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Recording an earned terms discount in P21 Cash Receipts

A customer who pays within terms has earned their discount, and the invoice should close in full. In P21 Cash Receipts the discount goes in as Terms Taken.

The example

The steps below use a sample distributor, Lone Star Industrial Supply. Your customers, items and numbers will differ; the window and the fields won’t.

Neches Welding (customer 100270) buys on 2% 10, Net 30 terms. Their check 20599 for $1,225.00 arrived today, paying invoice 3842142 (invoiced Thursday, February 26 for $1,250.00).

They took the 2% discount. It's inside the 10 days, so they earned it. Post the check to deposit D-7494, bank 1, and record the discount so the invoice closes.

Step by step in Cash Receipts By Customer ID

  1. 1.

    Open the Menu on the left and search for Cash Receipts By Customer ID.

    Cash is always posted to the customer who paid, so start from the customer, not the invoice.

  2. 2.

    Type 100270 in Customer ID and press Enter. Their open invoices load in the grid, oldest first.

  3. 3.

    Type 1 in Bank Number: the account the deposit goes into.

  4. 4.

    Pick Check in Payment Type.

  5. 5.

    Type $1,225.00 in Amount: exactly what's written on the check.

    The receipt total has to match the bank deposit to the cent.

  6. 6.

    Check Number 20599.

    The check number is how anyone traces this payment later: the customer, your bank, an auditor.

  7. 7.

    Type D-7494 in Deposit Num, today's deposit.

  8. 8.

    Look at invoice 3842142 (second row): its Discount Date is still ahead of today, and Allowed Amount shows $25.00. The customer earned the discount.

    Allowed Amount is the system telling you what discount is still valid for a payment received today.

  9. 9.

    Type $1,225.00 in Amount Received on 3842142: what they actually paid.

  10. 10.

    Type $25.00 in Terms Taken: the 2% they deducted. Now the row adds up to the invoice and Paid In Full ticks.

    Without it the invoice stays open for the discount and the customer gets a past-due notice for a discount they earned.

  11. 11.

    Press Save.

Mistakes that cost money

These are the checks Simetta’s scored test makes on this task, and what each mistake costs a distributor when it happens for real.

  • Payment not posted

    The money is in the bank but the customer still shows as owing it. Collections calls them about an invoice they paid, and their credit can hold new orders.

  • Wrong amount applied

    The deposit won't balance to the bank, and invoices show paid or unpaid by the wrong amount until month-end reconciliation finds it.

  • Earned discount not recorded

    The customer paid on time and took their discount. Without Terms Taken the invoice keeps a small open balance, which ages into a past-due notice they do not owe.

  • Check or deposit not recorded properly

    Without the check number and deposit, the payment cannot be traced to the bank deposit when the customer or auditor asks.

  • Payment left unapplied

    Money on account with open invoices beside it: the invoices age as past due, the customer can go on credit hold, and their statement is wrong.

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