On 12/31/22 1:18 AM, Dr. David Kirkby wrote:
On Sat, 31 Dec 2022 at 00:13, Adrien Monteleone <
[email protected]> wrote:
I would only use them for cases where you are billed (incurred the
expense) before you pay, not at the same time.
Why is that?
Because that is the purpose of Accounts Payable. It helps you keep track
of short term liabilities.
If you pay for something at the point of sale, there is no liability
incurred.
With the caveat below about needing a 'statement of account' to match
up, I find it is just too much work.
Mind you, my situation is not complicated.
I only get 'bills' from a handful of companies anyway.
I treat online orders the same as any in-person store purchase using
regular transactions, and I don't have the case of paying for some
things instantly but others 'on account' for any 'vendor'.
Using your postage example:
If you pay a company periodically for postage, quite possibly for more
than one shipment, or have to take explicit action to pay a bill, use
the Business Features.
If you simply go to the Post Office or shipper and pay at the counter
when sending a package - use regular transactions.
I pay the shipper before they ship. I do have trade accounts with other
companies, but not any couriers. I pay in advance for courier services. I
book online.
There might be rare cases of a mix for the same entity. In that case,
consider if you need a 'statement of account' to match up bills and
payments. If so, always use the Business Features for that entity.
There is one of those.
Of course, make your own rules for your own needs. I've settled on these
for myself to keep the clicks down where not really needed.
Do you not lose any functionality by not using the business features?
Since I only need to match up payments to invoices for non-instant
transactions, no, I don't lose any functionality. I can certainly run
reports to show all other places where I spent money.
But, if I had set 'Vendors' I regularly did business with and I wanted
to see their activity isolated, I might consider raising and paying
bills, but it really wouldn't be strictly necessary.
Here's the added functionality that I have determined so far which the
Business Features provide:
1. Ability to enter a Bill in such a fashion that I can print the
document similar to what I receive if needed. (the info can all be
entered manually as a regular transaction, but this gives me the easy
ability to generate a 'document' version of it)
2. Ability to set terms, due date, etc.
3. Ability to get 'Bill Due' reminders
4. Ability to match payments to bills
5. Ability to generate a 'Statement of Account' (optionally showing the
matching payments and bills) that I can use if need be to reconcile any
discrepancy between what the Vendor shows of my account with them and my
own books.
6. I don't use the Jobs feature as it is very limited and in that state,
not of much use to me. But that would be an additional benefit to
raising bills.
I seem to have something that works for me, so I guess it’s okay. But
perhaps I am doing an excessive number of mouse clicks.
By all means, do what works for you. When I first started, I was
treating almost everyone as a Vendor and quickly figured out, most of
them were unnecessary.
As noted above, I now only raise bills for entities I really receive a
bill from that isn't paid immediately, or that I don't need to otherwise
track in such fashion. But that's just me.
Regards,
Adrien
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