AR Invoices: Invoice and Memo Processing Flow

On the Invoices and Memos (AR301000) form, Accounts Receivable documents of the following types can be entered directly: Invoice, Credit Memo, and Debit Memo. A document with the Overdue Charges type is generated by the system only, but you can further process it by using this form. The processing flow described below applies to documents of all these types.

Note:
Documents with the Credit WO type can be only viewed on this form. For details on writing off credits, see Direct Write-Offs: To Process a Credit Write-Off.

This topic describes the stages of processing these documents and the statuses that indicate these stages.

Processing Stages

During all the stages of processing an invoice, MYOB Acumatica assigns the document a status that indicates its current state within the processing flow.

The main stages are the following:

  1. Recording: In this stage, you create a document—that is, you enter all the necessary information into the system. When you save the document for the first time, the system assigns a unique reference number to it for tracking purposes. By default, the system assigns to the document the Balanced status when you initially save it. This status indicates that the user has finished editing the document and is ready to release it. (You still can edit a document with this status, however.) Alternatively, you can click the Hold button on the form toolbar to indicate that this document is not ready to be released; this changes the status of the document to On Hold. For details, see AR Invoices: Invoice Recording.
    Note:
    This stage does not apply to a document with the Overdue Charges type, which is generated only by the system. For details, see Overdue Charges: General Information.
  2. Releasing: You can release a document only if it has the Balanced status. When you release the document, the system changes its status to Open, updates the customer's balance, and generates a GL batch with the document transactions. This status indicates to users and the system that the document is pending a customer payment. For details, see AR Invoices: Invoice Releasing.
  3. Closing: When the full amount of the document is paid manually or automatically—by one payment for the full amount or by multiple payments—the system changes the status of the document to Closed and decreases the balances of the documents involved in the application. The system may change the balance of the customer if documents with different currencies are involved. For details on applying payments and closing invoices, see Paying AR Invoices.

In addition to the actions you perform during the main stages, you may need to do the following:

  • Print an invoice, memo, or an overdue charge and send it to a customer by postal mail or electronically. For details, see Invoice Printing and Emailing.
  • Correct an amount of a released document by issuing a credit or debit memo.
  • Reverse a released document.

Changes to the Workflow of an Invoice

As described above, the three primary statuses the system assigns to an invoice are Balanced, Open, and Closed. In MYOB Acumatica, you can require a user to perform additional steps during the recording of an invoice; these steps cause the invoice to be assigned additional statuses.

You can use invoice-wide settings, located under the Data Entry Settings section on the General tab of the Accounts Receivable Preferences (AR101000) form, to change the processing flow of invoices. For details, see Changing the Processing of AR Documents.

Invoice Printing and Emailing

Before you release an invoice or memo, your company's internal policies might require you to print it (to send it to the customer by mail), email it (to send it to the customer electronically), or both print it and email it. To implement such policies, you need to perform the following steps:

  • Select the Require Invoice/Memo Printing Before Release or Require Invoice/Memo Emailing Before Release check box (or both) on the General tab of the Accounts Receivable Preferences (AR101000) form.
  • Make sure that the printing and emailing preferences of your customers are configured for customer classes, as described in the Default Printing and Emailing Settings section of the Customers: Customer Class Settings topic.
  • Make sure that the corresponding mailings are configured, as described in the Managing Mailings chapter.

To print and email AR documents before release, use the Invoices and Memos form or Print Invoices and Memos mass-processing form. See AR Invoices: To Mass-Print Invoices and To Send Invoices and Memos by Email for more information.

When the user prints or emails the invoice or memo (or does both), the system selects the Printed or Emailed check box (or both) on the document entry form. The document is considered printed or emailed if the corresponding check box is selected. These settings can be viewed on the Financial tab of the Invoices and Memos form, in the Print and Email Options section. The Printed and Emailed settings are affected only by the related actions performed on the Print Invoices and Memos (AR508000) form.