Marlin Tyre and Mechanical Workshop Software includes a flexible module for handling customer account payments.
Payments toward customer accounts can be made by selecting Daily Activity > Customer Payments from the menu bar.
The Customer Payments window will open on the Search page, showing a list of all historical customer account payments for the current branch.
By default, the list filter at the top-right will be set to Current, showing all the draft payments that have not yet been committed or cancelled.
Adding Customer Payments
Daily Activity > Customer Payments
At the top-right of the Customer Payments Search list, click on the Add action button.
The Customer Payments Add window will open on the Payment tab, which contains a form for creating a new customer payment.
In the top-left of the Payment tab, use the Customer picker to select a customer to add to the customer payment:
Once selected, the customer’s information will be added to the below Customer, Activity and Contacts fields.
The Payment Detail section on the right can be used to add additional information about the customer payment.
The Status drop-down shows whether the customer payment journal entry is a Draft, Cancelled or Completed, and cannot be manually edited.
By default, the Accounting Date field will show the date the new customer payment was created.
The date can be edited to reflect when the payment is actually received using the Accounting Date calendar picker, if desired.
The amount the customer is paying toward their account balance of the customer payment can be entered in the Amount textbox either now or later when allocating the customer payment.
Additional information about the customer payment can be recorded in the Notes textbox, if desired.
To save the new customer payment and return to the Search window, click on the Save action button to the top-right of the Payment tab.
New customer payments will be shown as Drafts, until they are either committed or cancelled.
Payments can be committed at any time, once the customer and amount have been entered.
Payments can be allocated against outstanding invoices when adding them or committed and then allocated at a later date.
Payments committed without being allocated against specific invoices will be saved as a general credit on the customer's account and will appear on their Allocations list as a negative, unallocated payment.
Allocating Customer Payments
Daily Activity > Customer Payments
Customer payments can be allocated against outstanding invoices when adding them or by opening a draft customer payment in Edit mode.
By default, the customer payment window will open on the Payment tab.
To allocate a payment, select the Allocations tab at the top of the customer payment window, which contains a form for allocating payments against the customer's outstanding invoices.
The Customer textbox in the top left shows the name of the customer making the payment.
If not already recorded when adding the customer payment, enter the amount the customer is paying toward their account balance in the Payment Amount textbox.
An amount to be deducted from the customer's account without funds being received can be entered in the Discount Granted textbox, if desired.
The tax proportion of the Discounts Granted is automatically calculated based on the Company Tax Code and is shown in the Includes Tax Of textbox below.
The combined total of the payment amount and any discounts granted is shown in the Total Amount textbox on the right.
The customer payment can then be allocated to an existing invoice on the customer's account, using the Allocations list below.
Credit notes are highlighted in red, payments in green and invoices in white/grey.
The Original Amount column shows the total amount of an invoice and the Outstanding Balance shows the amount remaining to be paid off at the time the customer payment was created.
Credit values are shown as negatives, indicating the customer's account in relation to the company.
To allocate either the whole or part of a payment to an invoice, enter the amount to be allocated in the Allocation column of the relevant invoice.
The Remaining column will automatically update to show the amount left to be paid off the invoice after the allocation.
The Total Amount Allocated and Balance Remaining to Allocate are shown at the bottom right of the Allocations list.
The Total Amount Allocated must be less than the Total Amount of the customer payment and the Balance Remaining to Allocate must be greater than zero for the allocation to be saved or committed.
The Balance Remaining to Allocate can be automatically allocated against an invoice by clicking in the Allocation cell of the invoice and pressing Enter on the keyboard.
If the Balance Remaining to Allocate is greater than the invoice's Outstanding Balance, the remainder will be left as Balance Remaining to Allocate, which can then be allocated against another outstanding invoice.
Any unallocated balances will be saved as a general credit to the customer's account.
To remove all amounts from the Allocation column and return them to the Balance Remaining to Allocate, click on the Clear action button to the top-right of the Allocations list.
To save the allocation as a draft and return to the customer payments Search list, click on the Save action button at the top of the Allocations tab.
Bulk Allocations
Daily Activity > Customer Payments > [Customer Payment] > Allocations
The Bulk Allocation option is only enabled once a Payment Amount has been entered and there is a balance remaining to allocate.
It can be used to automatically allocate a customer payment's Balance Remaining to Allocate against a customer's outstanding invoice, based on the age of the invoice, its transaction age or accounting date.
To bulk allocate payments, click on the Bulk button to the top-right of the Allocations list.
The Bulk Allocation Options pop-up window will open.
Use the Allocation Method toggles at the top of the window to select which bulk allocation method to use:
Oldest allocates the Payment Amount, along with any other existing credit amounts, toward all of the customer's outstanding invoices.
The allocation begins with the oldest invoice and progresses toward the most recent, until the Payment Amount is exhausted.
ExampleA customer has two outstanding invoices: an older one of $500 and a more recent one of $1000, as well as an unallocated credit note of $200.
They then pay $1000 toward their account.
Using the Bulk allocation method will total the customer's credits to $1200, and then allocate them first toward the older, $500 invoice and then allocate the remaining $700 credit toward the more recent $1000 invoice, reducing its Remaining Balance to $300.
Transaction Age allocates the Payment Amount, along with any other existing credit amounts, toward all of the customer's outstanding invoices within a specified age range, depending on the customer's payment terms.
The allocation begins with the oldest invoice within the specified age range and progresses toward the most recent, until the Payment Amount is exhausted.
An invoice's age is measured in the amount of payment periods that have elapsed since the accounting date of the invoice and is shown in the Age column of the Allocations list.
The transaction age range is determined using the From Age and To Age textboxes that appear at the bottom of the Bulk Allocation Options window once the Transaction Age toggle has been selected.
- Accounting Date allocates the Payment Amount, along with any other existing credit amounts, toward all of the customer's outstanding invoices within a specified date range.
The allocation begins with the oldest invoice within the specified date range and progresses toward the most recent, until the Payment Amount is exhausted.
The date range for the bulk allocation is determined using the From Date and To Date calendar pickers that appear at the bottom of the Bulk Allocation Options window once the Accounting Date toggle has been selected.
Bulk allocations will not override any previously entered allocations, since they operate on the Balance Remaining to Allocate rather than the Total Amount of the Customer Payment.
If further allocations are entered after a bulk allocation has been applied, they will be added to the Balance Remaining to Allocate and will need to be balanced by subtracting allocations elsewhere.
Zero Value Customer Payments
Daily Activity > Customer Payments
When a customer has two or more transactions on their account with opposite balances they can be allocated against each other by adding a customer payment with an Amount of $0.
A customer purchases a part for $100 but later returns it for a full refund:
- Their account will show a $100 invoice and a $100 credit note
- A customer payment could be created with an Amount of $0 and then the full amounts of the credit note and the invoice allocated against each other
- Since the combined values add up to $0, the Balance Remaining to Allocate will also be $0 and the payment can be committed
Adding Invoices to the Allocations List
Daily Activity > Customer Payments > [Customer Payment] > Allocations
The Allocations list automatically shows all of a customer's outstanding transactions.
Once an invoice has been balanced or all payments and credit notes have been completely allocated and the relevant customer payment is committed, they will be automatically removed from the Allocations list for future customer payments.
However, there may be times when invoices are accidentally closed or payments and credit notes incorrectly allocated and need to be added back to the Allocations list in order to be correctly adjusted.
To add a closed invoice back onto the list, click on the Add action button to the top-right of the Allocations list.
The Add Transaction pop-up window will open, showing a list of closed invoices and transactions.
Select a transaction and then click on the Details button at the top-right of the pop-up window.
The View Customer Transaction pop-up window will open, showing more detailed information about the transaction.
If a recently closed transaction does not appear on the list, click on the Refresh button at the top of the Add Transaction window to update the list.
To add it back onto the Allocations list and return to the Allocations tab, click on the desired transaction and click on the Select button at the bottom right of the Add Transaction window.
The transaction will reappear on the Allocations list with no outstanding balance.
To make the transaction's original amount available to allocate, enter the opposite amount in its Allocation column.
The Balance Remaining to Allocate will then be increased or decreased by the original amount and can be re-allocated against another transaction on the Allocations list.
Committing Customer Payments
Daily Activity > Customer Payments > [Customer Payment] > Allocations
To commit an allocation to the customer's account, click on the Commit action button at the top of the Allocations tab.
The Customer Payment pop-up window will open, containing lists for selecting the payment and document output types.
Use the Payment Methods list on the left of the pop-up window to select how the customer payment is actually received.
Once the payment and document delivery methods have been selected, click the Commit button at the bottom right of the customer payment pop-up window.
Once committed, the amount of the customer payment, along with any allocations will be applied to the customer’s account.
Committed customer payments cannot be edited.
If any adjustments need to be made, the customer payment will need to be reversed and then adjustments can either be made to the reversed transaction or by adding a new customer payment in its place.
Cancelling Customer Payments
Daily Activity > Customer Payments
Open a draft customer payment from the customer payments Search list.
At the top-right of the customer payment window click on the Cancel action button.
The Cancel pop-up window will open, asking to confirm the cancellation.
To cancel the customer payment and return to the customer payments Search window, click the Yes button at the bottom of the Cancel window.
Cancelled customer payments can no longer be edited.
Reversing Customer Payments
Daily Activity > Customer Payments
Change the Search list filter to All and open a Completed customer payment from the customer payments Search list.
Click on the Reverse action button at the top-right of the customer payment window.
The reversed payment will open on the Payment tab with the Amount inverted.
The reversed payment can be edited and allocated, if desired, and then saved or committed as usual.