Software > Accounting > 102.3a - Accounts Receivable - Overview
As long as an Accounts Receivable module is not connected to your General Ledger, you will only be limited by your platform selection and the talent of your programmers.
The workflow for accounts receivable modules generally is as follows:
We've broken the sections of Accounts Receivable up to reflect this work flow.
The golden egg that most everyone outside of technology searches for is 'one system' that will do all of their data table creation, their invoicing and their collections with little to no human input. This is also teh golden egg that most technologists search for because if they can provide this, they may have recurring billing for life...
The problem with systems that do this or come close is that when they break, they typically require very high end, very complex support personel, and if the user has outgrown a manual back-up Accounts Recievable process, they do infact become a slave to their technology.
Generally speaking, semi-automated processes can typically be created that approach ideal scenarios -- and while the ideal process may require human interaction each month, if that interaction is relatively simple and repetitive, it becomes a commodity labor item, and that is something that can always be managed easier than the very complex tech support that comes with fully automated systems that hiccup.
The workflow for accounts receivable modules generally is as follows:
- Create the billing information in a data table(s). It may take several preliminary processes to aggregate the data needed for billing and it may take place over a period of days or weeks.
- Present a bill to the customer in one of several ways
- Receive payment from the customer in one of several ways
- Update the accounts receivable system to reflect partial or full payment if that part is not tied to an automated payment method (which we discourage for many small business applications).
We've broken the sections of Accounts Receivable up to reflect this work flow.
- 102.3b - Accounts Receivable - Data Tables will give a view of items 1 and 4 above.
- 102.3c - Accounts Receivable - Invoicing will provide insight into specific invoicing options (item 2 above)
- 102.3d - Accounts Receivable - Payment Processing will highlight various payment processing routines and some of the tools needed for each of those systems. (item 3 above)
The golden egg that most everyone outside of technology searches for is 'one system' that will do all of their data table creation, their invoicing and their collections with little to no human input. This is also teh golden egg that most technologists search for because if they can provide this, they may have recurring billing for life...
The problem with systems that do this or come close is that when they break, they typically require very high end, very complex support personel, and if the user has outgrown a manual back-up Accounts Recievable process, they do infact become a slave to their technology.
Generally speaking, semi-automated processes can typically be created that approach ideal scenarios -- and while the ideal process may require human interaction each month, if that interaction is relatively simple and repetitive, it becomes a commodity labor item, and that is something that can always be managed easier than the very complex tech support that comes with fully automated systems that hiccup.