You can set a credit limit for each customer. When a customer reaches their credit limit by carrying an outstanding balance of unpaid invoices, a message appears when the invoice is saved saying by how much the customer is over their credit limit.
To set credit limits for customers
Note: There are two privileges that allow you to restrict adding customers who have either surpassed their credit limit or have been placed on credit hold:
- Add Customer with Credit on Hold on Invoices is a privilege that, when disabled, keeps a customer on credit hold from being saved to an invoice.
- Save Invoice with Credit over Limit is a privilege that, when disabled, restricts saving an invoice for a customer who is over their Credit Limit. The related privilege, Print Invoices if Unpaid, restricts printing an invoice until it is paid.
To add customer credit balances
When you transition from your previous system, whether it’s a manual system or accounting software, you need to set opening balances for any customers you’ve set up with terms or who have outstanding credit. You need to do this only once only per customer with a prior balance.
- Create a new product with which to apply this balance, with a product code of ACCTENTRY. Set the product to have a tax status of No Tax, be Non-Inventoried, and have an editable Selling Price.
- In Tools > Accounts Receivable, choose the customer you want to set the balance for, and add them to the Accounts Receivable window by double-clicking their name from the results list.
- Click the New Entry button at the bottom of the window and set these details.
PO | reference number to associate with the invoice |
Date | If you want to backdate the invoice, choose the date here. If you do not set the date, today’s date will be used. |
Description | Any text you enter in this field appears in the description of the ACCTENTRY product that is used on the invoice to apply the balance. |
Total | Enter the total here for the balance to set. If the customer has a credit, set a negative total here. |
Click OK and a new invoice is created with the ACCTENTRY product being sold to the customer. You return to the AR window where the invoice is now displayed as added to the customer’s history. Double-click the invoice to view it. A blue E appears in the lower left of the invoice, making it excluded from any accounting exports you do to your invoices.
To create credit terms
You can assign credit terms can to customers in the credit tab of their profile. To define the values of the pop-up menu, go to Tools > Setup > Customers > Terms. The credit terms in this list appear in customer and supplier cards.
To check a customer's credit balance
To check a customer’s available balance, open their customer card and click Account, or go to Tools > Accounts Receivable and search for the customer. The customer's credits are shown as negative values, highlighted in red.