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Feature Guide - Job Costing (3.25MB)

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Use online banking to pay off unpaid vendor invoices.  

The online payments feature in Clients & Profits X lets you track payments made electronically though your bank, instead of writing checks to vendors.

Clients & Profits X does not make electronic payments directly. Instead, you’ll make the electronic payments from your bank’s online banking or bill-pay service then record the payments in Clients & Profits X.

Online payments are added into Clients & Profits X through the checkbook, just like a conventional printed check. Like a check, online payments are made separately for each vendor and applied to any of the vendor’s outstanding payables. You can record online payments into C&P X as soon as you make them, or record them later from your bank statement.

Each checking account has a separate numbering sequence for printed checks and online payments. Before entering your first online payment, make sure the next online payment number is set for your checking accounts (i.e., double-click on a bank account from your Chart of Accounts then enter the next online payment number; be sure to use a different series of numbers than the ones printed on your checks). Online payment numbers are for your reference only; they will be different from the online confirmation (or transaction) number provided by your bank.

Since online payments are electronic transactions, they can not be printed.

Online payments affect the general ledger exactly like conventional printed checks, crediting a cash account and debiting a payables account. Discounts and other adjustments can be applied to invoices paid with online payments, just like regular checks.

Setting up Clients & Profits for online payments

Before you can begin recording online payments made to vendors, a few things need to be setup properly in Clients & Profits.

1 A checking account must be set up in your Chart of Accounts (assets), with a starting check number. Learn how to add and edit GL accounts here.

2 The vendor you will be recording online payments for should be set up to always pay invoices via online banking. This is as easy as selecting the checkbox to "Always pay invoices via online banking" in the Edit Vendor Account Information window, then clicking save. Yes, it's that simple.

3 Now, add an Overhead Invoice for the electronic transaction for this vendor.

When adding the Overhead Invoice, make sure to select the "Pay invoice via online banking" checkbox. When you do this, Clients & Profits automatically knows to look for this invoice when you attempt to record an online payment for this vendor in the following steps.

Once saved, the AP Invoice must be posted before it can be recorded as an online payment. In the Accounts Payable window, find this invoice then choose File > Proof/Post, then post the invoice.

To record an online payment

1 Choose Accounting > Checkbook.

2 Choose Edit > Record Online Payment.

The Record Online Payment window opens, prompting you to enter the online payment’s details:



3 Enter the checking account’s G/L number.

The G/L account number determines from which bank account this online payment was made.

4 Enter the online payment number.

Online payments are numbered automatically based on the cash account’s G/L number. You can change the number by typing in a new number over the old. Changing the online payment's number doesn’t affect the next payment’s number -- it will be the next online payment number in sequence.

5 Enter the check date and accounting period.

This is the date the online payment was added. It does not affect posting or the General Ledger (unlike the period). The accounting period determines how this check will affect your financial statements. The current period is copied from Preferences > Accounting Periods, but can be changed. An online payment can be posted into any unlocked accounting period.

6 Enter the bank's confirmation number (optional).

If the bank gave you a confirmation (or transaction) number for this online payment, enter it here for reference. A confirmation number isn't required.

7 Enter the vendor number and payee name.

The vendor number associates this check with a vendor account. A check can only be written to one vendor. Tabbing past the vendor number copies the address and account balance to the check. The check’s address (which appears on the printed check) can be changed without affecting the vendor account. The vendor’s account balance is copied into the check amount; Clients & Profits makes an assumption that you’re paying off the vendor’s balance in full, as a shortcut. The vendor name is copied into the paid to (i.e., payee) name, but can be changed. The paid to name appears on the printed check, so it can be edited to include an account number, mail stop, or some other kind of information.

8 Enter the online payment amount.

This is the amount you electronically paid to the vendor, less any discounts or adjustments. that will be distributed to the vendor's unpaid invoices. Tabbing past the check amount displays the written amount, which can’t be edited. You can write a check for more than the vendor’s balance; if so, one of the vendor’s invoices will be overpaid. When the online payment is posted, the vendor will have a credit balance. Later, this credit balance can be applied to upcoming invoices.

The auto-allocate option will automatically pay off the vendor’s oldest invoices first. Using this option saves time when paying off many invoices for vendors like Federal Express, who send many invoices during the month. Even with the auto-allocate option, you can still change which invoices are paid with this online payment.

If you wish for this expense to appear on year-end 1099 reports, select the "Include on year-end 1099 report option" checkbox, and include the Tax-ID for this vendor.

9 Enter the online payment's memo.

The memo describes the payment’s purpose (e.g., payment on account, credit, etc.) on cash reports and G/L reports. A default memo can be set up on the vendor account. The memo is user-defined, and can be changed later.

10 Select the Invoice to be recorded from the drop-down menu. All posted AP invoices for this vendor will appear here.

11 Click Save