Applying Vendor Payments

Applying a payment to a vendor involves using a payment that has not been applied to a specific invoice and then applying that payment to a specific invoice. During payment application, you specify the vendor invoices to which you are applying the payment and how much you are paying towards each invoice.

Typically, when you create a vendor payment in e-automate, you apply the payment to a specific invoice. If you did not apply the accounts payable payment to a specific invoice, you will use the Apply Payments activity. This may occur when you prepay for inventory that you have not yet received an invoice.

You can apply payments to invoices when you create a vendor payment list, record a vendor payment, or use the Apply Payments activity. If you do not apply your payment to any invoices when you create a vendor payment list or record a vendor payment, you must use the Apply Payments activity so that you have a record of which invoices are paid.

When you apply a payment, you specify which invoices the payment is for, and how much you are paying towards each invoice. The Apply Open Payments to Invoices information is used to:

Update the vendor’s accounts payable account

Update the GL unapplied payments account

Getting to the TransactionGetting to the Transaction

From the Accounting menu, select Accounts Payable > Apply Payments to open the Apply Payments window.

Basic InformationBasic Information

Complete the following fields as appropriate.

In the Vendor field, use the drop-down menu to select the vendor to whom you are making the payment. The Phone number of the vendor will automatically populate.

In the Payment field, use the drop-down menu to select an existing unapplied payment associated with this vendor.

Note: The system populates this list with any unapplied payment amounts entered for this vendor using the New Vendor Payment window. When you select a payment, e-automate displays—if applicable—the Method, Check number, Check date, and unapplied Amount values associated with the unapplied payment.

In the Number field, make no change to allow e-automate to assign a number to the payment, or enter a number to identify the payment.

In the Date field, enter the date on which the payment was made.

Do ONE of the following:

To have the system automatically apply the payment beginning with the oldest unpaid balance and continuing until the amount of the vendor payment is fully applied or until no unpaid balances remain, click [Auto Apply Payment to Vendor]. If you click this button, e-automate will populate the table on the Invoices tab with one row for each invoice to which a payment will be applied and will include the amount of the payment to be applied to the invoice.

Note: For invoices scheduled to be paid in multiple installments, e-automate applies payment based on the Due date of the oldest unpaid scheduled installment and not on the invoice's Due by date.

To select the invoice to which you want to apply a payment and/or to enter a discount amount, complete the following fields as appropriate:

Click [Add] to open the Add Payment Details window.

In the Apply to credit memo/invoice field, use the lookup to select the invoice to which you want to apply the payment. E-automate enters in the Amount to apply field the amount necessary to pay the invoice in full (or the remaining amount of the unapplied payment, whichever is lower).

Note: If the invoice is on hold, e-automate displays an Attention Required window explaining that the invoice must first be released from hold before it can be paid.

In the Amount to apply field, make no change to apply the system-calculated amount necessary to pay the invoice in full (or the remaining amount of the unapplied payment, whichever is lower), or override this value to indicate the payment amount you want to apply to this invoice.

Note: If you are applying a payment to an installment invoice, e-automate populates the Amount to apply field with the amount necessary to pay the invoice in full (or the remaining amount of the unapplied payment, whichever is lower); to make a partial payment (e.g., to pay only the amount of the next installment), enter the amount of the partial payment (e.g., the next installment payment amount) in the Amount to apply field.

In the Terms discount amount field, enter the discount amount—if any—according to the terms with this vendor.

In the Terms discount account field, use the drop-down menu to select the account to be credited with the terms discount amount.

In the Terms discount department field, use the drop-down menu to select the department assigned to the credit memo.

In the Accounts payable account field, use the drop-down menu to select the account to be debited with the payment amount.

Click [OK] to add the information for this invoice payment to the Invoices tab on the New Vendor Payment window.

Repeat steps a through h to add more invoices until the payment amount is fully applied, until no balances remain to be paid, and/or until you want to leave the remaining balance as an unapplied payment associated with this vendor.

Review the information displayed in the Summary region and in the table on the Invoices tab to verify payment application amounts.

Note: To assist you with the review process, the table contains one row for each invoice to which you are applying payment.

For each invoice, the table displays the following information:

Invoice no.: The number the vendor assigned to the invoice.

Type: The transaction type (e.g., Invoice).

Due date: The date payment is due for the invoice according to the vendor's payment terms.

Note: For vendor invoices scheduled to be paid in multiple installments, this date is the invoice's Due by date and not the Due date of the next unpaid scheduled installment.

Due: The unpaid balance of the invoice prior to the amount currently being applied.

Discount: The amount—if any—of the discount offered by the vendor (e.g., for early payment).

Applied: The amount of the payment you are applying to this invoice (either the amount calculated by the system if you clicked the [Auto apply payment to vendor] button or the amount you entered in the Amount to apply field on the Add Vendor Payment Details window.

Total payment due: The sum of all payments—including the current payment—due today.

Current payment due: The next payment that is due on or after today.

Past due: Any payment scheduled to be paid as of today that is not yet paid (i.e., the total payment due minus the current payment due).

Scheduled due date: The date of the oldest scheduled payment that has not yet been fully paid.

Completing the TransactionCompleting the Transaction

After listing all the invoices to which the payment is applied, click [OK] to apply the payment.