the accounting of the change is wrong.

I do  not see any bug here. After edition both GL and customer balances mirrors new invoice values. Where have you found the problem?

So I would like to propose (and we can do this) one of these:
1. that we make it an optional / admin feature to change an invoice and do all the correct accounting. (preferred)
2.  Maybe we just need a "VOID and reissue" button that voids the old transaction and creates a new order entry screen from the previous transaction. 

What do you think?

Not to be implemented in next 2.1 release, but we can think about it in the future.

Janusz