The new accrual is 95% done.
The reporting is in spreadsheet format at the moment and we will be building several report layout options soon.
The new Cash Book is built except for the bank import wizard.
The big area during the past few weeks has been the Debtors Ledger. It has been a complex task and has to be complete for the new Accrual to function.
Reason why it has taken 3 weeks is that the Debtors Ledger is where most user mistakes happen.
- An incorrect invoice has to be opened.
- A payment has been allocated to the wrong invoice.
- The customer wants to understand their account better.
- The aging of the account appears wrong.
These are the main issues and they are all tied up in a very large set of existing code that makes the support process an ongoing battle for everyone.
- The new DL has been built from scratch
- All the old files have been retired and a fresh new set of highly effective 'trimmed' files have taken their place
- A new algorithm has been created to process all activities
- New rules have been created
RULES
If you have to edit something in a customer's account, the edit is tested as follows:
Q1: Has the item being edited, appeared on a customer's statement yet?
NO: You can edit and the procedure is complete
YES: Q2: Is the entry in the previous year?
YES: All edits must be journaled within this period and the procedure is complete
NO: Q3: Do you want to wind back the customer's last statement?
YES: Wind back the customer's statement to the month of the transaction. You can edit and the procedure is complete
NO: Journal entries will be required and the procedure is complete
After trying to follow all that you may think that we made it hard but we will keep it simple.
These three questions are so very important. The correct management of the Debtors Ledger is a synergy between you and your customer.
If the EOY has happened, then they need to be sure your last record was 100% locked in.
However if EOY has not occurred, and the customer is needing an adjustment to effect a previous month, then you can do it.
If you only just made a mistake, you can fix it.
It has taken a lot of thought to create these rules and an even greater amount of time to create the code to perform the magic.
There is a huge difference between the old DL and the new.
For example the Statement Procedure. Some of the changes include:
* Only entries due to be paid in the month are shown in the month's statement. This means entries due next month will not show on the statement
* All items with a balance as at the last statement, are also shown in this statement. This means a customer always sees the source detail of any amount due
* You can see individual allocations:
DR CR Receipts
===========================================================================
Invoice 123 $500
Allocation $200 < From payment of the 4/7/2018
Allocation $300 < From payment of the 4/7/2018
Payment $200 < Allocated to INV123
Payment $300 < Allocated to INV123
===========================================================================
* A full record of past Statements is maintained so you can send a copy of the previous month's statement.
* A full summary of activity can be emailed in less than 10 seconds
* Overdue Management has been boosted
DEBTOR MANAGEMENT ROBOT
Once the new DL function has settled in, we are creating an optional module that will automate the statement procedure.
If you activate it, it will mean that on the set date:
- Repeating invoices will be created automatically (we are really looking forward to this)
- Early payment discounts can be applied (optional)
- Overdue fines can be applied
- Statements will automatically be processed
- Overdue letters will be created
- SMS messages can be queued (optional)
- Statement packages will be produced and sent
- Package may includes: Statement, copies of overdue invoices, terms of trade, overdue letter, adjusted email message, follow up activities
- If you engage a Debtor Management Service, they will automatically receive a list of overdues to follow up.
The DL has been a bigger project than we originally anticipated. It has actually taken months and it is nice to know that it is in testing lab right now.
The schedule looks set to be complete by the 25/05/2019 and will be rolled out to all Managed Server Customers automatically for first light on the 26th.
Local installations will be installed on demand.
There have been some huge hours put in on the DL so we have the rest of the week off as we recharge the batteries for the next conversion; the Creditors Module, starting on Sunday.
Looking forward to that :)