Create Sales Invoice

Navigate to the Sales tab and click on the New Invoice button

Proceed to enter the invoice details as follows:

 

• Transaction ID: Automatically generated sequential number based on the Transaction Numbering settings for the organisation. It represents the unique sales invoice number which is presented to the customer.

• Customer: Select the customer you are selling the goods or services to. If the customer has not already been set up, click on the plus sign (+) to create a new customer. 

• Reference: Enter relevant information such as customer purchase orders or other details you would like to appear on the invoice output. 

• Invoice Date: The date you issue the invoice. Note that if you specify a date prior to the Conversion Date in your organisation settings, the invoice is treated as part of your Conversion Balances and does not have an impact on your financial results. 

• Due Date: The date that payment of the invoice falls due. This date is determined by adding the days specified in the Customer record to the Invoice Date but can be changed as required. 

• Add New Line Item: If more than one line item is to be entered, click on this button to initiate the entry of the next line item.

• VAT Treatment: This option is only visible if your organisation is registered for VAT. It is mostly relevant to UK organisations which sell into Europe. See VAT UK - Box by Box for more information.

• Show VAT Amount: Selecting this checkbox displays the VAT Amount field for each line item. The VAT amount can be changed if required.   

• Amounts include VAT: By default, the Unit Price is expected to be entered net of VAT. Selecting this checkbox results in all VAT calculations assuming the Unit Price includes VAT. This impacts the overall VAT charged on the invoice and therefore, the Total of the invoice. 
• Item: Only visible if Price List Items have been created. Can be used to default stock/service prices or track the purchases or sales of such items.

• Quantity: The quantity of the goods or services provided. Must be greater than 0. 

• Description: Enter a description of the goods or services provided. This text will appear on the invoice output. 

• Account: Enter the account against which the income should be recorded. Use the drop down arrow to search available accounts or click in the field and enter free text to find matching values. If you cannot find an appropriate account, check your settings for the Chart of Accounts and create a new account if required. 

• VAT Code: Select the appropriate VAT Code which should be applied to the line item (default VAT codes can be set in Chart of Accounts). The codes chosen here impact your VAT Reporting. If you are unfamiliar with VAT, it is advisable to consult your accountant or the HMRC for advice.  

• VAT: Only visible if Show VAT Amount checkbox selected. The VAT amount can be changed if required.
• Category: Only visible if Categories have been created. Optional field for further classification of line item.

• Unit Price: Enter the unit price of the goods or services supplied to the customer. 

• Total: Line item total – Unit Price multiplied by Quantity. 

• Delete Line (X): This button allows you to delete an unwanted line item if there are no validation restrictions (such as the transaction being paid, credit noted or included in a VAT Report).

• Memo: Enter information applicable to the entire invoice. The text is available for displaying on the invoice output. 

• Include in PDF: Selecting this checkbox ensures that text in the Memo field appears on the PDF printed version of the sales invoice.

 

Click the Save button to complete the creation of the invoice or choose the Save Draft option which saves the invoice but does not update your financial results. Draft invoices can be edited at a later stage and saved again as draft or actual invoices.

Recurring Sales Invoice

Recurring Invoices are a convenient way to automate the creation of Invoices or Draft Invoices.

Recurring transactions are automatically processed once a day at 04h00 UK time and will generate invoices based on the recurring invoice settings for your organisation.

 

CREATE RECURRING INVOICE

Navigate to the Sales tab and use the drop down arrow on the New Invoice button to select New Recurring Invoice. Proceed to enter the recurring invoice details as follows:

• Next Invoice: The date on which the next invoice will be automatically created. If you enter the current date in this field, an invoice will be created immediately.
• Repeat Every: Set the frequency of the invoice creation by entering a value and choosing from either Month(s) or Week(s). After an invoice has been successfully created, the Next Invoice date will be automatically recalculated in line with this setting.
• Due Date: Set a default number of due days that will be applied to each invoice created from this recurring invoice.
• Save As: Invoices can be saved as either standard Invoice or Draft Invoice
• End Date: This is an optional setting used to prevent invoices being automatically created after a certain date.

The remainder of the invoice should be filled out as per the normal Create Sales Invoice procedure. Click the Save button to complete the creation of the recurring invoice.

 

EDIT RECURRING INVOICE

Navigate to the Sales tab followed by the Recurring tab. A list of all recurring invoices will be displayed.

Click on the link in the Customer field to view or edit a recurring invoice. Any changes made will only affect invoices created on the Next Invoice date.

Recurring Invoices can be deleted at any stage to prevent further invoices being created. Alternatively, use the End Date to achieve the same result and still retain a record of the recurring entry in the list.

View/Edit Invoice

Navigate to the Sales tab.

Invoices and credit notes are displayed in list format with the following statuses:

• All - all invoices and credit notes
• Draft - invoices saved as Draft
• Outstanding - the invoice or credit note has not been fully paid, allocated, refunded or voided
• Paid - the invoice or credit note has been fully paid, allocated, refunded or voided
• Recurring - recurring invoices set up to automatically create invoices on specified dates and frequencies

 

 

Click on a transaction in the All, Draft, Outstanding and Paid tabs to view or edit the entry. See Create Sales Invoice for a detailed explanation of each field.

All fields will be available for editing unless the transaction (or line item) has been paid/credit noted or is already included in a Bank Reconciliation or VAT Report. Although inadvisable, it is possible to unreconcile bank items and delete VAT Reports in order to edit transactions. Careful consideration should be given to any representations already made to external parties such as the HMRC.

Items displayed in the Recurring tab can also be viewed or edited. See Recurring Sales Invoice for more information.

Email or Print Invoice

PRINT INVOICE

Open an existing invoice in View/Edit mode. Use the Sales Invoice options drop down list to select the Print to PDF option.

Depending on your web browser settings, you will be prompted to open or save the PDF.  

 

EMAIL INVOICE

Open an existing invoice in View/Edit mode. Use the Sales Invoice options drop down list to select the Email option.

The fields in the Email window will be populated automatically, but can be edited as required. 

 

• From: Defaults to the user's email address.
• To: Defaults to the email address specified in the customer record.
• CC: Defaults to the user's email address so that you have a copy and record of the invoice sent out.
• Subject: The subject as it appears to the recipient of the email.
• Attachment: The attached document.
• Body: Replace or add to the default text as required.

Click on the Send button to transmit the email.

Void an Invoice

Invoices can be voided if they were entered in error as long as they are not included in a VAT Report or have not been partially or fully paid/credit noted.

Open an existing invoice in View/Edit mode. Use the Sales Invoice options drop down list to select the Void option, which will set all value fields in the invoice to zero.

Click the Save button to void the invoice.

Voided invoices are still visible in the Paid and All Sales tabs, to show that no gaps exist in the invoice number sequence.

Clone an Invoice

Cloning is a convenient way to copy an existing invoice in order to create a new one.

Open an existing invoice in View/Edit mode. Use the Sales Invoice options drop down list to select the Clone option.

All details from the originally selected invoice are copied to the new one and can be freely edited.

Click the Save button to complete the invoice.

Create Sales Credit Note

Navigate to the Sales tab and click on the New Credit Note button

Proceed to enter the credit note details as follows:

 

• Transaction ID: Automatically generated sequential number based on the Transaction Numbering settings for the organisation. It represents the unique sales credit note number which is presented to the customer.

• Customer: Select the customer you are issuing the credit note to. If the customer has not already been set up, click on the plus sign (+) to create a new customer.

• Reference: Enter relevant information such as customer purchase orders or other details you would like to appear on the credit note output.

• Credit Note Date: The date you issue the credit note. Note that if you specify a date prior to the Conversion Date in your organisation settings, the credit note is treated as part of your Conversion Balances

• Due Date: The date that credit note falls due. This date is determined by adding the days specified in the Customer record to the Credit Note Date but can be changed as required.

• Add New Line Item: If more than one line item is to be entered, click on this button to initiate the entry of the next line item.

• VAT Treatment: This option is only visible if your organisation is registered for VAT. It is mostly relevant to UK organisations which sell into Europe. See VAT UK - Box by Box for more information.

• Show VAT Amount: Selecting this checkbox displays the VAT Amount field for each line item. The VAT amount can be changed if required. 

• Amounts include VAT: By default, the Unit Price is expected to be entered net of VAT. Selecting this checkbox results in all VAT calculations assuming the Unit Price includes VAT. This impacts the overall VAT charged on the credit note and therefore, the Total of the credit note. 

• Item: Only visible if Price List Items have been created. Can be used to default stock/service prices or track the purchases or sales of such items.

• Quantity: The quantity of the goods or services being credited. Must be greater than 0.

• Description: Enter a description of the goods or services being credited. This text will appear on the credit note output.

• Account: Enter the account against which the reduction of income should be recorded. Use the drop down arrow to search available accounts or click in the field and enter free text to find matching values. If you cannot find an appropriate account, check your settings for the Chart of Accounts and create a new account if required.

• VAT Code: Select the appropriate VAT Code which should be applied to the line item (default VAT codes can be set in Chart of Accounts). The codes chosen here impact your VAT Reporting. If you are unfamiliar with VAT, it is advisable to consult your accountant or the HMRC for advice. 

• VAT: Only visible if Show VAT Amount checkbox selected. The VAT amount can be changed if required.
• Category: Only visible if Categories have been created. Optional field for further classification of line item.

• Unit Price: Enter the unit price of the goods or services supplied to the customer.

• Total: Line item total – Unit Price multiplied by Quantity.

• Delete Line (X): This button allows you to delete an unwanted line item if there are no validation restrictions (such as the transaction being refunded, allocated or included in a VAT Report).

• Memo: Enter information applicable to the entire credit note. The text is available for displaying on the credit note output.

• Include in PDF: Selecting this checkbox ensures that text in the Memo field appears on the PDF printed version of the credit note.

 

Click the Save button to complete the creation of the credit note or choose the Save Draft option which saves the credit note but does not update your financial results. Draft credit notes can be edited at a later stage and saved again as draft or actual credit notes.

Issue Credit Note based on Invoice

An efficient way to enter a credit note is to create it directly from within a saved invoice, retaining all the field values previously entered.

Open an existing invoice in View/Edit mode. Use the Sales Invoice options drop down list to select the Issue Credit Note option.

Click the Save button to complete the creation of the credit note.

Note that there is no link created between the new credit note and the original invoice. If you wish to allocate the credit note to the invoice, then this must be done from within the credit note (see Allocate Credit Note).

See Create Sales Credit Note to view full details on entering credit notes.

View/Edit Credit Note

Navigate to the Sales tab.

Invoices and credit notes are displayed in list format with the following statuses:

• All - all invoices and credit notes
• Draft - invoices saved as Draft
• Outstanding - the invoice or credit note has not been fully paid, allocated, refunded or voided
• Paid - the invoice or credit note has been fully paid, allocated, refunded or voided
• Recurring - recurring invoices set up to automatically create invoices on specified dates and frequencies

 

 

Click on a transaction in the All, Draft, Outstanding and Paid tabs to view or edit the entry. See Create Sales Credit Note for a detailed explanation of each field.

All fields will be available for editing unless the transaction (or line item) has been refunded/allocated or is already included in a Bank Reconciliation or VAT Report. Although inadvisable, it is possible to unreconcile bank items and delete VAT Reports in order to edit transactions. Careful consideration should be given to any representations already made to external parties such as the HMRC.

Items displayed in the Recurring tab can also be viewed or edited. See Recurring Sales Invoice for more information.

Email or Print Credit Note

PRINT CREDIT NOTE

Open an existing credit note in View/Edit mode. Use the Credit Note options drop down list to select the Print to PDF option.

Depending on your web browser settings, you will be prompted to open or save the PDF.  

 

EMAIL CREDIT NOTE

Open an existing credit note in View/Edit mode. Use the Credit Note options drop down list to select the Email option.

The fields in the Email window can be edited as required. 

 

 

• From: Defaults to the user's email address.
• To: Defaults to the email address specified in the customer record.
• CC: Defaults to the user's email address so that you have a copy and record of the credit memo sent out.
• Subject: The subject as it appears to the recipient of the email.
• Attachment: The attached document.
• Body: Replace or add to the default text as required.

 

Click on the Send button to transmit the email.

Allocate Credit Note to Invoice

A credit note can be allocated to one or more invoices in order to reduce the outstanding amount of the invoice. The credit note can be wholly or partially allocated as required.

Open an existing credit note in View/Edit mode. Use the Credit Note options drop down list to select the Allocate Credit Note option.

Proceed to enter the credit note allocation as follows:

• Reference: Enter any relevant information you may require.
• Amount Allocated: Automatically fills in the amount outstanding on the credit note. You can change this amount to a lesser value if you require.
• Date: The date that the allocation takes place.This defaults to the current date but can be changed.

 

A list of the customer's available invoices (where the outstanding amount is greater than zero) will be presented for selection. Tick the checkbox in the first column to select an invoice for allocation. 

• Transaction ID: The transaction ID of an invoice available for allocation.
• Invoice Date: The date as specified on the invoice.
• Invoice Amount: The overall total value of the original invoice.
• Other Payments: The total of any payments or credit note allocations previously made against this invoice.
• This Allocation: The amount of the credit note being allocated to the selected invoice. This amount cannot be greater than [Invoice Amount - Other Payments]. Click on this field to change the amount allocated.
• Outstanding: Calculated as [Invoice Amount - Other Payments - This Allocation].

 

Note that the amount in the This Allocation field can be changed by clicking on the value.

Continue to select and allocate as many invoices as required.

Click the Save button to complete the allocation of a credit note to an invoice.

Void a Credit Note

Credit notes can be voided if they were entered in error as long as they are not included in a VAT Report or have not been partially or fully allocated/refunded.

Open an existing credit note in View/Edit mode. Use the Credit Note options drop down list to select the Void option, which will set all value fields in the credit note to zero.

Click the Save button to void the credit note.

Voided credit notes are still visible in the Sales tab (Paid & All) to show that no gaps exist in the credit note number sequence.

Clone a Credit Note

Cloning is a convenient way to copy an existing credit note in order to create a new one.

Open an existing credit note in View/Edit mode. Use the Credit Note options drop down list to select the Clone option.

 

All details from the originally selected credit note are copied to the new one and can be freely edited.

Click the Save button to complete the credit note.

Enter Payment directly from Invoice

Navigate to the Sales tab.

Open an existing invoice in View/Edit mode. Use the Sales Invoice options drop down list to select the Enter Payment option.

The New Receive Money popup will appear with most fields pre-filled including the invoice you are entering the payment for. All fields can be changed if required and additional invoices can be selected for inclusion in this payment.

Make sure to specify the bank account into which the money is being received.

Click the Save button to complete the transaction.

Go to Customer Invoice Payment for a more detailed explanation of the field entry requirenents.

 

 

Enter Refund directly from Credit Note

Navigate to the Sales tab.

Open an existing credit note in View/Edit mode. Use the Credit Note options drop down list to select the Enter Refund option.

The New Spend Money popup will appear with most fields pre-filled including the credit note you are entering the refund for. All fields can be changed if required and additional credit notes can be selected for inclusion in this refund.

Make sure to specify the bank account from which the money is being paid.

Click the Save button to complete the transaction.

Go to Customer Refund for a more detailed explanation of the field entry requirements.

View/Edit Payments and Refunds

Navigate to the Banking tab and click on Bank Transactions.

 

 

Select the appropriate bank account from the drop down list.

Click on a transaction to view or edit the entry.

 

All fields will be available for editing unless the transaction (or line item) is already included in a Bank Reconciliation or VAT Report. Although inadvisable, it is possible to unreconcile bank items and delete VAT Reports in order to edit transactions. Careful consideration should be given to any representations already made to external parties such as the HMRC.

Create Purchase Invoice

Navigate to the Purchases tab and click on the New Invoice button

Proceed to enter the invoice details as follows:

 

• Transaction ID: Automatically generated sequential number based on the Transaction Numbering settings for the organisation. 

• Supplier: Select the supplier you are purchasing the goods or services from. If the supplier has not already been set up, click on the plus sign (+) to create a new supplier . 

• Reference: Enter relevant information such as supplier invoice number. 

• Invoice Date: The date on the supplier invoice. Note that if you specify a date prior to the Conversion Date in your organisation settings, the invoice is treated as part of your Conversion Balances. 

• Due Date: The date that payment of the invoice falls due. This date is determined by adding the days specified in the Supplier record to the Invoice Date but can be changed as required.

• Add New Line Item: If more than one line item is to be entered, click on this button to initiate the entry of the next line item.

• VAT Treatment: This option is only visible if your organisation is registered for VAT. It is mostly relevant to UK organisations with purchases from Europe. See VAT UK - Box by Box for more information.

• Show VAT Amount: Selecting this checkbox displays the VAT Amount field for each line item. The VAT amount can be changed if required.  

• Amounts include VAT: By default, the Unit Price is expected to be entered net of VAT. Selecting this checkbox results in all VAT calculations assuming the Unit Price includes VAT. This impacts the overall VAT charged on the invoice and therefore, the Total of the invoice.
• Item: Only visible if Price List Items have been created. Can be used to default stock/service prices or track the purchases or sales of such items.

• Quantity: The quantity of the goods or services purchased. Must be greater than 0. 

• Description: Enter a description of the goods or services purchased. This text will appear on the invoice output. 

• Account: Enter the account against which purchase should be recorded. Use the drop down arrow to search available accounts or click in the field and enter free text to find matching values. If you cannot find an appropriate account, check your settings for the Chart of Accounts and create a new account if required. 

• VAT Code: Select the appropriate VAT Code which should be applied to the line item (default VAT codes can be set in Chart of Accounts). The codes chosen here have an impact on your VAT Reporting. If you are unfamiliar with VAT, it is advisable to consult your accountant or the HMRC for advice.  

• VAT: Only visible if Show VAT Amount checkbox selected. The VAT amount can be changed if required.
• Category: Only visible if Categories have been created. Optional field for further classification of line item.

• Unit Price: Enter the unit price of the goods or services purchased from the supplier. 

• Total: Line item total = Unit Price multiplied by Quantity. 

• Delete Line (X): This button allows you to delete an unwanted line item if there are no validation restrictions (such as the transaction being paid, credit noted or included in a VAT Report).

• Memo: Enter information applicable to the entire invoice.

 

Click the Save button to complete the creation of the invoice or choose the Save Draft option which saves the invoice but does not update your financial results. Draft invoices can be edited at a later stage and saved again as draft or actual invoices.

Recurring Purchase Invoice

Recurring Invoices are a convenient way to automate the creation of Invoices or Draft Invoices.

Recurring transactions are automatically processed once a day at 04h00 UK time and will generate invoices based on the recurring invoice settings for your organisation.

 

CREATE RECURRING INVOICE

Navigate to the Purchases tab and use the drop down arrow on the New Invoice button to select New Recurring Invoice. Proceed to enter the recurring invoice details as follows:

• Next Invoice: The date on which the next invoice will be automatically created. If you enter the current date in this field, an invoice will be created immediately.
• Repeat Every: Set the frequency of the invoice creation by entering a value and choosing from either Month(s) or Week(s). After an invoice has been successfully created, the Next Invoice date will be automatically recalculated in line with this setting.
• Due Date: Set a default number of due days that will be applied to each invoice created from this recurring invoice.
• Save As: Invoices can be saved as either standard Invoice or Draft Invoice
• End Date: This is an optional setting used to prevent invoices being automatically created after a certain date.

The remainder of the invoice should be filled out as per the normal Create Purchase Invoice procedure. Click the Save button to complete the creation of the recurring invoice.

 

EDIT RECURRING INVOICE

Navigate to the Purchases tab followed by the Recurring tab. A list of all recurring invoices will be displayed.

Click on the link in the Supplier field to view or edit a recurring invoice. Any changes made will only affect invoices created on the Next Invoice date.

Recurring Invoices can be deleted at any stage to prevent further invoices being created. Alternatively, use the End Date to achieve the same result and still retain a record of the recurring entry in the list.

View/Edit Invoice

Navigate to the Purchases tab.

Invoices and credit notes are displayed in list format with the following statuses:

• All - all invoices and credit notes
• Draft - invoices saved as Draft
• Outstanding - the invoice or credit note has not been fully paid, allocated, refunded or voided
• Paid - the invoice or credit note has been fully paid, allocated, refunded or voided
• Recurring - recurring invoices set up to automatically create invoices on specified dates and frequencies

 

 

Click on a transaction in the All, Draft, Outstanding and Paid tabs to view or edit the entry. See Create Purchase Invoice for a detailed explanation of each field.

All fields will be available for editing unless the transaction (or line item) has been paid/credit noted or is already included in a Bank Reconciliation or VAT Report. Although inadvisable, it is possible to unreconcile bank items and delete VAT Reports in order to edit transactions. Careful consideration should be given to any representations already made to external parties such as the HMRC.

Items displayed in the Recurring tab can also be viewed or edited. See Recurring Purchase Invoice for more information.

Email or Print Invoice

Most Purchase documents are sent to you by a supplier and so it is less likely that you will need to print or email purchase invoices or credit notes. The same functionality provided for printing and emailing Sales transactions is available in Purchases.

PRINT INVOICE

Open an existing invoice in View/Edit mode. Use the Purchase Invoice options drop down list to select the Print to PDF option.

 

Depending on your web browser settings, you will be prompted to open or save the PDF.  

 

EMAIL INVOICE

Open an existing invoice in View/Edit mode. Use the Purchase Invoice options drop down list to select the Email option.

The fields in the Email window can be edited as required. 

• From: Defaults to the user's email address.
• To: Defaults to the email address specified in the supplier record.
• CC: Defaults to the user's email address so that you have a copy and record of the invoice sent out.
• Subject: The subject as it appears to the recipient of the email.
• Attachment: The attached document.
• Body: Replace or add to the default text as required.

 

Click on the Send button to transmit the email.

Void an Invoice

Invoices can be voided if they were entered in error as long as they are not included in a VAT Report or have not been partially or fully paid/credit noted.

Open an existing invoice in View/Edit mode. Use the Purchase Invoice options drop down list to select the Void option, which will set all value fields in the invoice to zero.

Click the Save button to void the invoice.

Voided invoices are still visible in the Purchases tab (Paid & All) to show that no gaps exist in the invoice number sequence .

Clone an Invoice

Cloning is a convenient way to copy an existing invoice in order to create a new one.

Open an existing invoice in View/Edit mode. Use the Purchase Invoice options drop down list to select the Clone option.

All details from the originally selected invoice are copied to the new one and can be freely edited.

Click the Save button to complete the invoice.

Create Purchase Credit Note

Navigate to the Purchases tab and click on the New Credit Note button

Proceed to enter the credit note details as follows:

 

• Transaction ID: Automatically generated sequential number based on the Transaction Numbering settings for the organisation. 

• Supplier: Select the supplier you received the credit note from. If the supplier has not already been set up, click on the plus sign (+) to create a new supplier. 

• Reference: Enter relevant information such as supplier credit note number. 

• Credit Note Date: The date on the supplier credit note. Note that if you specify a date prior to the Conversion Date in your organisation settings, the credit note is treated as part of your Conversion Balances. 

• Due Date: The date that credit note falls due. This date is determined by adding the days specified in the Supplier record to the Credit Note Date but can be changed as required.

• Add New Line Item: If more than one line item is to be entered, click on this button to initiate the entry of the next line item.

• VAT Treatment: This option is only visible if your organisation is registered for VAT. It is mostly relevant to UK organisations with purchases from Europe. See VAT UK - Box by Box for more information.

• Show VAT Amount: Selecting this checkbox displays the VAT Amount field for each line item. The VAT amount can be changed if required.  

• Amounts include VAT: By default, the Unit Price is expected to be entered net of VAT. Selecting this checkbox results in all VAT calculations assuming the Unit Price includes VAT. This impacts the overall VAT charged on the credit note and therefore, the Total of the credit note.
• Item: Only visible if Price List Items have been created. Can be used to default stock/service prices or track the purchases or sales of such items.

• Quantity: The quantity of the goods or services being credited. Must be greater than 0. 

• Description: Enter a description of the goods or services being credited. This text will appear on the credit note output. 

• Account: Enter the account against which the reduction of the purchase should be recorded. Use the drop down arrow to search available accounts or click in the field and enter free text to find matching values. If you cannot find an appropriate account, check your settings for the Chart of Accounts and create a new account if required. 

• VAT Code: Select the appropriate VAT Code which should be applied to the line item (default VAT codes can be set in Chart of Accounts). The codes chosen here impact your VAT Reporting. If you are unfamiliar with VAT, it is advisable to consult your accountant or the HMRC for advice.  

• VAT: Only visible if Show VAT Amount checkbox selected. The VAT amount can be changed if required.
• Category: Only visible if Categories have been created. Optional field for further classification of line item.

• Unit Price: Enter the unit price of the goods or services purchased from the supplier. 

• Total: Line item total – Unit Price multiplied by Quantity. 

• Delete Line (X): This button allows you to delete an unwanted line item if there are no validation restrictions (such as the transaction being refunded, allocated or included in a VAT Report).

• Memo: Enter information applicable to the entire credit note.

 

Click the Save button to complete the creation of the credit note or choose the Save Draft option which saves the credit note but does not update your financial results. Draft credit notes can be edited at a later stage and saved again as draft or actual credit notes.

Create Credit Note based on Invoice

An efficient way to enter a credit note is to create it directly from within a saved invoice, retaining all the field values previously entered.

Open an existing invoice in View/Edit mode. Use the Purchase Invoice options drop down list to select the Issue Credit Note option

Click the Save button to complete the creation of the credit note.

Note that there is no link created between the new credit note and the original invoice. If you wish to allocate the credit note to the invoice, then this must be done from within the credit note (see Allocate Credit Note).

See Create Purchase Credit Note to view full details on entering credit notes.

View/Edit Credit Note

Navigate to the Purchases tab.

Invoices and credit notes are displayed in list format with the following statuses:

• All - all invoices and credit notes
• Draft - invoices saved as Draft
• Outstanding - the invoice or credit note has not been fully paid, allocated, refunded or voided
• Paid - the invoice or credit note has been fully paid, allocated, refunded or voided
• Recurring - recurring invoices set up to automatically create invoices on specified dates and frequencies

 

 

Click on a transaction in the All, Draft, Outstanding and Paid tabs to view or edit the entry. See Create Purchase Credit Note for a detailed explanation of each field.

All fields will be available for editing unless the transaction (or line item) has been refunded/allocated or is already included in a Bank Reconciliation or VAT Report. Although inadvisable, it is possible to unreconcile bank items and delete VAT Reports in order to edit transactions. Careful consideration should be given to any representations already made to external parties such as the HMRC.

Items displayed in the Recurring tab can also be viewed or edited. See Recurring Purchase Invoice for more information.

Email or Print Credit Note

 

As opposed to Sales documents, most Purchase documents are sent to you and so it is less likely that you will need to print or email purchase invoices or credit notes. The same functionality provided for printing and emailing Sales transactions is available in Purchases.

PRINT CREDIT NOTE

Open an existing credit note in View/Edit mode. Use the Purchase Credit Note options drop down list to select the Print to PDF option.

Depending on your web browser settings, you will be prompted to open or save the PDF.  

 

EMAIL CREDIT NOTE

Open an existing credit note in View/Edit mode. Use the Purchase Credit Note options drop down list to select the Email option.

The fields in the Email window can be edited as required. 

 

• From: Defaults to the user's email address.
• To: Defaults to the email address specified in the supplier record.
• CC: Defaults to the user's email address so that you have a copy and record of the invoice sent out.
• Subject: The subject as it appears to the recipient of the email.
• Attachment: The attached document.
• Body: Replace or add to the default text as required.

 

Click on the Send button to transmit the email.

Allocate Credit Note to Invoice

A credit note can be allocated to one or more invoices in order to reduce the outstanding amount of the invoice. The credit note can be wholly or partially allocated as required.

Open an existing credit note in View/Edit mode. Use the Purchase Credit Note options drop down list to select the Allocate Credit Note option.

 

Proceed to enter the credit note allocation as follows:

 

• Reference: Enter any relevant information you may require.
• Amount Allocated: Automatically fills in the amount outstanding on the credit note. You can change this amount to a lesser value if you require.
• Date: The date that the allocation takes place.This defaults to the current date but can be changed.

 

A list of the supplier's available invoices (where the outstanding amount is greater than zero) will be presented for selection. Tick the checkbox in the first column to select an invoice for allocation. 

 

• Transaction ID: The transaction ID of an invoice available for allocation.
• Invoice Date: The date as specified on the invoice.
• Invoice Amount: The overall total value of the original invoice.
• Other Payments: The total of any payments or credit note allocations previously made against this invoice.
• This Allocation: The amount of the credit note being allocated to the selected invoice. This amount cannot be greater than [Invoice Amount - Other Payments]. Click on this field to change the amount allocated.
• Outstanding: Calculated as [Invoice Amount - Other Payments - This Allocation].

Note that the amount in the This Allocation field can be changed by clicking on the value.

Continue to select and allocate as many invoices as required.

Click the Save button to complete the allocation of a credit note to an invoice.

Void a Credit Note

Credit notes can be voided if they were entered in error as long as they are not included in a VAT Report or have not been partially or fully allocated/refunded.

Open an existing credit note in View/Edit mode. Use the Purchase Credit Note options drop down list to select the Void option, which will set all value fields in the credit note to zero.

Click the Save button to void the credit note.

Voided credit notes are still visible in the Purchases tab (Paid & All) to show that no gaps exist in the credit note number sequence.

Clone a Credit Note

Cloning is a convenient way to copy an existing credit note in order to create a new one.

Open an existing credit note in View/Edit mode. Use the Purchase Credit Note options drop down list to select the Clone option.

 

All details from the originally selected credit note are copied to the new one and can be freely edited.

Click the Save button to complete the credit note.

Enter Payment directly from Invoice

Navigate to the Purchases tab.

Open an existing invoice in View/Edit mode. Use the Purchase Invoice options drop down list to select the Enter Payment option.

The New Spend Money popup will appear with most fields pre-filled including the invoice you are entering the payment for. All fields can be changed if required and additional invoices can be selected for inclusion in this payment.

Make sure to specify the bank account from which the money is being paid.

Click the Save button to complete the transaction.

Go to Supplier Invoice Payment for a more detailed explanation of the field entry requirements.

Enter Refund directly from Credit Note

Navigate to the Purchases tab.

Open an existing credit note in View/Edit mode. Use the Purchase Credit Note options drop down list to select the Enter Refund option.

The New Receive Money popup will appear with most fields pre-filled including the credit note you are entering the refund for. All fields can be changed if required and additional credit notes can be selected for inclusion in this refund.

Make sure to specify the bank account into which the money is being received.

Click the Save button to complete the transaction.

Go to Supplier Refund for a more detailed explanation of the field entry requirements.

View/Edit Payments and Refunds

Navigate to the Banking tab and click on Bank Transactions.

 

 

Select the appropriate bank account from the drop down list.

Click on a transaction to view or edit the entry.

 

All fields will be available for editing unless the transaction (or line item) is already included in a Bank Reconciliation or VAT Report. Although inadvisable, it is possible to unreconcile bank items and delete VAT Reports in order to edit transactions. Careful consideration should be given to any representations already made to external parties such as the HMRC.



Receive Money

Navigate to the Banking tab and click on Bank Transactions

Select the appropriate bank account from the drop down list and then click on the Receive Money button to start entering receipts. Choose one of the options from the Type drop down list:

• General Payment: Receipts or inflows not relating to customer invoices or supplier refunds eg. interest received, bank transfer etc - see General Receipt
• Invoice Payment: Receipts relating to existing customer invoices - see Customer Invoice Payment
• Refund: Receipts relating to existing supplier credit notes - see Supplier Refunds

 

 

Spend Money

Navigate to the Banking tab and click on Bank Transactions

Select the appropriate bank account from the drop down list and then click on the Spend Money button to start entering payments. Choose one of the options from the Type drop down list:

• General Payment: Payments or outflows not relating to supplier invoices or customer refunds eg. interest paid, bank transfer out etc - see General Payment
• Invoice Payment: Payments relating to existing supplier invoices - see Supplier Invoice Payment
• Refund: Payments relating to existing customer credit notes - see Customer Refunds

 

 



View/Edit Bank Transaction

Navigate to the Banking tab and click on Bank Transactions.

 

 

Select the appropriate bank account from the drop down list.

Double click on a transaction to view or edit the entry.

 

All fields will be available for editing unless the transaction, or one or more line items, have already been included in a Bank Reconciliation or VAT Report. Although inadvisable, it is possible to unreconcile bank items and delete VAT Reports in order to edit transactions. Careful consideration should be given to any representations already made to external parties such as the HMRC.

Delete Bank Transaction

Navigate to the Banking tab and then click on Bank Transactions.

The Delete indicator on the bank transaction will only be available if the transaction (or line items) have not already been included in a Bank Reconciliation or VAT Report.

Click the button and confirm the prompt to delete the bank transaction.

 

NOTE

Although inadvisable, it is possible to unreconcile bank items and delete VAT Reports in order to delete transactions. Careful consideration should be given to any representations already made to external parties such as the HMRC.

Importing a file

Once you have downloaded the OFX, QFX or CSV file from your online banking, navigate to the Banking tab and then the Bank Statement Import tab. Click the Import New Bank Statement button.

• Bank account: Select the appropriate bank account for the statement being imported.
• File to import: Click on the Browse button and select the OFX, QFX or CSV file that you previously downloaded and saved on your computer.

 

Once you have made your selections, click the Import button to read the transactions in the selected file.

 

If you selected a CSV file for import, you will need to assign each of the fields in the file to an appropriate system field by selecting the available system fields in the column combo boxes provided.

• Don't Import: use this option to ignore the values in a particular field.
• Transaction Date: must be assigned.
• Amount: must be assigned.
• Payee: represents the payee or payer and is the key field for creating an Import Rule.
• Transaction Memo: the values in this field will appear in the Memo field in the saved bank transaction.
• Reference: the values in this field will appear in the Reference field in the saved bank transaction.
• Item Description: the values in this field will appear in the line item Description field in the saved bank transaction.




• First row contains headings: use this option to prevent a row containing headings from being imported.
• Date format: this will be automatically determined if possible and must match the date format in the file. 

 

Cell values can be edited before the Bank Statement is saved. It is not advisabe to edit dates or amounts but the functionality can be useful to add text or comments.

Click the Save button to create the bank statement. You will be transferred to the Bank Satement Detail screen from where you can process the bank statement.

 

If you selected an OFX or QFX file for import, the fields will appear similar to the image below:

• Transaction Date: will be used in the transaction date field of bank transaction.
• Amount: the amount to be used in the bank transaction.
• Payee: represents the payee or payer and is the key field for creating an Import Rule.
• Description: the values in this field will appear in the Memo field in the saved bank transaction.

 

Cell values can be edited before the Bank Statement is saved. It is not advisabe to edit dates or amounts but the functionality can be useful to add text or comments.

Click the Save button to create the bank statement. You will be transferred to the Bank Satement Detail screen from where you can process the bank statement.

 

NOTE

When importing a bank statement, timing differences can arise between the actual transaction date and the value appearing on your bank statement. Time taken for cheques to clear is a good example of this. This is especially relevant if you are registered for Cash Accounting VAT, which has special rules regarding receipt date and does not consider the relevant date to be the date the cash clears in your bank statement (see HMRC website for further details) In some cases, it is therefore more appropriate to make use of Receive Money or Spend Money options to initially record the entry followed by a 'matching' activity when the values clear on the bank statement which has been imported.

 

Tip for users who cannot download Bank Statements

You can create a bank statement import file from scratch by entering a record for each bank transaction in your favourite spreadsheet program and saving the file as a CSV type. This is helpful if you cannot download a statement from your bank but wish to use the Import Bank Statement tool and would like an online record of statements in AccountsPortal.

File preparation:

• Open spreadsheet program.
• Create rows of information representing bank transactions.
• Enter at least 4 columns of information.
• Amount: positive amounts create Receive Money and negative amounts create Spend Money.
  Date: date transaction clears in bank account. Use format DD/MM/YYYY, YYYY/MM/DD, YYYY-MM-DD or DD-MM-YYYY.
  Payer/Payee: the text entered here is matched against the search term of Import Rules.
  Description: the text entered here can be inserted into the Reference, Memo or Description field of the bank transaction.
• Save the file as file type CSV.
  
• If any text or numbers contain commas, then they should be delimited with quotation marks as follows (the spreadsheet program should do this automatically):

10/06/2009,"1,000.21",Endcorp,INV39
11/06/2009,"-1,250.20",Telco Ltd,Telephone Charges
15/06/2009,-25.50,Charges,"Bank Charges, May09"

Go back to the top of this page and process the file as a CSV type.

Importing a PayPal file

Your PayPal account is essentially a bank account and therefore it is advisable to add a new bank account in the Chart of Accounts to manage your PayPal transactions.

Download/Export a file from PayPal in the CSV format. You don't need to modify the file before importing but its worth noting that only the following fields are imported:

PayPal file field	Rule
Date	Mandatory field
Name	Mandatory field
Type
Gross	Mandatory field
Fee	Mandatory field
From Email Address
To Email Address
Transaction ID	Mandatory field
Item Title

Please note that the maximum lines per import file is 250.

Navigate to the Banking tab and then the Bank Statement Import tab. Click the Import New Bank Statement button.

• Bank account: Select the appropriate bank account for the statement being imported.
• PayPal Import: This option must be selected to successfully import PayPal files.
• File to import: Click on the Browse button and select the PayPal file that you previously downloaded and saved on your computer (must be in CSV format).

 

Once you have made your selections, click the Import button to read the transactions in the selected file. You will be notified with a confirmation message if the file is successfully imported.

 

You will notice that there are more transaction items imported than existed in the original PayPal file downloaded. This is because fees charged by PayPal are split into separate transaction lines in the imported statement. This enables the full amount paid by the customer to be allocated to their invoice as well as a separate transaction being created to reflect the fee value.

Assign each of the fields in the PayPal file to an appropriate system field by selecting the available system fields in the column combo boxes provided.

• Don't Import: use this option to ignore the values in a particular field.
• Transaction Date: must be assigned.
• Amount: must be assigned.
• Payee: represents the payee or payer and is the key field for creating an Import Rule. For PayPal files, the default assignment is to the Name field.
• Transaction Memo: the values in this field will appear in the Memo field in the saved bank transaction.
• Reference: the values in this field will appear in the Reference field in the saved bank transaction.
• Item Description: the values in this field will appear in the line item Description field in the saved bank transaction.




• First row contains headings: use this option to prevent a row containing headings from being imported.
• Date format: this will be automatically determined if possible and must match the date format in the file. 

 

Cell values can be edited before the PayPal Bank Statement is saved. It is not advisabe to edit dates or amounts but the functionality can be useful to add text or comments.

Click the Save button to create the bank statement. You will be transferred to the Bank Satement Detail screen from where you can process the bank statement.

Process a Bank Statement

Navigate to the Banking tab and then the Bank Statement Import tab.

 

• Bank account: Bank Account of the statement.
• Start date: The date of the earliest transaction.
• End date: The date of the latest transaction.
• Import date: The date you imported the file into AccountsPortal.
• Statement lines processed: Current status of the statement.
• Delete statement: The option to delete a statement only exists if there are 0 lines processed (see Delete Bank Statement).

 

Click on a bank statement line to open the statement for processing

• Date: The date the transaction cleared at the bank or appeared on the statement.
• Amount: The amount provided in the statement.
• Payee: This is the payee or payer. The text in this field is used to search for the relevant Import Rule. It will also be used as the basis for creating new rules automatically if activated in your organisation's settings.
• Reference: Any relevant information provided by the bank that you assign to the Reference field in the bank transaction.
• Transaction Memo: Any relevant information provided by the bank that you assign to the Memo field in the bank transaction.
• Line Item Description: Any relevant information provided by the bank that you assign to the line item Description field in the bank transaction.
• Status:
  
  • P : Click this button to initiate a new bank transaction using Spend Money for negative amounts and Receive Money for positive amounts.
  • R : This button is only active if an Import Rule is found matching the value in the Payee field. Click the R button to create a Spend Money or a Receive Money bank transaction using the rule.
  • M : This button is only active if an existing unreconciled bank transaction has been entered which matches the statement line item on Amount. An example might be a cheque you received and banked which was already saved as a bank transaction. The cheque has now cleared in your bank account. Avoid creating a new Receive Money which would be a duplicate. Click the M button to match the items (see below for more information on using M).
• Delete line: Any unprocessed statement line can be deleted.

 

Once you have completed the creation of a new bank transaction or matched a statement line item to an existing bank transaction, the status will be updated to reflect the bank transaction (saved bank transactions will be visible in the Bank Transactions tab). There will also be a V and a U button visible.

• Status:
  
  • V : This button is only active for statement line items already processed. Click the V button to view or edit the saved transaction.
  • U : This button is only active for statement line items already processed. Click the U button to unlink statement line items and saved bank transactions. This action will mark the saved bank transaction as unreconciled but does not delete it. The bank transaction can only be deleted in the Bank Transactions screen.
• Delete line: Processed statement lines can no longer be deleted.

 

 

M - Matching statement lines to bank transactions

You can only match one bank transaction to a statement line. Select the appropriate bank transaction and click on Use Selected to create the link.

Delete Bank Statement

Navigate to the Banking tab and then the Bank Statement Import tab.

The Delete indicator on the bank statement line will only be available if none of the line items have been processed.

Click the button and confirm the prompt to delete the statement.

 

NOTE

Line items that have been processed (thus preventing deletion of a statement) can be reset to unprocessed.  Click the U button to unlink statement line items and saved bank transactions. This action will mark the saved bank transaction as unreconciled but does not delete it. The bank transaction can only be deleted in the Bank Transactions screen (see Process a Bank Statement).

Manage Import Rules

During bank statement import, AccountsPortal checks for existing rules which match the Payee (payee/payer) field in the bank statement line. If a rule is found, it can be used to quickstart the bank transaction by selecting the appropriate Transaction Type and where applicable the Customer/Supplier, Account and VAT code. The purpose of this functionality it to increase efficiency and consistency of how bank transactions are created from bank statement lines.

If activated in your organisation's settings, Import Rules will be created automatically when a bank statement line is processed using button P (see Process a  Bank Statement). The rule is based on a search term that is derived from the Payee field in the bank statement line and is only created once. If you want to change the settings of a rule or delete the rule, then follow the instructions below.

Navigate to the Banking tab, click on Bank Statement Import and then Manage Import Rules.

 

Click on an existing rule to edit the settings. All fields can be changed including the Transaction Type.

The existing field values are based on the bank transaction created from the first statement imported. It is not necessary to differentiate at a rule level between payments and receipts as this determined whilst processing a bank statement line based on the sign of the Amount field. 

• Search Term: This is the key text checked to see if it matches a value in the Payee field of the statement line. A positive match results in this rule being available for use during bank statement processing. During automatic creation of a rule the text is set to lowercase.
• Customer/Supplier: Customer/supplier to be used with this rule. Must be maintained if Transaction Type is Invoice Payment or Refund.
• Account: Acount to be used with this rule. Only applicable if Transaction Type is General Payment.
• VAT Treatment: This option is only visible if your organisation is registered for VAT. It is mostly relevant to UK organisations with European sales or purchases. See VAT UK - Box by Box for more information.
• VAT: VAT code to be used with this rule. Only applicable if Transaction Type is General Payment.
• Category: Optional field for further classification of line item.
• Transaction Type: This determines the type of bank transaction that will be created when using the rule (see Receive Money or Spend Money).

Automatic PayPal Import Tool

AccountsPortal can automatically import your PayPal data each day. In order for this to function correctly, please follow the steps below closely:

• Note that you must have a PayPal Business Account; you will not be able to use this tool on PayPal Personal Accounts.
• Imports take place automatically at approximately 05.00AM each morning, and will import transactions from the previous day
• Only transactions marked by PayPal as Completed, Cleared or Reversed will be imported.
• Transactions that have been imported using this tool will be ready for processing as per normal bank imports. This means that you will have to process the transactions once they have been imported. In the future, we will be adding in additional functionality to help automate this part of the process as well.

 

STEP 1

1.1 Log into AccountsPortal and navigate to the Chart of Accounts.

1.2 Select the Bank Account in AccountsPortal that you wish to use for your PayPal Imports.

1.3 In the Bank Account popup, select the checkbox 'Enable automatic PayPal imports for this account'

1.4 Enter your PayPal email address. Make sure to type this email address correctly.

1.5 Optionally, select whether you would like all the PayPal fees to be grouped into a single transaction for each import or not.

1.6 Click the Save button.

 

STEP 2

Log into your PayPal account and click on the Profile menu link.

 

STEP 3

Click on the 'API Access' link.

 

STEP 4

Click on the 'Add or edit API permissions' link.

 

STEP 5

• In the API account username field, enter paypal_api1.accountsportal.com.
• IMPORTANT: You may be presented with one of two screens as follows. If you are presented with the first screen, then select the 'Reporting and Backoffice APIs' option only. If you are presented with the second screen, then select 'Obtain information about a single transaction' and 'Search your transactions for items that match specific criteria and display the results' options only
• Click the Submit/Addbutton.

OPTION 1

OPTION 2

STEP 6

Confirm that the information is correct and click the Give Permission button.

 

STEP 7

The last step is to send an email from your registered PayPal email address to our support ticket desk requesting that we enable PayPal imports for your account. For security reasons, this email MUST be sent from your registered PayPal email address.

 

NOTE THAT YOUR PAYPAL IMPORTS WILL NOT COMMENCE UNTIL SUCH TIME AS ALL OF THE ABOVE STEPS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED

VAT UK Organisations

This help page is only applicable if you are registered for VAT in the UK and your organisation country is set to 'United Kingdom'. For VAT Reporting in other countries, please go to VAT International Orgs.

 

Before you create your first VAT Report, ensure that the organisation's VAT status is correct.

Navigate to the Reports tab and then click the VAT Report link. 

 

Click on the New VAT Report button.

 

Set the appropriate Start date and End date. Note that you cannot enter a date earlier than the Conversion Date.

Click on the Refresh button.

Click the View Underlying Transactions button to analyse the detail behind the figures.

Click the Save button to complete the report and save it for future reference - an option to print the report will appear.

 

It is worth noting that the underlying transactions on a saved VAT Report can only be changed if the changes don't effect the VAT results. In order to make changes to these transactions you may need to delete the VAT report.

Important Note: You must ensure that there is no change in the organisation's VAT status (for example, from standard rate VAT to flat rate VAT, or from the cash to accrual accounting basis) during the VAT reporting period. Any change in VAT status MUST be effected at the start of a VAT period. See the section on Adding a VAT status for more information.

VAT UK - Box by Box

If you have the time, we recommend you visit the HMRC website to find out more about VAT reporting requirements for international trade as these can be quite complex and will depend on the nature of your business as well as the nature of your Customer/Supplier (are they individuals or VAT registered entities?). Our recommended approach is that you first determine your requirements and then review them against our table below to get clarity on how your transactions should be entered.

The table below explains how your UK VAT Report is compiled and which Box is updated for each combination of VAT Treatment and VAT Type.

• VAT Treatment: This is specified when transactions are entered. Users should take particular care to select the correct option when entering Receive Money and Spend money transactions which are related to returns/refunds. For example if you are entering a General Receipt transaction to reflect a refund by a Supplier, then you should change the default from Goods or Services to UK Customer to Goods or Services from UK Supplier. If you don't make the change, the system interprets the VAT as a Sale/Income (Output VAT) and may report this incorrectly. The same concept holds true for returns/refunds you provide your own Customers via a General Payment transaction.
• VAT Type: The VAT Code used in transactions has an underlying VAT Type. These can be reviewed by checking your organisation's Tax Rates settings.
• Invalid: This indicates that the combination is not allowed during transaction entry.
• ESL: Indicates whether the combination will be picked up by the EC Sales List.
• Standard VAT: The Box filled on the VAT Return for UK organisation's using Standard VAT as set in Tax Status.
• Flat Rate VAT: The Box filled on the VAT Return for UK organisation's using Flat Rate VAT as set in Tax Status.
• Cash Basis Special Rule: This impacts UK organisation's which report VAT under the Cash Basis (when payment is made rather than invoices issued). For these combinations, Invoices and Credit Notes will appear on the VAT Return based on the Invoice or Credit Note transaction date regardless of whether they have been paid or not.

 

AccountsPortal is fully compliant with processing Reverse Charge and Acquistion Tax transactions. These are entered with the following combinations:

Reverse Charge

VAT Treatment = 23 - Services from EU Supplier and VAT Type = No VAT

VAT Treatment = 25 - Services from Supplier outside EU and VAT Type = No VAT

Acquisition Tax (like Reverse Charge but for purchase of Goods from EU)

VAT Treatment = 22 - Goods from EU Supplier and VAT Type = No VAT

 

Id	VAT Treatment	VAT Type	Invalid	ESL	Standard VAT	Flat Rate VAT	Cash Basis Special Rule
	SALES RELATED
1	Goods or Services to UK Customer	Sales			1, 6	1, 6
1	Goods or Services to UK Customer	Exempt Sales			6	1, 6
1	Goods or Services to UK Customer	Zero-Rated Sales			6	1, 6
1	Goods or Services to UK Customer	No VAT			-	-
2	Goods to EU Customer	Sales			1,  6	1, 6
2	Goods to EU Customer	Exempt Sales		X	6, 8	1,  6, 8	X
2	Goods to EU Customer	Zero-Rated Sales		X	6, 8	1,  6, 8	X
2	Goods to EU Customer	No VAT		X	6, 8	1,  6, 8	X
3	Services to EU Customer	Sales			1, 6	1, 6
3	Services to EU Customer	Exempt Sales		X	6	-
3	Services to EU Customer	Zero-Rated Sales		X	6	-
3	Services to EU Customer	No VAT		X	6	-
4	Goods to Customer outside EU	Sales	X		-	-
4	Goods to Customer outside EU	Exempt Sales			6	1, 6
4	Goods to Customer outside EU	Zero-Rated Sales			6	1, 6
4	Goods to Customer outside EU	No VAT			6	1, 6
5	Services to Customer outside EU	Sales			1, 6	1, 6
5	Services to Customer outside EU	Exempt Sales			6	-
5	Services to Customer outside EU	Zero-Rated Sales			6	-
5	Services to Customer outside EU	No VAT			6	-
99	No VAT / Out of Scope	Sales	X		-	-
99	No VAT / Out of Scope	Exempt Sales	X		-	-
99	No VAT / Out of Scope	Zero-Rated Sales	X		-	-
99	No VAT / Out of Scope	No VAT			-	-
	PURCHASE RELATED
21	Goods or Services from UK Supplier	Purchases			4, 7	-
21	Goods or Services from UK Supplier	Exempt Purchases			7	-
21	Goods or Services from UK Supplier	Zero-Rated Purchases			7	-
21	Goods or Services from UK Supplier	No VAT			-	-
22	Goods from EU Supplier	Purchases	X		-
22	Goods from EU Supplier	Exempt Purchases			7, 9	7, 9	X
22	Goods from EU Supplier	Zero-Rated Purchases			7, 9	7, 9	X
22	Goods from EU Supplier	No VAT			2, 4, 7, 9	2, 7, 9	X
23	Services from EU Supplier	Purchases	X		-	-
23	Services from EU Supplier	Exempt Purchases			7	-
23	Services from EU Supplier	Zero-Rated Purchases			7	-
23	Services from EU Supplier	No VAT			1, 4, 6, 7	1, 4
24	Goods from Supplier outside EU	Purchases			4, 7	-
24	Goods from Supplier outside EU	Exempt Purchases			7	-
24	Goods from Supplier outside EU	Zero-Rated Purchases			7	-
24	Goods from Supplier outside EU	No VAT			-	-
25	Services from Supplier outside EU	Purchases	X		-	-
25	Services from Supplier outside EU	Exempt Purchases			7	-
25	Services from Supplier outside EU	Zero-Rated Purchases			7	-
25	Services from Supplier outside EU	No VAT			1, 4, 6, 7	1, 4
99	No VAT / Out of Scope	Purchases	X		-	-
99	No VAT / Out of Scope	Exempt Purchases	X		-	-
99	No VAT / Out of Scope	Zero-Rated Purchases	X		-	-
99	No VAT / Out of Scope	No VAT			-	-

VAT International Orgs

This help page is not applicable if you are registered for VAT in the UK and your organisation country is set to 'United Kingdom'. For UK VAT Reporting, please go to VAT UK Organisations.

 

Before you create your first VAT Report, ensure that the organisation's VAT status is correct.

Navigate to the Reports tab and then click the VAT Report link.

 

Click on the New VAT Report button.

 

Set the appropriate Start date and End date. Note that you cannot enter a date earlier than the Conversion Date.

Click on the Refresh button.

Click the View Underlying Transactions button to analyse the detail behind the figures.

Click the Save button to complete the report and save it for future reference - an option to print the report will appear.

 

It is worth noting that the underlying transactions on a saved VAT Report can only be changed if the changes don't effect the VAT results. In order to make changes to these transactions you may need to delete the VAT report.

Important Note: You must ensure that there is no change in the organisation's VAT status (for example, from standard rate VAT to flat rate VAT, or from the cash to accrual accounting basis) during the VAT reporting period. Any change in VAT status MUST be effected at the start of a VAT period. See the section on Adding a VAT status for more information.

Change the active Organisation

Although each user may have access to one or more Organisations, there can only be one active Organisation at any one time. The relevant Sales Invoices, Purchases, Banking and other Organisation-specific information will only be displayed for the active Organisation.

Note that the active Organisation's name is always shown in the top right of the browser window, above your user name.

If you have access to more than one Organisation, then you can change the active Organisation as follows:

• Click the Settings tab, and then Organisations.
• From the Organisation list, select an Organisation and click the Switch button.
• The selected Organisation is now active.

Add or Edit an Organisation

To add a new Organisation, or edit an existing Organisation, perform the following steps:

• Click the Settings tab, and then Organisations.
• To add a new Organisation, click the “Add new Organisation” button.
• To edit an existing Organisation, click an Organisation's name from the displayed list.
• From the resulting popup enter or amend the following information. Required fields are indicated by a *

 

DETAILS

• Trading Name: The Organisation's trading name.
• Legal Name: The Organisation's legal name.
• Company Registration No.: The Organisation's registration number at Companies House.
• VAT Registration No.: Only required if the Organisation is VAT Registered. See the section on VAT for more information.
• Country: Select the country that your organisation operates in (if applicable, this should be the country that you pay tax in).
• Currency: Enter a currency symbol or code for printing on Customer Sales Invoices, Credit Notes and Statements. For example, enter £ or GBP.
• Year End: Enter the appropriate day and month of your financial year end.
• Conversion Date: If you have transferred from another accounting system, then this is the first day that you start entering transactions in AccountsPortal. For more information, see the section on Converting from another accounting system.
• Auto-create bank import rule: If this option is selected, then a new Import Rule will automatically be created when importing new transactions from a bank statement. See the section on Importing  bank statements for more information .
  

 

CONTACT INFO

• Telephone:  The Organisation's Telephone number. This field will appear on printed invoices
• Trading Address: The Organisation's trading address, city and postcode. These fields will appear on printed invoices.
• Registered Address: The Organisation's registered address, city and postcode.
• Place of Registration: The country or jurisdiction of the registration. This field will appear on printed invoices.

 

LOGO

• Upload new logo: Use the Browse button to select a logo file. The file must be of file type .png .jpeg or .gif. Click on upload once you selected the appropriate file. The logo will appear on customer invoices, credit note and statements if selected in the PDF Options (see below).

 

PDF OPTIONS

These settings only effect PDFs for customer sales invoices, sales credit notes and statements.

• Organisation Name In Header: Select from None, Tading Name, Legal Name, Logo.
• Organisation Address In Header: Select from None, Trading Address, Registered Address.
• Organisation Name in Footer: Select from None, Tading Name, Legal Name.
• Organisation Address in Footer: Select from None, Trading Address, Registered Address.
• Item Headings: Change the headings that print on Customer Sales Invoices and Credit Notes
• Additional texts: The default text that will appear at the bottom of all printed customer invoices, credit notes and statements. You may wish to enter a special message to all clients or your banking details, for example. If you enter the text [paypal_link] in the Invoices box, a PayPal link will be printed on the invoice (see below for more information).

 

PAYPAL OPTIONS

Including a PayPal link on your PDF sales invoice can assist customers to pay directly to your PayPal account. Clicking the link opens the PayPal website and prompts the customer to make payment. The functionality is managed by adding the tag [paypal_link] to the sales invoice which is replaced during PDF creation.

• Automatic link insertion: Selecting this option ensures the tag [paypal_link] is always inserted in the Memo field of your sales invoices. This tag can be deleted during invoice entry if the link is not required for that instance.
• PayPal Email Address: Insert a valid, existing PayPal email address that you registered to receive payments.
• Organisation Name in Footer: Select from None, Tading Name, Legal Name.
• Link Text: Optional text which will appear as a hyperlink to encourage your customers to pay via PayPal.
• Show PayPal logo: Optional setting to display the link as a PayPal logo.

 

Note that the [paypal_link] tag in the Memo field (or entered in the PDF Options - Additional text) will only be replaced if the PayPal Email Address and one or both of Link Text/Logo have been maintained.

 

INVOICE OPTIONS

• Default Sales Invoice Terms
• Default Purchase Invoice Terms

 

The values specified here become the organisation's default settings used when a new creating a new Customer/Supllier. Subsequently, during the creation of a Sales Invoice or Purchase Invoice, the days saved in the Customer/Supplier record are added to the Invoice Date to determine the Due Date of the invoice. The Due Date can be changed to a different date if required.

 

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Additional Notes:

• The user that creates a new organisation will automatically be assigned as the Primary User for the new organisation. For more information, refer to the section on User Roles.
• Each new Organisation will automatically start with a default Chart of Accounts. For more information, refer to the section on Chart of Accounts.
• Each new organisation will automatically start with a default Transaction Sequence starting at 1 for all transaction types. For more information, refer to the section on Transaction Sequences.

Users Details

View Users

To display a list of all users that have have access to the active Organisation, click the Settings tab, and then click the Users tab.

Add or Edit a User

Note that you must have the 'Primary User' role to perform the actions listed below. Users with the 'Authorised User' role will not be able to perform any of these actions.

To add a new User, or edit an existing User, navigate to the Settings tab, and then click on Users.

To add a new User, click the “Add new User” button, and proceed to enter the following information:

• First Name.
• Last Name.
• Email address: This must be a valid email address, otherwise the user will not be able to access AccountsPortal. 
• Disable this user: If you wish to prevent this user from accessing the Organisation's information, then select this option. Note that only the Primary User can specify this option for other users.

 

Note that the only change that a Primary User can make to an Authorised User's profile is to change their enabled/disabled status. Once a user's status has been disabled, then they will no longer be able to access any information for that organisation.

Add or Edit VAT Status

To add a new VAT status, or edit an existing status, perform the following steps:

• Click the Settings tab, and then VAT.
• If you have previously entered a VAT status, then this will be shown in the list; otherwise the list will be empty.
• To add a new VAT status, click the 'Add New VAT Status' button.
• To edit an existing VAT status, click the relevant row from the displayed list.
• From the resulting popup enter or amend the following information.  
  • Valid From Date: Enter the date upon which the VAT status became active.
  • VAT Scheme: Choose Standard rate or Flat rate from the drop down list. Alternatively, if you are deregistering from VAT, then you can choose Not Registered from the drop down list.
  • Flat Rate (%): If the Organisation is Flat rate registered, then a flat rate % will also be required. These are usually industry specific and can be found on your tax authoritie's website.
  • Accounting Basis: Choose Accrual Accounting or Cash Accounting from the drop down list. A simple explanation of the difference is that Accrual Accounting results in VAT being recognised based on the invoice or credit note date whereas Cash Accounting results in the VAT being recognised on the date that the invoices are paid or credit notes refunded.
  • Reporting Frequency: Choose Monthly, Quarterly or Yearly from the drop down list.
  • Memo: Enter any other optional information.
• Click the Save button.

 

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

We highly recommend that you speak to your Accountant before editing an existing VAT status. If you know your VAT Status is going to change on a certain date, then you should create the new status well in advance of that date, and prior to entering new transactions.

If the Organisation is already VAT registered, and you are changing to a different VAT scheme or accounting basis, we advise where possible, that you arrange with the HMRC for the new status to be valid from the beginning of a new period/month. This will greatly reduce the complexity of checking the values of the VAT Report before and after the change of status.

If the VAT status for the Organisation has changed, then a New Vat Status should be entered and saved, rather than editing the existing status.

If a new VAT Status is created, any existing transactions with a transaction date on or after the 'Valid From Date' will need to be opened and resaved to pick up the new VAT Status. This step is extremely important as the VAT Status is set in the transaction and referenced during creation of the VAT Report. Alternatively, you can void/delete these existing transactions and re-enter them.

 

Delete VAT Status

Note: Changes made to this part of the application can signficantly affect your data. If you are unsure, speak to your Accountant first.

To delete an existing VAT status, perform the following steps:

• Click the Settings tab, and then VAT.
• From the displayed list, click the 'X' image on the right hand side of the relevant row.
• Confirm the action.
• Click the Save button.

 

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE

The deletion will only succeed if there are no existing transactions already saved with the VAT Status being deleted. You have two options if existing transactions were entered with an incorrect VAT Status:

1. Firstly, delete/void all the incorrectly entered transactions. Then change the VAT Status, or delete it and enter a new one. Lastly, re-enter the transactions.

2. Enter a new VAT Status with the correct settings and the same 'Valid From Date' as the existing incorrect record. You will only be able to do this if the date is not included in a saved VAT Report. Any existing transactions with a transaction date on or after the 'Valid From Date' will need to be opened and resaved to pick up the new VAT Status. This step is extremely important as the VAT Status is set in the transaction and referenced during creation of the VAT Report. Alternatively, you can void/delete these existing transactions and re-enter them.

Add or Edit VAT Rates

AccountsPortal automatically provides the necessary rates used in the UK. If your organisation is based in another country which uses VAT/GST, then you can edit the existing rates and/or create new rates. Typically you would add two entries for each percentage required. For example if you want to add in a 25% rate, you would normally create an entry for 25% with a Tax Type of 'Sales' (or 'Income') and and entry for 25% with a Tax Type of 'Purchases' (or 'Expenses').

Navigate to the Settings tab and then click VAT.

Click the Tax Rates button.

To add a new VAT rate, click the 'Add New Tax Rate' button.

To edit an existing VAT rate, click the relevant row from the displayed list. 

• Name: Description of the rate displayed during transaction entry. This description is also validated when using the Import Invoices and Credit Notes feature.
• Tax Type: Select the appropriate type which best describes the new tax rate.
• Tax Rate (%): Enter the appropriate rate as a number eg 25 

Note that you can delete rates as long as if they have not been used in any transactions.

Account Codes

DEFAULT CHART OF ACCOUNTS

A default Chart of Accounts is provided for all new Organisations, and the following numbering scheme is used for Account Codes.

• Assets
  • Fixed Assets: 1000
  • Current Assets: 1400
  • Bank Accounts: 1800
• Liabilities
  • Current Liabilities: 2000
  • Long Term Liabilities: 2500
• Equity
  • Equity: 3000
• Income
  • Revenue: 4000
  • Other Income: 4100
• Expenses
  • Cost of Sales: 5000
  • Operating Expenses: 6000

NEW ACCOUNT CODES

The Account Code for new Accounts is not provided. We do, however, recommend that you follow the above numbering scheme (incrementing the code where applicable). For example, if the largest Account Code for Expenses is 6165, then the Account Code for the new Expense should be 6170.

SYSTEM ACCOUNTS

Certain accounts are also automatically designated as System Accounts, which are special accounts where the name cannot be changed. The System Accounts are:

• Accounts Receivable (default code: 1400)
• Accounts Payable (default code: 2000)
• VAT Control (default code: 2100)
• Retained Earnings (default code: 3005)
• Sales (default code: 4000)

Add or Edit an Account

Note: Changes made to this part of the application can signficantly affect your data. If you are unsure, speak to your Accountant first.

To add a new Account, or edit an existing Account, perform the following steps:

• Click the Settings tab, and then Chart of Accounts.
• To add a new Account, click the “Add New Account” button.
• To edit an existing Account, click an Account name from the displayed list.
• From the resulting popup enter or amend the following information.
  • Enabled: If an Account is not Enabled, then it will not appear in any transactions forms (such as a sales invoice, for example).
    
  • Account Name: Specify a Name for the Account. Note that you cannot change the Name for System Accounts.
  • Account Code: The Account Code (up to a maximum of 10 characters in length) must be specified and cannot be the same as an existing Account code. For more information, refer to the section on Account Codes.
  • Account Group: Each Account must have an Account Group specified. There are five Groups: Assets, Equity, Expenses, Income and Liabilities. For more information, refer to the section on Account Codes.
  • Account Type:  Each Account must have an Account Type specified. The options displayed are dependant on the Account Group. For more information, refer to the section on Account Codes.
  • Default VAT: Specify the Default VAT that will be applied whenever the relevant Account is selected in a transaction.
  • Display in Sales: If selected, then the Account will appear in all Sales related transactions, such as Invoices and Credit Notes. Note that if an Account is not Enabled, then it will not appear in any transaction, irrespective of the Display in Sales setting.
  • Display in Purchases: If selected, then the Account will appear in all Purchase related transactions, such as Purchase Invoices and Purchase Credit Notes. Note that if an Account is not Enabled, then it will not appear in any transaction, irrespective of the Display in Sales setting.

Conversion Balances

This is fully explained in the section dealing with How to Convert from Another Accounting System.

Enable and Disable Billing

In order to ensure ongoing access to each of your organisations, its is necessary to enable the billing. After billing has been enabled for an organisation, that organisation will be added to the subscription schedule in My Subscriptions.

The first time you enable billing for an organisation, you will be asked to enter payment card details, and for each subsequent organisation you enable the same card details will be used. You can update your card details at any time.

To enable billing, navigate to Settings tab, and then click the Organisations tab. This will list all the organisations that you have access to (for more information on organisations, click here).

• Billing Details: This field contains the current billing status of the organisation.
• Billing Action: The only two options available are Enable Billing or Disable Billing.

 

ENABLE BILLING

Any user can enable billing for an organisation that they have access to. This will add the organisation to your subscription schedule in My Subscriptions.

Click on Enable billing in the Billing Action field.

The Billing Details are transferred from the organisation. They are for viewing only to ensure you selected the correct organisation.

If you are taking advantage of a promotion being run by AccountsPortal, enter the code in the space provided and click the Apply button. Otherwise, this field can be left blank.

Click on Step 2 to enter your payment card details. You will only be asked for these when you enable the billing for your first organisation. If you have previously entered card details, you will only need to agree to the T&C's to proceed.

Enter details for all the fields marked with * (if you select Maestro/Switch/Solo as Card Type, you may have to enter an Issue number if your card has one).

 

You will also need to agree to the AccountsPortal T&C's before saving the settings.

All card details are processed by Optimal Payments and AccountsPortal does not save these at any time.

 

Click Save to complete the billing activation for the organisation. If all your card details are correct, then you will receive confirmation that your records have been successfully updated.

The organisation will now be listed in the subscription schedule in My Subscriptions.

 

DISABLE BILLING

Disabling billing is restricted to the user that initially enabled the billing for an organisation. This action will set the organisation to disabled in your subscription schedule in My Subscriptions. 

Click on Disable billing in the Billing Action field.

Read the warning carefully before clicking OK. Ensure that you have selected the correct organisation to disable billing. Once you have disabled the billing you will no longer be able to access the organisation's information.

 

NOTE

You will only be able to access organisations that have a green tick associated with their billing status.

Organisations that have been disabled for billing may be permanently removed from our database in line with our  T&C's.

To re-enable billing for an organisation which has a status of 'Billing disabled by Joe Bloggs', you will need to raise a support ticket. 

Update Card Details

You can update your card details at any time. You may want to do this, for example, if your card is nearing its expiry date.

Navigate to the Settings tab and then click on the My Subscriptions tab

Click on the Update Card Details link.

All card details are processed by Optimal Payments and AccountsPortal does not save these at any time.

For security reasons, if you are changing any details, you will need to re-enter the Card number and Expiry date (and Issue number if applicable). 

Click Save to update the changes you have made.

 

Please read My Subscriptions and Enable and Disable Billing for more information.

Add a Conversion Balance

To enter your conversion balances into AccountsPortal, navigate to the Settings tab, select the Chart of Accounts tab and click on the Add Conversion Balance button.

• Transaction ID:  Automatically generated sequential number based on the Transaction Numbering settings for the Organisation. 
• Reference: Optionally enter any relevant text.
• Date: For new Conversion Balance transactions, the Date field will default to 1 day before the Conversion Date specified in the Organisation's setting. Although you can set this to an earlier date if you wish, you cannot choose a date greater than or equal to the Conversion Date.
• Add New Line Item: Enter a separate line item for each account that you are converting from your previous accounting system; you can add as many line items as you wish.  
• Account: Enter the account against which the value should be recorded. Use the drop down arrow to search available accounts or click in the field and enter free text to find matching values. If you cannot find an appropriate account, check your settings for the Chart of Accounts and create a new account if required. If you are unsure of any amounts or accounts, then you can post the item to the Conversion Suspense (account code 3200). This should only be seen as a temporary account and the value should be appropriately reposted before you finalise your year-end reporting.
• Description: Optionally enter a description for each line item.
• Debit / Credit: Enter a debit or credit for each line item. Consult your accountant if you are unsure as to the usage of debits and credits.
• Memo: Optionally enter any relevant text.

 

Once you have entered a Conversion Balance for each of your existing accounts, make sure that the total Debits equal the total Credits and then click the Save button.

Any Conversion Balances entered as above will be immediately reflected in the Conversion Balance: Debit and Conversion Balance: Credit columns in the Chart of Accounts.

 

NOTE

If you have added in conversion balances for the Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable accounts, you should consider adding the transactions which make up these balances. This will ensure that the Aged Receivables and Aged Payables reports correctly reflect the ageing on all outstanding invoices and credit notes.

Edit a Conversion Balance

If you have already entered a conversion balance for an account and you wish to change this, there are two options:

1. Edit the existing Conversion Balance transaction:
   • Navigate to the Journals tab
   • Identify the relevant transaction from the list and double click to open the original Conversion Balance transaction
   • Edit the transaction.
   • Click the Save button.
2. Enter a new Conversion Balance transaction. For example, if you originally entered a conversion balance of £100 for Accounts Receivable, but wish to edit this to £120, you can enter an additional Conversion Balance transaction for £20. See Adding a Conversion Balance for more information.

View Conversion Balances

To view Conversion Balances on a per-account basis, navigate to the Settings  tab, and then click on the Chart of Accounts tab. The Chart of Accounts will display each account with a corresponding Conversion Balance:Debit or Conversion Balance:Credit amount.

Additional details on each individual Conversion Balance transaction can also be viewed by navigating to the Journals tab, and double-clicking each Conversion Balance transaction in the list.

Adding Transactions before the Conversion Date

You can enter other transactions (such as invoices or purchase invoices), where the transaction date is earlier than the Conversion Date. For example, you may wish to enter a sales invoice or sales credit note that was issued from your previous accounting system, but is still oustanding after the Conversion Date. To do this:

• Ensure you have entered the appropriate VAT settings if you are VAT registered. You must carry out this step prior to entering the transactions which follow. This is especially important if you use the Cash Basis for VAT.
• Enter the sales invoice or sales credit note into AccountsPortal, making sure to use the original invoice date or credit note date (i.e. the date should be before the Conversion Date). Enter the line items as you would have in your previous accounting system taking special care to use the correct VAT Codes if you are VAT registered.
• Ensure that the Conversion Balance for the Accounts Receivable account includes the outstanding amount on the sales invoice or credit note at the Conversion Date.
• When you receive a payment on the above invoice (i.e. after the Conversion Date), proceed to capture the payment in AccountsPortal.
• Apply the same process for outstanding purchase invoices and purchase credit notes and ensure that the Conversion Balance for the Accounts Payable account includes the total of these outstanding transactions.

 

Note that with the exception of Conversion Balance transactions, any other transaction entered into AccountsPortal before the Conversion Date will not be taken into account for reporting purposes. The Aged Receivables and Aged Payables reports will, however, correctly reflect the ageing on all outstanding invoices or credit notes, including those entered before the Conversion Date.

Entering a transaction with a date before the Conversion Date displays a warning next to the date field