AR Invoices: Invoice Releasing

In MYOB Advanced, invoices that can be released manually have the following document types on the Invoices and Memos (AR301000) form: Invoice, Debit Memo, and Overdue Charge. The information in this topic applies to documents of these types.

When you release an invoice, the system does the following:

  • Changes the status of the invoice to Open, so it appears in the list of the customer's outstanding documents. In the open invoice, you can edit the cash discount date and the due date until the document is settled
  • Increases the customer's balance
  • Generates a GL batch of transactions to update the asset and income accounts
Note: An invoice with the Credit Memo type can be also released manually on the Invoices and Memos form, but the release of a credit memo affects the balances of General Ledger accounts and customers differently.

This topic describes the forms you may use to release an invoice and the generation of the General Ledger batch.

Releasing an Invoice

You can release an invoice only if it has the Balanced status. In MYOB Advanced, you can release an invoice by using one of the following forms:

Generating a GL Batch

When you release an invoice, the system generates a batch of transactions to record the sale to the general ledger. The invoice includes all the information the system needs to generate the batch.

The following two accounts are usually involved:

  • The asset account specified in the AR Account box on the Financial tab
  • The income account specified for each line in the Account column on the Details tab

You can view the details of the batch associated with an invoice by clicking the link in the Batch Nbr. box on the Financial tab of the Invoices and Memos form.

For a one-line invoice, the following transactions will be recorded to the general ledger when the invoice is released.

Account Debit Credit
Accounts Receivable Account Amount 0.00
Sales Account 0.00 Amount

If the calculation of taxes is configured in your system, the system calculates the applicable taxes for each invoice. The system records the tax amount to the liability account specified for each involved tax in the Tax Payable Account box on the GL Accounts tab of the Taxes (TX205000) form. Thus, for a one-line invoice with a tax, the following transactions will be recorded to the general ledger when the invoice is released.

Account Debit Credit
Accounts Receivable Account Amount + Tax Amount 0.00
Sales Account 0.00 Amount
Tax Payable Account 0.00 Tax Amount

If the Customer Discounts feature is enabled on the Enable/Disable Features (CS100000) form and you have configured manual or automatic discounts with the Group-level or Document-level type, the system adds separate transactions for applied discounts to the batch. The amount of the discount applied is recorded to the expense account specified in the Discount Account box on the GL Accounts tab of the Customers (AR303000) form. Thus, for a one-line invoice with a tax and a document-level discount applied, the following transactions will be recorded to the general ledger when the invoice is released.

Account Debit Credit
Accounts Receivable Account Amount + Tax Amount 0.00
Sales Account 0.00 Amount
Discount Account Discount Total 0.00
Tax Payable Account 0.00 Tax Amount

If the Invoice Rounding feature is enabled on the Enable/Disable Features form, one more account may be involved: the rounding account, which is updated by the amounts resulting from rounding the document total. The small amount resulting from rounding may be posted as a debit or a credit, depending on its sign. If an invoice is in the base currency, the system uses the rounding gain and loss accounts specified in the Rounding Settings section of the General Ledger Preferences (GL102000) form. If an invoice is in a foreign currency, the system uses the accounts specified for this currency on the Currencies form. For details, see Rounding Document Amounts. Thus, for a one-line invoice with a tax and the rounding is set to increase the invoice total, the following transactions will be recorded to the general ledger when the invoice is released.

Account Debit Credit
Accounts Receivable Account Rounded Amount + Tax Amount 0.00
Sales Account 0.00 Amount
Tax Payable Account 0.00 Tax Amount
Rounding Gain / Loss Account 0.00 Rounding Difference Amount

If the invoice is in a foreign currency, its details must be recalculated in the base currency of your system. To record the difference resulting from rounding during currency conversion, the system uses the rounding gain and loss accounts specified for the document currency on the Currencies form. The small amount resulting from the currency rounding may be posted as a debit or a credit, depending on its sign. For details, see AR Invoices in Foreign Currencies: Process Activity.

Commission amounts are visible for the invoice, but commission-related transactions are not included in the batch. To calculate commissions and generate appropriate transactions, use the Calculate Commissions (AR505500) form.