Showing a credit in Accounts Payable

[debbieg]

Just starting to use the Accounts Payable module for the first time and write some checks. One of the bills had several invoices that they were charging us for and another invoice that was a credit for some returned items. Even though the numbers balance out, PC is giving me the following error message:

"Warning: Debits/Credits are out of balance with invoice amount. Do you wish to continue saving this transaction?"
Is it OK to ignore this? Or do I need to fix it?
Debbie

[JohnDMeyers]

In the column total on the lower right, does it show the same dollar amount in both the Debit and Credit column?

[Jeff]

You receive this warning when the total of the debits and credits do not match the amount listed for the invoice. There are valid reason why the total debits and credits do not match the amount of the invoice, so you are most likely okay and can ignore the warning in this case.

[debbieg]

Yes, the debit and credit totals match at the bottom. The amount of the invoice is the amount that is shown under the CREDIT column for the checking account. It's just that the bill had more charges but also a refund.
I thought it would be OK but just wanted to make sure.
thanks,
debbie

[Turner610]

The way that I handle this situation is to enter the amount for each of the new expenses as shown on the statement. This total will be greater than the invoice / statement total because the CREDIT MEMO has not been deducted at this point. Show this total amount as a Credit to your checking account. NOW ... to take care of the Credit Memo on the Invoice / Statement, enter the amount of the Credit Memo as a "CREDIT" for the appropriate expense item that was returned and enter a "DEBIT" to your checking account item. This results in puttting the CREDIT MEMO amount back into your checking account to pay the total of the new expenses. The benefit of handling the Credit Memo transaction this way is that you have a more accurate audit trail in your expense account items and your checking account item ... you see the "returned" expense item amount decreased from the overall total amount that has been expended for that specific expense item. I have also found that it saves some confusion later if you are trying to reconcile everything out and verify that everything balances correctly ... say at the end of the month when doing financial statements. It takes just a little more time and effort to enter the additional transaction lines when you are entering the invoice / statement items in Accounts Payable, but I feel that the overall end results are worth the invested effort. I hope this gives you an idea of an alternate way to handle the Credit Memo entries without having to ignore the software warning.