On Wed, 13 Apr 2011, Paul Tammes wrote:
If i read your post (and the quote from the manual) correctly, the problem
is narrowed down to partial payments on invoices open per year-end.
I suggest you run a report of open invoices at yearend, there mighrt not be
any partial payments at all.
If there are, those might need reposting.
Yes, I do, for both 2009 and 2010.
For the case of 2009, I had some orders invoiced in Dec, that I expected
to have paid in Dec. They were instead paid in Jan.
Earlier, perhaps September, I had several invoices to a couple clients
that were being partially paid, but did not finish until near the middle
of 2010.
In 2010, I had probably eight invoices to one client, and about five to
others, that were either not paid at all before year end (very long
receivables - all billed before October), or had various partial payments
applied to them.
(It's a long story...)
Anyway, this makes me wonder. If you run cash based, why bother to send any
invoices in december unless they are paid?
Only one or two were actual December invoices. In one non-December case,
the client was in some personal emergency, and invoices piled up before he
could pay them fully. I knew he would (long standing personal
relationship), and as of now he has, but those were the eight or so
extended throughout 2010. I kept generating them just to keep myself from
having to log information in some other way, and to keep him informed of
what he owed.
I always thought cash-based was to be taken literal:
Turnover is reported when payment in cash (or bank) is received.
Costs are reported when the amount is paid.
True.
Alternate idea: use sales orders, and only promote the outstanding orders to
sales invoice at receipt time.
That way, you keep track of what was ordered (and maybe even delivered)
without sending invoices.
Exactly what I have started doing this year, now that I know of this
particular pitfall of the cash basis.
I do have a couple clients who like to be invoiced quarterly, but pay in
parts, and are sometimes not finished well into the next quarter. I have
started doing exactly as you describe for any receivable I expect to last
beyond the month.
Imho, it seems like a lot of work with little effect: in time, all sales
will end up in the results anyway, one year or another.
Sales effect taxes, obviously. My accountant has directed that I use the
cash basis, and I have heard other accounting types suggest that for
service businesses as well. I agree that accrual would be easier, but
making life harder for him at the end of the year, means paying more, and
corporate accountants who know their stuff, and who don't charge an arm
and a leg are rare.:)
Thanks
Luke
_______________________________________________
SQL-Ledger mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.ledger123.com/mailman/listinfo/sql-ledger
