Cash Receipts: More than a Deposit

This week’s Journal dives into how cash receipts work, what options are available, and a few things you might not know you can do.

Ready. Set. Go ...

Payment Entry Options

Using the A/R Payment Import Workbench

Whether you're pulling a lockbox file from your bank, a third-party export, or a custom Excel file, the A/R Payment Import Workbench lets you bring payments into SyteLine® in batches. Once processed, the data appears in the standard payment forms and can still be edited before posting.

Manual Entry

If you're not using the Workbench, you can enter cash receipts through either the A/R Payments or A/R Quick Payment Application form. Both update the same tables—it’s the same data with different views.

Quick Payment is often the better experience. It combines the payment header and distribution in one view, which is more efficient. However, for high-volume customers, it may load slower since it automatically pulls in all open transactions once the header is saved.

Multi-Currency Handling

When applying a payment in a multi-currency environment, SyteLine® converts and displays all open invoices and credit memos in the payment currency. If a customer pays in euros but their invoices are in USD or GBP, no problem. Everything is applied based on the payment currency. No extra conversion is needed.

A/R Payment Distribution Types

• Invoice – Apply the payment to an open invoice.

• Open Credit – Can be the full payment or a partial amount. Appropriate when an amount doesn’t yet apply to a specific invoice. This can also be used to record a prepayment on a Customer Order. NOTE: Open credits remain open until manually reapplied. You’ll be touching the payment again later.

• Finance Charge – Used for paying off finance charge invoices (late payment fees).

• Non-AR – No invoice, no problem. Use this for things like reimbursements, event registrations, or one-off cash receipts. You pick the GL account it hits, and it won’t clutter your A/R subledger.

• SRO Deposit – For customers using Service Orders. Deposits posted through A/R can apply automatically once the order is invoiced.

Credit and debit memos aren’t listed as payment distribution types, and here’s why:

• Credit Memos selected in Quick Payment are offset automatically. Once applied, they disappear from the grid—along with any invoices that were fully credited. Invoices that are only partially credited remain, with the apply amount adjusted to reflect the cash portion only.

• Debit Memos don’t appear in the grid. They can only be applied when generated, or later through the A/R Posted Transactions Detail form.

Discounts and Allowances

Each invoice line supports two adjustment fields during payment application:

• Discount – Automatically calculated when a payment is within terms. Generally used for early payment incentives. Can be overridden as needed.

• Allowance – For all other types of adjustments: bank charges, product damage, freight disputes, and so on.

Both fields affect the invoice balance and use GL accounts defined on the Accounts Receivable Parameters form. You can override the account(s) during payment processing. Negative values are allowed—helpful for overpayments.

On the Quick Payment form, the Amt to Apply(Cur) defaults to the invoice balance, factoring in prior applications. So, if a payment is already in process, the invoice won't appear in the grid a second time.

When should you use Discount or Allowance? If the cash amount received doesn’t match the invoice balance, and the difference is immaterial or within your company-defined tolerance, this is where I'd consider using those fields to zero out the balance.

PRO TIP: Did you know there is a Total Due column in the grid on the A/R Quick Payment Application form? It initially displays zero because the Amt to Apply(Cur) defaults to the balance due for the row. You can move this column into your visible grid area and use it to validate that the invoice will be fully satisfied upon payment posting.

Important: Once posted, discount and allowance amounts appear only in the grid of the A/R Posted Transactions Detail form. These amounts are included in the total—but that doesn’t always mean it’s all cash. If a payment is reversed manually, you need to know how much was cash and how much was discount or allowance.

Chargebacks

When the discount and allowance fields aren’t flexible enough, chargebacks offer more structure.

You can define chargeback types such as:

Freight shortage, tax disputes, Amazon fees, promotional discounts, etc.

Each type is linked to its own GL account and has full historical reporting capabilities. A credit memo is generated automatically for each approved chargeback and applied to the related invoice.

If the chargeback is not approved, the system issues a reversing debit memo simultaneously and applies it—so the invoice balance stays intact, but you still have a record of the deduction attempt.

Reapplying Open Payments and Credit Memos

Use the standard payment forms to reapply open values to one or more invoices:

Open Credit Payments – Enter the customer and check number, update the receipt date, then save and apply as you would with any other payment. Cash is not re-recorded—the original deposit account is debited and A/R is credited when posted.

Open Credit Memos – Enter the customer and credit memo number, update the receipt date, then save and apply as usual. Be sure to post the transaction to complete the process.

Batching and Bank Reconciliation

Payments posted in a batch are grouped into a single deposit in the Bank Reconciliations form. Payments posted individually show up separately. Use whichever method matches how you reconcile your bank accounts.

Returned Payments

Returned checks can be managed through the Returned Check utility, launched from the Bank Reconciliations form. System behavior (including whether to charge fees) is controlled in the Accounts Receivable Parameters form.

Alternatively, you can manually reverse a payment by:

• Enter a negative payment

• Selecting Adjust as the payment type

• Using the same check number and distributing the adjustment exactly as the original

This creates offsetting records that effectively reverse the original entry—leaving the balance as if the payment had never been received.

A/R and A/P Offsets

When a customer is also a vendor, SyteLine® allows you to clear open A/R invoices against A/P vouchers using the AR/AP Payment Offset form.

The customer and vendor must be linked, and the currency must match. Once the offset is balanced, SyteLine® creates the offsetting distribution and payment records. These are then posted using standard A/R and A/P processes.

What About Credit Cards?

SyteLine® does support credit card processing through the optional Credit Card Interface module. If you use it, payments can be authorized and applied through the system directly. Since it requires additional licensing and setup, it's outside the scope of this Back to the Basics series—but it's good to know it exists.

Cash receipts in SyteLine® involve a lot more than just applying a payment to an invoice. From prepayments and chargebacks to currency conversions and offset logic—this process touches more of your finance operation than you might realize.

If your team is still entering everything manually, or juggling workarounds, let me know if this information has you rethinking your processes.

This entry is posted. See you in the next journal.
Stacey