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Loading A/R Balances

Loading A/R Balances​

Purpose Before you can gather and enter your company data, you must decide when to install A/R. To make the transition from your current accounting system to DockMaster, you'll need to select a cut-off date. A cut-off date is your starting point for DockMaster A/R. You enter your customers' beginning balances as of that date. Then, you're ready to use A/R to track your receivables.

Never use the last day of an accounting period that is incomplete or inaccurate. If you enter information from incomplete or inaccurate records, A/R will be inaccurate and incomplete as well. As a result, you'll spend time and effort trying to balance A/R instead of using it to track your receivables.

Don't select a cut-off date from an accounting period that is several periods prior to the most recently reconciled period. Selecting a cut-off date that is too early creates unnecessary work without providing additional information.

Note: The instructions in this manual are based on the assumption that your cut-off date ends a period that has already been completed in your current system. As a result, the procedures in this section assume that you have already:

  • Posted to your company ledger the receivables information for this period and
  • Calculated your sales taxes for this period.

From the menu select System Administration, Beginning A/R Balances.

  • Customer ID - Enter a Customer ID or type in a backslash "" followed by a name to access a cross-reference. After you enter a valid Customer ID, the Balance field will display the current balance for this customer. There are two methods to enter your customer balances;
    1. Enter the total balance due as one invoice, using the same balance forward date for all customers.
    2. Enter each invoice due from each customer as a separate invoice, using the actual invoice date for all invoices.

The second method is more time consuming, but you will get a proper aging on your Accounts Receivable balances.

-- Invoice Entry --​

  • Invoice Number - Enter N to allow the system to assign an Invoice Number or enter your own invoice numbers as long as they are 6-digits or less and numeric.
  • Amount - Enter the customer's balance forward or invoice amount in the Amount column.
  • Date - Enter the balance forward or invoice Date, or press Enter to default to the current date. It is important that you use the original invoice date if you are loading individual invoices for each customer; this will keep your aging accurate and allow you to generate finance charges.
  • Invoice Type - Enter the Invoice Type or click the down arrow to select from a list. If you are entering a balance forward figure, press Enter to default to Miscellaneous. The invoice type allows you to know where the invoice originated when you are doing an invoice or customer inquiries. The available Invoice Types are shown below:
    • M Miscellaneous
    • W Work Order
    • S Ship's Store
    • F Finance Charge
    • D Dockage
    • R Reservations
    • E Electric
  • Schedule Account - Enter the G/L Schedule Account that this balance or invoice was originally posted to. Press Enter to accept the default account (this account is the A/R account maintained in the A/R Parameters).
  • The total dollar amount entered for each schedule account should match the balance forward figure you entered into your General Ledger. For example, if you enter $50,000.00 in invoices to Schedule Account 1001100, the figure you enter into your General Ledger for account 1001100 should be $50,000.00.