Open debt balances
Updated
Bring in what a customer already owed, or what you already owed a supplier, from a predecessor system. One document is one balance line.
Note
This document does not write revenue, stock, or tax. Draft does not post. A later sale still needs a sales realization. A later purchase still needs a receipt. Clearing or dropping that opening later is Offset a debt or Write off a debt.
How to#
To open a debt balance, open Ribbon → Settlements → Documents → Debt opening balances.
Press New. Fill Legal entity. Set Side to Receivable or Payable. For Receivable, fill Customer and Sales contract. For Payable, fill Supplier. Fill Amount and Opening date. Basis can stay empty. Save. The card receives a Number and stays Draft. No open debt is written yet.
Then press Open balance. The state becomes Opened. A positive Amount is an open debt. A negative Amount is an advance. Stock stays as it was. The card is read-only.
The state on the card does not move the document. Only Open balance does. Until you press it, the document stays Draft, however many times you save.
Example
A customer already owed 500 on the cutoff date.
- Side Receivable
- Amount 500
- Opening date the cutoff date
Open balance. That customer owes 500.
A second card for the same customer:
- Amount −120
- Basis empty
A negative amount is a credit: they prepaid, so we owe them 120 (an advance).
Open balance. The books show a 500 debt and a 120 credit. A Draft leaves both at 0.
Before Open balance After both cards Customer owes 0 500 Customer prepaid (credit) 0 120
Tip
Zero Amount is refused. Empty Basis puts the line on the unallocated slice. Amount is in the contract's currency (sales contract; supplier contract, else the supplier card). For a foreign currency, Open balance stamps Exchange rate from Exchange rates on Opening date, or keeps the one you typed: 100 USD at 41.2 is carried at 4120. Repeat New for each remaining line.
If the command refuses#
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| The command says the balance amount cannot be zero | Enter a positive Amount for an open debt, or a negative Amount for an advance. |
| The command says to select the legal entity | Fill Legal entity, Save, then Open balance. |
| The command says the side must be Receivable (customer owes us) or Payable (we owe a supplier) | Set Side to Receivable or Payable. |
| The command says to enter the opening date | Fill Opening date. |
| The command says to select the customer | Side is Receivable. Fill Customer. |
| The command says to select the sales contract | Side is Receivable. Fill Sales contract. |
| The command says to select the supplier | Side is Payable. Fill Supplier. |
| The command says there is no rate of the contract currency on the opening date | Type Exchange rate on the card, or add a window in Exchange rates covering Opening date. |
| The command says the contract belongs to another customer | Pick the Sales contract of this Customer. |
| The command says the contract is not in force on the opening date | Use a contract that covers Opening date, or change that date. |
| The command says the supplier contract belongs to another supplier | Pick a Supplier contract of this Supplier, or leave it empty. |
| Open balance is not on the card | The document is not Draft, or it is already Opened. |
See also