Setting up the A/R system generally consists of two different processes. First the master files have to be set up. These are the files that contain your payment terms, salesman codes, customers' records etc. Secondly A/R balances for each customer have to be transferred to the system.
Setting up the master files is referred to as file maintenance. In the future you will still be using these programs to make changes to existing records, add new records or delete obsolete records.
FILE MAINTENANCE
The required file maintenance for your accounts receivable system is performed by the following programs:
Terms Codes (See 25654 PAYMENT TERMS CODE MAINTENANCE)
Salesman Master (See 25655 SALESMAN MASTER MAINTENANCE)
Customer Sales Group (See 25653 CUSTOMER SALES GROUP MAINTENANCE)
Transaction Types (See 25656 TRANSACTION TYPE MAINTENANCE)
Customer Master (See 25651 CUSTOMER MASTER MAINTENANCE)
Prior to starting with the file maintenance you should make sure that your chart of accounts has been set up in your general ledger system. When starting file maintenance for your accounts receivable system for the first time (ie during system initialization), it is best to perform programs in the above order because, for example, a salesman code has to be referenced on the customer file etc.
Please read the manual for each of the above programs to get an understanding of what information is required for each of these files and how that information is used.
Once all master files have been set up, you can then continue by transferring current balances. You may want to print some customer master forms to help you gather the information required for your customer master file unless the information is being electronically transferred from you old system. See 25666 CUSTOMER MASTER FORMS.
TRANSFERRING BALANCES
This is the second part of setting up your system. Once your master files have been set up, current balances will have to be posted for each customer. This is done through the account adjustment program. Please refer to 25562 ACCOUNT ADJUSTMENTS for further details on how to post outstanding invoices for each customer. Alternatively, your Ideal consultant can discuss the feasibility of converting your A/R data files from your old computer system.