Accounts Payable

PRONTO Xi Accounts Payable offers you the ability to effectively control your supplier accounts. It is fully integrated with PRONTO Xi General Ledger and Purchase Orders. It allows you to drill-down to detailed information in your supplier accounts, giving you a full view of supplier arrangements, transactions and approval levels.

PRONTO Xi Accounts Payable functionalities include:

• Separate purchase and pay-to accounts;
• Customised cheque and remittance generation;
• Automated payments processing by cheque, EFT and other formats;
• Full purchase/payment history;
• Multi-currency support (foreign and local bank accounts);
• Withholding Tax PAYG/1099;
• Bank reconciliation for multiple banks;
• Current and forward commitment tracking;
• Recharging expenses back to customer account;
• Easy purchase order, invoice and shipment matching.

Supplier Master

The supplier maintenance screen captures supplier information which is used as default data in all other modules. You can maintain detailed information about the supplier, including currency, payment type, terms, full contact details and much more.

This centralised control over your supplier data enables increased operational efficiency and sound financial management.

Supplier Type

Accounts Payable uses the ‘Supplier Type’ field, which holds a user-definable code, to group suppliers. For example, some PRONTO Xi users configure their system to classify suppliers as ‘general’, ‘contractor’ or ‘trade’.

You can use supplier type to split accounts payable control accounts within the general ledger. Payment runs can be limited to accounts of a particular supplier type. This field is also a selection criterion for most accounts payable reports. User access to supplier accounts can also be controlled by supplier type.

Supplier Enquiries

Supplier enquiries and analyses can be performed such as:

• Full transaction history;
• Ageing analysis;
• Commitment analysis;
• Supplier and transaction notes;
• Drill-down to purchase order details and general ledger transactions;
• Foreign and local invoice amounts;
• Outstanding purchase orders.

Pay-To Account

Using Accounts Payable, you can purchase goods from one supplier, but specify that the invoice should be paid to a different supplier account. This allows for head office/branch accounts.

This type of transaction can be set up using a supplier’s ‘pay-to’ account to specify the parent account for payment. When you use this functionality, PRONTO Xi stores the purchase history against the branch account, whilst the amount owed is held against the head office or pay-to account.

Payment Terms

PRONTO Xi Accounts Payable allows flexible definition of payment terms to calculate due dates for invoices. Options include the number of days from the invoice date or the number of days from the end of the month, or based on a specified cut off date.

A supplier is allocated a payment terms code and, during invoice entry, the system will automatically calculate the invoice due date based on the terms of the supplier. This due date can be manually changed during invoice entry, or at any time before the invoice is paid.

Easy options for payments

PRONTO Xi is easy to use and creates many options for payments:

Draw a payment manually and enter its details against the supplier account or direct to a general ledger account, in local or foreign currencies; Draw from foreign bank accounts and use a variety of currencies;

Automatically create a single payment;

Build a file based on suppliers, minimum/ maximum amounts, due dates and other selection criteria. Review and refine the file by marking individual or groups of transactions, then generate payments;

Automatically perform payment runs by selecting ranges of suppliers, due dates, amount limits and more.

Payment Type

PRONTO Xi allows you to determine how a supplier is paid. You can pay the supplier by cheque, draft, Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) or Letter of Credit (LC).

Settlement Discount Code

Through Accounts Payable, you can automate the processing of discounts given by suppliers to encourage faster settlements, using a set of codes to define the discount terms offered by each supplier.

Payment Selection

PRONTO Xi also contains a payment selection flag that allows you to select suppliers for payment runs or reports. Suppliers are designated as:

• Local;
• Foreign;
• A priority code between 1 and 9;
• A selection code between A and Z.

Priority payment levels can be used to limit cheque runs to suppliers of a particular priority. For example, suppliers that you need to pay promptly could be assigned the highest priority.

Default General Ledger Account

For some suppliers, invoices may be associated with a particular general ledger account. For example, invoices from the local service station may always be debited to a particular motor vehicle expense account. To simplify the processing of these invoices, Accounts Payable allows you to assign a general ledger account to each supplier. This account is presented as the default when an invoice is processed.

Invoice Transactions

PRONTO Xi Accounts Payable incorporates a variety of invoice and credit note options, such as purchase order invoice, purchase return, credit note, shipment extra charge invoice, non purchase order invoice, asset invoice and recharge invoice. Accounts payable transactions may be processed in local or foreign currency.

Purchase Order Invoice

This transaction type links the supplier’s invoices to purchase orders. If the system identifies a variance, it must be accounted for during invoice entry.

If the variance is due to an incorrect invoice value then it may be processed as a ‘credit claim’. For a credit claim, only the amount of the purchase order (invoice value not under claim) is authorised for payment when the invoice is processed. The balance (amount of the claim) is ‘unauthorised for payment’ and awaits a credit note. If the invoice amount is accepted and the variance is greater than defined variance limits, the whole invoice, while still processed, is unauthorised for payment. It is possible to configure Accounts Payable to authorise all invoices as approved for payment, regardless of the purchase order variance, or leave only the variance as unauthorised.

Accounts Payable automates the costing of authorised variances back to inventory, a project or a general ledger code.

Purchase Return

In the event that goods on a purchase order are returned when the invoice has been processed and not paid, the authorised payment amount will automatically be reduced by the value of the r eturn.

Shipment Extra Charge Invoice

These invoices link costs to shipments. Accounts Payable automates the costing of these charges across the shipment’s inventory.

Non-Purchase Order Invoice

For invoices where a purchase order is not raised, the invoice itself is directly allocated to general ledger codes. This typically is done for utility invoices, telephone accounts and other indirect costs.

Asset Invoice

Asset invoices allow accounts payable staff to create a fixed asset record within PRONTO Xi Fixed Assets. The person managing the asset register would then add more information such as depreciation rates.

Recharge Invoicing

Recharge invoicing allows a supplier’s invoice to be recharged directly to a customer. For all invoice types, you can specify whether the sales order lines are consolidated or printed as individual lines.

Consumer Taxes

Accounts Payable automates the calculation of taxes while allowing the user to override the tax amounts calculated by the system, if they are different to the invoice’s tax amounts.

Invoice Authorisation Tracking

You can optionally configure an approval and authority process using PRONTO Xi Accounts Payable, to accurately track a supplier’s invoice from the moment it is received. You can enter the invoice as received, before sending it to the individual responsible for authorising the invoice for payment. Not until the invoice has been authorised is the expense account in the general ledger entered and updated. You can see the current status of an invoice – whether it is still awaiting approval and on whom it is waiting – at any time. Details of the approving officer are maintained even after the invoice has been paid.

You can use invoice approval and payment approval together, or you can use either. You can also specify the approval conditions. These conditions may depend on the type of goods supplied, the value of the goods or even the supplier. These very flexible combinations can be tailored to suit most business requirements.

Periodic Payments

Some supplier accounts need to be paid periodically (eg weekly, fortnightly, monthly). These may include invoices for items such as rentals, insurances and leases.

PRONTO Xi Accounts Payable allows you to create details of the invoice to be paid, including the amount to be paid, the date on which the amount is to be paid and the frequency with which the amount is to be paid, as well as the general ledger accounts to be debited.

Once these details have been set up, you can process the periodic payments as often as you need.

Only those invoices that have a ‘Next Run Date’ equal to or less than the specified date will be processed. The value and date of the periodic payment can be amended as you like. Details of periodic payments may also be reported.

Current and Forward Commitments

The Forward Commitment Report will keep you abreast of amounts that will become due in the coming months. Calculations are based on the value of purchase orders and shipments within the system which have not yet been invoiced.

This is not the same as the Payment Commitments Report. The Payment Commitments Report will show the value of invoices received that are due to be paid by the specified due dates.

Payments

Accounts Payable offers four main ways for you to pay supplier accounts. You can draw a payment manually and enter its details against the supplier account, have payments automatically generated in a payment run, build a review file to fine tune and selectively release payments, or use a letter of credit (LC). Payments may be made against local or foreign banks.

1. Manual Payments

If an invoice has been manually paid, you need to specify whether the payment was made in local or foreign currency. You should then specify the bank on which the payment was drawn and the details of the payment. If the payment was made in a foreign currency, bank charges and any exchange gain or loss (depending on currency fluctuations) will be posted to the general ledger. Accounts Payable also allows you to draw on one foreign bank account and pay in a third currency. For example, an Australian business could draw from a US bank account in Japanese Yen. Prepayments can also be recorded via this function.

2. Automatic Payments

PRONTO Xi contains an automatic payment option accommodating EFT payment, cheque printing or even a customised file for payment by a third party. Remittance advices may be printed as part of any payment run.

There are a number of different ways in which payment of an invoice can be made. PRONTO Xi allows you to automatically generate a single payment for a supplier, for all invoices due by a specified date or for a single invoice. Alternatively, you can specify a range of suppliers for whom payments are to be raised. Prior to completing the payment run, Accounts Payable allows the user to reject payments, change due dates and part-pay an invoice. You can:

• Choose to print payments for local suppliers only, foreign suppliers or both;
• Specify the payment due date for a group of invoices. This means that payments will only be produced for invoices that are due for payment up to and including the specified date. Payments due after this date will not be included;
• Enter a two-line message to be printed on each remittance advice;
• Choose to print remittance advices without cheques and then manually write the cheques.

The payment register is automatically updated on completion of the payment run. You can restrict cheques and EFT payment processing to authorised personnel.

3. Selective Automatic Payments

Accounts Payable enables you to build a file of supplier transactions. This can then be reviewed and refined using ‘Mark’ and ‘Un-mark’ of individual or multiple transactions. The initial build of the file can be by multiple criteria, including:

• Groups, ranges or individual suppliers;
• Transaction date ranges;
• Transactions up to a specific payment due date;
• Minimum and maximum payment amount.

A value limit can also be placed to set the total amount selected for the payment run. Listings of the currently selected transactions and suppliers may be produced at any time during the review process. On completion of the review, payments can be automatically created and processed in the same manner as the Automatic Payment function.

4. Letter of Credit

Accounts Payable provides a letter of credit facility. Using this facility you can raise a letter of credit, record drawings against a letter of credit and maintain letter of credit details.

You can also produce the following reports:

• Status – lists letter of credit status by currency or by bank;
• Foreign currency exposure – shows foreign value, value at currency conversion rate (at the time the exposure was entered) as well as the current conversion rate and the difference between the two values;
• Loss rates – predicts the value of anticipated gains and losses based on forecast, interest and exchange rates.

Payment Cancellation

Payments can be cancelled by run or individual payment reference.

Supplier Journals

You can use intra-supplier journals to transfer transactions from one supplier account to another. If you are using multiple accounts payable control accounts, these transactions are only reflected in the general ledger if they represent activity in different control accounts.

Supplier journals allow transactions to be entered directly between a supplier account and a nominated general ledger account. PRONTO Xi also supports contra journals between accounts payable and accounts receivable accounts where a supplier is also a customer.

Transaction History

At month-end, all invoices that have been paid in full are transferred to an archive file. Transactions in the archive are fully accessible from standard enquiries and reports.

Account Conversions

You can convert a supplier’s account code to a new code, which is useful if the account code is based on the supplier’s name and their name changes.

If a supplier’s business is taken over by another supplier, you can merge the two accounts.

Bank Statement Entries and Reconciliation

Manual and Automatic

Accounts Payable allows you to print payment registers by bank, showing presented payments, unpresented payments or both. The register allows for maintenance requirements and will always display the current status of the payment.

Bank statement details including electronic transfers, deposits and various bank and government charges can be entered manually, directly from the bank statement.

Alternatively, you can download bank statements directly from the bank and edit them as required. A number of formats are catered for automatic statements.

Reports

PRONTO Xi Accounts Payable offers report writing tools and an extensive range of standard reports. These reports have additional selection criteria to deliver the most appropriate information for your organisation. Some of the reports available in Accounts Payable include:

• Aged Trial Balance Summary or Detail;
• Transactions by Account;
• Payment Commitments;
• Purchase History;
• Foreign Currency Exposure;
• Withholding Tax Details;
• Purchase Order Analysis;
• Supplier Discounts Lost;
• Tax Analysis.