Modules»Accounts Payable»Entering Beginning A/P Balance…
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Last modified on 12/4/2015 3:05 PM by User.

Entering Beginning A/P Balances

All vendors, except those with a zero balance, must be entered using Voucher Entry and Editing (Task 1).

Even the vendors with a negative (credit) balance, must be entered.

Pick a cut-off date and enter the balances as of that date.

Either enter the total that is owed to the vendor, or enter each individual invoice separately. (We recommend that each invoice in entered separately.)

  • Accounts Payable (Module 3)
    • Voucher Entry & Editing (Task 1)
      • Enter (ADD) New Transaction (Sub-task 1)

 

Below are the fields, which the number of characters allowed per field in parenthesis.

Voucher # ____(6) The computer automatically assigns a voucher number starting from the beginning number designated when initializing the system.

  • Because this area is so critical to the program, no changes can be made to this number.
  • It is very important that the voucher number is written on the invoice. The computer tracks each vendor invoice by voucher number only.

1. Vendor #: __(6) A "Validated" field. Vendor numbers must already exist. The numbers are created in the Vendor Master File (Task 17). Either enter the vendor # or press the TAB key to search by vendor name.

2. Invoice #: ____(16)

  • If entering each individual invoice, use the vendor's invoice number.
  • If entering one total for each vendor's beginning balance, enter "BEG BAL 10/31/99" for the invoice #, (Use the cut-off date picked to enter beginning balances.)

3. Inv. Date: ____(6)

  • If entering each individual invoice, use the original invoice date.
  • If entering one total for each vendor's beginning balance, use the cut-off date for the invoice date.

4. Inv. Amt: ____(8)

  • If entering each individual invoice, enter the total of each invoice.
  • If entering one total for each vendor's beginning balance, enter the total.
  • To enter a negative amount (credit memo), put a minus sign before or after the amount.

 

5. Non Disc: ____(7) This is the part of the Inv. Amt. on which a discount is not allowed. For example, most companies do not allow a discount on the shipping/freight part of the invoice. (This is not added to or subtracted from the invoice amount.)

6. Discount %:____(4)

  • If the supplier allows a 2% discount for paying on time, then enter 200.
  • If the vendor allows a given dollar amount, press the TAB key and enter a dollar amount.
  • An interesting combination is an allowance on shipping, plus the percent. To do this, calculate the value of the percent discount in dollars and add it to the shipping allowance. Then press the TAB key and enter this total.

7. Due Date:______(6) This is the date payment is due by, to avoid forfeiting any discounts or incurring late charges.

8. Check #:______(6) When entering beginning balances, bypass this field.

9. Reference #:__(20) Anything you want to type in, doesn't print anywhere.

10. Division #: __ (2) A "Validated" field, the default is 01.

11. Exp. Acct .#:__(7)

  • When entering beginning balances, they should all go to the same general ledger number. This G/L number should be the number for Accounts Payable (in the three hundred series).
  • Press the TAB key to search by General Ledger account description.
  • When the system prompts for the amount to apply to expense, press CR (Enter) and it will apply the total amount to this account number.

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When finished entering the beginning balances for the vendors the following steps must be followed:

Note: as a suggestion, enter 30 or 40 vouchers, then run an "edit list" to check for errors, make corrections (if necessary) and then post. It is easier to check 30/40 vouchers, than it is to check 100 or more.

  • Accounts Payable (Module 3)
    • Voucher Enter and Editing (Task 1)
      • Print Voucher Transaction Edit List (Sub-task 4)

Check the "edit list" very carefully. Circle mistakes with red pen.

  • Accounts Payable (Module 3)
    • Voucher Enter and Editing (Task 1)
      • Change Existing Transactions (Sub-task 2)

Enter the voucher # on which the mistake was made, and correct the mistake. Note: if the vendor number is wrong, the entire voucher must be removed and re-entered. To delete a voucher, use Delete Existing Transaction (Sub-task 3)

After all mistakes are corrected, run another "edit list" (Sub-task 4) to verify that the voucher information is correct.

  • Accounts Payable (Module 3)
    • Voucher Enter and Editing (Task 1)
      • Post Transactions to A/P Files (Sub-task 5)

(It is very important that you always let the posting cycle finish. If the computer locks up or there is a power fluctuation during a posting cycle, the files may have to be reconstructed. Fax or e-mail immediately in this event: 248 583-4110)

**The computer will print a voucher posting list.

**Always save the voucher posting lists.

** At the end of the month, the voucher posting lists will be added up to use for balancing.

**Throw away the edit lists.

 

The system prompts: "Posting of Vouchers transaction records O.K.?(YES?NO):

  • If YES is answered, you will automatically exit from Voucher Entry & Editing (Task 1). Information will be posted to the following files:
    • Vendor Master File (Task 17)
    • Voucher History (Task 19)
    • A/P Open Items (Task 21)
    • Batch Control (Task 22)
  • If NO is answered, then the computer will prompt that it is restoring the files. Always let this process of restoring the files finish without any interruption. It should not take very long.

  • The restore process takes the posted information back out of the files it was posted to and putting the information back into Voucher Entry & Editing (Task 1).

  • Being the Voucher Posting Register was already printed, write (in red pen) REJECTED POSTING.

 

Now another edit list may be printed, corrections made and when everything is correct, post the vouchers again.

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VERIFYING BEGINNING BALANCES

  • Accounts Payable (Module 3)
    • System Management Functions (Task 32)
      • Generate A/P to G/L Interface (Sub-task 3)

The information for this report comes from the Voucher History File (Task 19).

Use: Beginning date: 01/01/70; Ending date: Use the cut-off date.

The increase in Accounts Payable on the A/P to G/L Interface should equal the sum of the Voucher Posting Journals.

1. There should be NO unknown accounts.

2. Staple the calculator tape from the addition of each individual voucher posting journal to the A/P to G/L Interface report

3. If they are not equal, check to see if anything was posted with a date before or after the date range specified.

4. NEVER make any changes to posted information in any of the master files. If any mistakes are found at this point and corrections of any kind need to be made, proper accounting procedure require that a complete audit trail of these corrections are followed. Also, if you do not thoroughly understand the system, you may not correct all the affected masters properly, and thus actually create imbalances that will be very hard to track down and account for later.

 

  • Accounts Payable (Module 3)
  • Aged Trial Balance (Task 9)
    •  Aged Trial Balance with Optional Detail (Sub-task 3)

The information for this report comes from the A/P Open Items File (Task 21) Answer system prompts as follows, however first, the printer screen comes up, answer the selections:

Aging date: Enter the cut-off date.

Aging basis: (1)Due (2)Document. Use the due date for cash flow purposes, and the document date for auditing purposes.

Print item detail? Answer YES.

Document cut-off date: use the cut-off date.

Starting and ending division: Press CR (Enter) for ALL.

Starting and ending vendor type: Press CR (Enter) for ALL.

Numeric or Alphabetic Order (N or A): Enter N for sort based on vendor number. Enter A for sort based on vendor name.

Starting and ending vendor #: Press CR (Enter) for ALL.

The report file will now be generated. Check to make sure that sum of the Voucher Postings equals the grand total of the Aged Trial Balance.

 

Also, do the following to check that the information in the Voucher History is correct and balanced.

  • Accounts Payable (Module 3)
    • Voucher History (Task 19)
      • Sort Existing Vch History Records. (Sub-task 6)

 

 

If there are any unsorted records, sort them first.

The computer will automatically sort them at night during backup.

If some vouchers were just posted, then the file will be unsorted. The report can still be printed, but all the unsorted information will be at the end of the report.

  • Accounts Payable (Module 3)
    • Voucher History (Task 19)
      • Print Existing Vch History Records (Sub-task 4)

 

First, the printer screen comes up; answer the selections. Answer system prompts as follows:

Starting and ending batch number: Press CR (Enter) for ALL.

Starting and ending vendor #: Press CR (Enter) for ALL.

Starting and ending division #: Press CR (Enter) for ALL.

Starting invoice date: Use 01/01/70.

Ending invoice date: Use the cut-off date.

Starting and ending voucher #: Press CR (Enter) for ALL.

Suppress detail records? (YES/NO): Defaults to NO.

At this point, the report will be generated. The regular entries on the Voucher History Report should equal the sum of the Voucher Postings.

At this time - the "old" information has been entered, posted, and verified. You now ready to proceed with entering new data. New Invoices entered MUST now be dated AFTER the so-called beginning balance cut-off date.