M.Y.O.B. FirstAccounts Cue Cards
	Cue Cards Contents
Click a button to view a list of cue cards.

 General Ledger Cue Cards

 Chequebook Cue Cards

 Sales Cue Cards

 Purchases Cue Cards

 Card File Cue Cards

 Reports and Forms Cue Cards

 How to use MYOB FirstAccounts Cue Cards


Hi!
Hello!

Welcome to MYOB FirstAccounts Cue Cards! My name’s Brad, and I’ll be your guide on your visits to cue cards. Whenever you see me on a cue card, feel free to click me for important information about the task described by the cue card. (I like to call this information “Brad’s Backgrounders”!)

Right now, you’re looking at the Cue Cards Main Menu. This is your starting point for all your excursions into the cue card system. To find a cue card for a specific task, click the button next to the command centre in which the task is usually performed. (Or, if you want help about reports and forms, click the Reports and Forms Cue Cards button.) A list of all cue cards available for that command centre will appear. You can also display a list of all available cue cards by clicking the Index button at the top of any cue card.

If you’d like to learn more about MYOB FirstAccounts cue cards, click the button next to How to use MYOB FirstAccounts Cue Cards for a brief summary of how cue cards work.

Enjoy!


How to use M.Y.O.B. FirstAccounts Cue Cards
How to use MYOB FirstAccounts Cue Cards

Cue cards display step-by-step instructions that remain visible as you perform your FirstAccounts tasks. This cue card explains the controls that you can use in FirstAccounts cue cards.

	Brad button  The Brad button appears on each FirstAccounts cue card. Whenever you want additional information about a particular task, click Brad to display a brief description of the task.
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The cue card button appears whenever you can open a cue card. Click the button to open the cue card.

Green text with a dotted line under it

Green text with a dotted line under it indicates that more information is available for the words in green text. When you click the text, a pop-up window of help text will appear.


Hi!
Hi! Nice to meet you!


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M.Y.O.B. FirstAccounts Cue Card Index
MYOB FirstAccounts Cue Card Index

A

 Adjusting the balance of your linked payables account

 Adjusting the balance of your linked receivables account

 Analysing the sales of your consignment items
(See also Entering consignment sales transactions)

C

 Card File Cue Cards

 Changing a recurring cheque
(See also Working with recurring cheques)

 Changing account levels

 Changing default cheque accounts for paying suppliers and depositing customer payments

 Chequebook Cue Cards

 Creating a consignment item
(See also Entering consignment sales transactions)

 Creating a recurring cheque
(See also Working with recurring cheques)

 Creating an account to track bank service charges
(See also Entering bank service charges)

 Creating an account to track your credit card purchases
(See also Tracking credit card purchases)

 Creating cheque accounts

 Creating jobs

 Creating new invoice item records

 Customising cheques and cheque stubs

D

 Deleting accounts

 Deleting Contact Log entries

 Deleting the deposit’s record from your data file
(See also Removing pending invoices with deposits)

E

 Entering bank service charges

 Entering budgets for a job
(See also Creating jobs)

 Entering consignment sales

 Entering opening balances for a job
(See also Creating jobs)

 Entering transactions in the 13th period

F

 Filtering reports

 Formatting reports

G

 General Ledger Cue Cards

H

 How to use MYOB FirstAccounts Cue Cards

P

 Paying a supplier after you sell a consignment item
(See also Entering consignment sales transactions)

Placing a purchase order in the Pending File

Placing an invoice in the Pending File

 Preparing reimbursement invoices

 Purchases Cue Cards

R

 Reconciling accounts

 Recording a payment you’ve made on your credit card bill
(See also Tracking credit card purchases)

 Recording a purchase you’ve made with a credit card
(See also Tracking credit card purchases)

 Removing a recurring cheque
(See also Working with recurring cheques)

 Removing pending invoices with deposits

 Reports and Forms Cue Cards

S

 Sales Cue Cards

 Saving customised forms

 Selling a consignment item
(See also Entering consignment sales transactions)

 Setting up a cash drawer account
(See also Working with a cash drawer account)

T

 Tracking a business contact who is both a customer and a supplier

 Tracking bad debts

 Tracking bounced customer cheques

 Tracking credit card purchases

 Tracking depreciation

 Tracking finance charges

 Tracking money a supplier owes you

 Tracking money you owe a customer

 Tracking sales on retainer

 Tracking time billing using the Contact Log

U

 Using a cash drawer account
(See also Working with a cash drawer account)

 Using a cheque transaction to enter a bank service charge
(See also Entering bank service charges)

 Using a credit balance to track sales on retainer
(See also Tracking sales on retainer)

 Using a General Journal entry to enter a bank service charge
(See also Entering bank service charges)

 Using a pending invoice to track sales on retainer
(See also Tracking sales on retainer)

 Using a recurring cheque
(See also Working with recurring cheques)

V

 Voiding cheque numbers

W

 When a customer has paid you too much
(See also Tracking money you owe a customer)

 When a customer has returned items to you
(See also Tracking money you owe a customer)

 When a supplier owes you money for another reason
(See also Tracking money a supplier owes you)

 When you’ve overpaid a supplier
(See also Tracking money a supplier owes you)

 When you owe money to a customer for another reason
(See also Tracking money you owe a customer)

 Working with a cash drawer account

 Working with recurring cheques

 Writing a refund cheque for the deposit amount
(See also Removing pending invoices with deposits)


A

 Adjusting the balance of your linked payables account

 Adjusting the balance of your linked receivables account

 Analysing the sales of your consignment items
(See also Entering consignment sales transactions)


B


C

 Card File Cue Cards

 Changing a recurring cheque
(See also Working with recurring cheques)

 Changing account levels

 Changing default cheque accounts for paying suppliers and depositing customer payments

 Chequebook Cue Cards

 Creating a consignment item
(See also Entering consignment sales transactions)

 Creating a recurring cheque
(See also Working with recurring cheques)

 Creating an account to track bank service charges
(See also Entering bank service charges)

 Creating an account to track your credit card purchases
(See also Tracking credit card purchases)

 Creating cheque accounts

 Creating jobs

 Creating new invoice item records

 Customising cheques and cheque stubs


D

 Deleting accounts

 Deleting Contact Log entries

 Deleting the deposit’s record from your data file
(See also Removing pending invoices with deposits)


E

 Entering bank service charges

 Entering budgets for a job
(See also Creating jobs)

 Entering consignment sales

 Entering opening balances for a job
(See also Creating jobs)

 Entering transactions in the 13th period


F

 Filtering reports

 Formatting reports


G

 General Ledger Cue Cards


H

 How to use FirstAccounts Cue Cards


I


J


K


L


M


N


O


P

 Paying a supplier after you sell a consignment item
(See also Entering consignment sales transactions)

Placing a purchase order in the Pending File

Placing an invoice in the Pending File

 Preparing reimbursement invoices

 Purchases Cue Cards


Q


R

 Reconciling accounts

 Recording a payment you’ve made on your credit card bill
(See also Tracking credit card purchases)

 Recording a purchase you’ve made with a credit card
(See also Tracking credit card purchases)

 Removing a recurring cheque
(See also Working with recurring cheques)

 Removing pending invoices with deposits

 Reports and Forms Cue Cards


S

 Sales Cue Cards

 Saving customised forms

 Selling a consignment item
(See also Entering consignment sales transactions)

 Setting up a cash drawer account
(See also Working with a cash drawer account)


T

 Tracking a business contact who is both a customer and a supplier

 Tracking bad debts

 Tracking bounced customer cheques

 Tracking credit card purchases

 Tracking depreciation

 Tracking finance charges

 Tracking money a supplier owes you

 Tracking money you owe a customer

 Tracking sales on retainer

 Tracking time billing using the Contact Log


U

 Using a cash drawer account
(See also Working with a cash drawer account)

 Using a cheque transaction to enter a bank service charge
(See also Entering bank service charges)

 Using a credit balance to track sales on retainer
(See also Tracking sales on retainer)

 Using a General Journal entry to enter a bank service charge
(See also Entering bank service charges)

 Using a pending invoice to track sales on retainer
(See also Tracking sales on retainer)

 Using a recurring cheque
(See also Working with recurring cheques)


V

 Voiding cheque numbers


W

 When a customer has paid you too much
(See also Tracking money you owe a customer)

 When a customer has returned items to you
(See also Tracking money you owe a customer)

 When a supplier owes you money for another reason
(See also Tracking money a supplier owes you)

 When you’ve overpaid a supplier
(See also Tracking money a supplier owes you)

 When you owe money to a customer for another reason
(See also Tracking money you owe a customer)

 Working with a cash drawer account

 Working with recurring cheques

 Writing a refund cheque for the deposit amount
(See also Removing pending invoices with deposits)


X


Y


Z


Detail job

A job in FirstAccounts to which you can allocate transactions.


Job item

An item record created in FirstAccounts to be used only when you’re creating reimbursement invoices in the Customer Reimbursable Expenses window. The number of your job item is used to represent non-items on item invoices.


Credit invoice

A sales transaction with a negative balance due.


Debit purchase

A purchasing transaction with a negative balance due.


Click Cue Card
Click to display a cue card.


Chequebook Cue Cards

Click a button to view a cue card.

 Changing default cheque accounts for
paying suppliers and depositing customer payments

 Entering bank service charges

 Entering transactions in the 13th period

 Reconciling accounts

 Tracking bounced customer cheques

 Voiding cheque numbers

 Working with a cash drawer account

 Working with recurring cheques


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

The Chequebook Command Centre is your launchpad for writing cheques with, and making deposits into, your business’s cheque accounts.


Working with recurring cheques

Click a topic below to display a cue card about that topic.

 Creating a recurring cheque

 Using a recurring cheque

 Changing a recurring cheque

 Removing a recurring cheque


Brad's Backgrounders

If you plan to record the same cheque on a regular basis, you may want to consider creating a recurring cheque. When you create a recurring cheque, the cheque information is saved in a separate “holding area” where you can retrieve the cheque as many times as you want in the future.

When you create a recurring cheque, you can choose how often you want to record the cheque in the future; this is known as setting the frequency of the recurring transaction. When you set a frequency for the cheque, the cheque will appear as an item on your To Do List during the time period determined by the frequency you chose.


Creating a recurring cheque

1.	In the Chequebook Command Centre, click Spend Money to open the Spend Money window.

2.	Use the Spend Money window to enter the transaction’s information as you normally do.

3.	Click the Save Recurring button. The Save Recurring Transaction windowappears. Enter the necessary information about the transaction, then click Record.

4.	Choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction as a recurring transaction.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Use the steps in this cue card to set up a recurring cheque - a cheque you can use as many times as you like.


Using a recurring cheque

1.	In the Chequebook Command Centre, click Spend Money to open the Spend Money window.

2.	Click the Use Recurring button. A window appears, displaying all recurring transactions you’ve set up. Double-click the transaction you want; the transaction’s information will appear in the Spend Money window.

3.	Click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the recurring cheque as an actual cheque transaction.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

After you’ve created a recurring cheque, you can use it as often as you want. In this cue card, you’ll record a recurring cheque as an actual cheque transaction. After you record the actual cheque transaction, the recurring cheque will remain in the FirstAccounts system so you can use it again in the future.


Changing a recurring cheque

To change a recurring cheque’s name or frequency:

1.	In the Chequebook Command Centre, click Spend Money to open the Spend Money window.

2.	Click the Use Recurring button. A list appears, containing all recurring transactions you’ve set up.

3.	From the list, select the recurring transaction you want to change and click Edit. The Save Recurring Transaction window appears, where you can change the name and frequency of the transaction.

To change the transaction’s detail (for example, cheque amounts and allocation accounts):

1.	Wait until the next time you need to record the transaction. When it’s displayed in the Spend Money window, change the transaction before you click Record.

2.	The next time you use the transaction, the new detail will be displayed.


Brad's Backgrounders

Use this cue card to change the name, frequency and transaction detail of a recurring cheque.


Removing a recurring cheque

1.	In the Chequebook Command Centre, click Spend Money to open the Spend Money window.

2.	Click the Use Recurring button. A list appears, containing all recurring transactions you’ve set up.

3.	Select the transaction you want to remove and click Delete.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Use this cue card to remove a recurring cheque from the FirstAccounts system. Removing a recurring cheque deletes it only from your list of recurring transactions. All actual cheque transactions previously recorded using this recurring cheque won’t be affected.


Entering bank service charges

Click a topic below to display a cue card about that topic.

Creating an account to track bank service charges

 Using a General Journal entry

 Using a cheque transaction


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

If you want to track the service charges your business pays to your bank, you should first set up an expense account to track the service charge amounts. After you do this, you can record a bank service charge using one of two methods: using a General Journal entry or a cheque transaction. Use these cue cards to perform these tasks.


Creating an account to track bank service charges

1.	In the General Ledger Command Centre, click Chart of Accounts to open the Chart of Accounts window.

2.	Click the Expense tab.

3.	Click the New button. The Edit Accounts window appears.

4.	Be sure the Detail Account selection is marked at the top of the window.

5.	In the Account Number field, enter a number for the account.

6.	In the Account Name field, enter Bank Service Charges.

7.	Click OK, then choose Save from the File menu. You can now use this account to track your service charges.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Use the steps in this cue card to create an expense account that you can use to track the service charges you pay to your bank. After you’re finished with this cue card, enter the service charges using the steps in one of cue cards listed below.

 Using a General Journal entry

 Using a cheque transaction


Using a General Journal entry to enter a bank service charge

1.	In the General Ledger Command Centre, click General Journal Entry to open the General Journal Entry window.

2.	Begin creating a General Journal entry as you normally do.

3.	In the Acct# column in the first line item in the scrolling list, enter your Bank Service Charges expense account number. If you haven’t already created this account, use the cue card below for help:

Creating an account to track bank service charges

4.	In the Debit column of the first line item, enter the amount of the service charge.

5.	In the Acct# column in the second line item in the scrolling list, enter the account number of the cheque account you want to pay the service charge with.

6.	In the Credit column of the second line item, enter the amount of the service charge again. (Enter the exact amount you entered in step 4.)

7.	Click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Use this cue card to create a General Journal entry to record the service charges you pay your bank.


Using a cheque transaction to enter a bank service charge

1.	In the Chequebook Command Centre, click Spend Money to open the Spend Money window.

2.	Begin writing a cheque as you normally do.

3.	In the Cheque No. field, enter BANK FEE.

4.	Be sure the Handwritten selection is marked.

5.	In the Amount field, enter the amount of the service charge.

6.	In the first Allocation Account column in the first line item of the scrolling list, enter your Bank Service Charges expense account number. If you haven’t already created this account, use the cue card below for help:

Creating an account to track bank service charges

7.	In the Amount column of the first line item, enter the amount of the service charge.

8.	Click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Use this cue card to create a cheque transaction to record the service charges you pay your bank.


Reconciling accounts

1.	In the Chequebook Command Centre, click Reconcile Accounts to open the Reconcile Accounts window.

2.	In the Account field, enter the cheque account you want to reconcile.

3.	In the Bank Statement date field, enter the ending date that’s printed on the bank statement you received.

4.	In the New Statement Balance field, enter the ending balance that appears on your bank statement.

5.	In the scrolling list, mark each transaction that appears on your bank statement. Be sure to mark all bank charges and interest you’ve received, as well.

6.	When you’ve marked all the transactions that appear on your statement, click the Reconcile button. A window appears, indicating whether your account is reconciled or is out of balance. If your account is reconciled, you have the option of printing a Reconciliation report. Print it, then click the Reconcile button; the transactions you marked are considered “cleared,” and won’t show up in the Reconcile Accounts window the next time you enter it.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

To ensure the accuracy of your business records, you should keep your FirstAccounts records of your cheque accounts’ balances matched up with your bank’s records. This task, called reconciling accounts, can be performed with any detail cheque account or detail credit card account.


Tracking bounced customer cheques

1.	In the Sales Command Centre, click Transaction Journal to open the Transaction Journal window. Click the Receipts tab to display all the transactions that are in the Cash Receipts Journal. The payment you want to remove is included in this list of transactions.

2.	Locate the payment you want to remove in the list of transactions. Ensure that the transaction has a grey zoom arrow. If it has a white arrow, go to the Setup menu and select Preferences > Security, and tick the option to make your transactions unchangeable.

3. Click the zoom arrow; the Customer Payments window appears, displaying the payment.

4.	From the Edit menu, choose Reverse Payment. A transaction is created, containing amounts exactly opposite those on the original payment. Click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the reversed transaction.

5.	If you don’t want to charge a penalty for the bounced cheque, you’re done. If you do want to charge a penalty, continue to the next step.

6.	In the Sales Command Centre, click the Enter Sales button to open the Enter Sales window.

7.	Click the Type button. If you intend to send the customer a bill for the penalty, choose Service. If you don’t intend to send the customer a bill for the penalty, choose Miscellaneous Sales. After you make your selection, click OK.

8.	Make entries in the fields of the Enter Sales window as you normally do, entering the amount of the penalty in the Amount column of the first line item of the scrolling list. (You may want to consult an accountant to determine which account you should use in the transaction.)

9.	When you’re finished making entries in the Enter Sales window, click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction.

10.	When the customer pays the penalty amount, use the Customer Payments window to apply the payment to the sales transaction you recorded in step 8.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

If a customer’s cheque bounces after you record and save it in the Customer Payments window, follow the steps in this cue card to reverse the bounced payment and, if you wish, charge a penalty for the transaction.


Working with a cash drawer account

Click a topic below to display a cue card about that topic.

 Setting up a cash drawer account

 Using a cash drawer account


Brad's Backgrounders

If you conduct business in a point-of-sale system or if you group your receipts on a daily basis for a single deposit, you may want to consider using a cash drawer account. A cash drawer account is an asset account that tracks cash that hasn’t been deposited in your bank yet. This type of account provides a way to track undeposited cash and streamline your bank deposits for easier reconciliation.

If you don’t use a cash drawer account, a separate deposit transaction is recorded in FirstAccounts each time you record a customer payment. On the other hand, if you do use a cash drawer account, you can record a single deposit transaction at the time you actually put the money in the bank.

These cue cards will help you set up and use a cash drawer account.


Setting up a cash drawer account

1.	In the General Ledger Command Centre, click Chart of Accounts to open the Chart of Accounts window.

2.	Be sure the Asset tab is selected.

3.	Click the New button. The Edit Accounts window appears.

4.	Mark the Detail Cheque Account selection at the top of the window.

5.	In the Account Number field, enter a number for the account.

6.	In the Account Name field, enter Cash Drawer.

7.	Click OK, then choose Save from the File menu to save the account.

8.	From the Setup menu, choose Linked Accounts/Receivable Accounts to open the Accounts Receivable Linked Accounts window.

9.	In the Cheque Account for Customer Receipts field, enter the number of your new Cash Drawer account. (This is the number you entered in step 5.)

10.	Click OK, then choose Save from the File menu to save the change. You can now use this account to track undeposited cash.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Use this cue card to create an asset account that tracks cash receipts that you haven’t deposited in the bank yet.


Using a cash drawer account

1.	If you haven’t done so already, set up your cash drawer account. Use the cue card below for help:

 Setting up a cash drawer account

2.	Enter sales transactions and customer payment transactions as you normally do. Whenever you record a transaction that includes the receipt of money from a customer, the payment amounts will be automatically assigned to your cash drawer account.

3.	When you’re ready to make a deposit at the bank, click Receive Money in the Chequebook Command Centre. The Receive Money window appears.

4.	In the list in the top left of the window, select the account into which you’ll make the deposit.

5.	In the Amount field, enter the amount of the deposit.

6.	In the Allocation Account column of the first line item in the scrolling list, enter your cash drawer account.

7.	In the Amount column of the first line item, enter the amount of the deposit.

8.	Click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction. The amount of the transaction is subtracted from the balance of your cash drawer account and is added to the balance of the cheque account you selected in step 4.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Use this cue card to move the amounts in your cash drawer account into your cheque account.


Changing default cheque accounts for paying vendors and depositing customer payments
Changing default cheque accounts for paying suppliers and depositing customer payments

Changing the default cheque account for paying bills

1.	From the Setup menu, choose Linked Accounts/Payable Accounts to open the Accounts Payable Linked Accounts window.

2.	In the Cheque Account for Paying Bills field, enter the number of the cheque account you wish to use to pay bills. When you’re finished, click OK, then choose Save from the File menu.

Changing the default cheque account for customer payments

1.	From the Setup menu, choose Linked Accounts/Receivable Accounts to open the Accounts Receivable Linked Accounts window.

2.	In the Cheque Account for Customer Receipts field, enter the number of the cheque account you wish to deposit customer payments into. When you’re finished, click OK, then choose Save from the File menu.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Each time you use the Supplier Payments window to pay a bill or the Customer Payments window to deposit a customer payment, you have the opportunity to specify the cheque account that will be affected by the transaction. Many businesses usually have a single cheque account that’s affected by all cheques and deposits, but you can use more than one cheque account if you wish. If you use more than one cheque account, you should set up the account you use most often as your default cheque account. Setting up a cheque account as a default cheque account simply means that the name of your default cheque account will automatically appear at the top of the Supplier Payments and Customer Payments windows when you open those windows. No changes will be made to the accounts themselves.

If you want, you can set up one default cheque account for paying bills and a different default cheque account for depositing customer payments. Use this cue card to set up the default cheque accounts you want.


Voiding cheque numbers

1.	In the Chequebook Command Centre, click Spend Money to open the Spend Money window.

2.	In the Check No. field, enter the number of the cheque you want to void.

3.	In the Date field, enter the date you want to display on the voided cheque. (The date, however, isn’t crucial, since no actual transaction will be recorded.)

4.	Don’t make any more entries in the window.

5.	Click Record. A dialog box appears, asking whether you wish to void the cheque number. Click OK, then choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

If you want to record a cheque with no dollar amount, you should consider voiding a cheque number. When you void a cheque number, you record an actual cheque transaction, but no amounts are assigned to the cheque. Instead, the word VOID is used as the cheque’s amount.

Don’t confuse this task with that of removing a cheque transaction; when cheques are removed from the FirstAccounts system, their cheque numbers still exist, and can be used again. (You may want to consider voiding a cheque number after its cheque has been removed.)


Entering transactions in the 13th period

1.	Transactions for your 13th period can be entered in the General Journal Entry, Spend Money and Receive Money windows. Open the window you wish to use.

2.	In the Date field in any of the windows listed in step 1, enter an asterisk (*) before you enter the transaction’s date.

Example of how to perform step 2

3.	Enter the remainder of the transaction’s information as you normally do.

4.	Click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction.


Card File Cue Cards

Click a button to view a cue card.

 Tracking time billing using the Contact Log

 Deleting business contacts


Brad's Backgrounders

The Card File Command Centre allows you to perform various tasks beyond the setup of your customer, supplier, employee and business contact records. The Contact Log, for example, combines the power of comprehensive time tracking tools with MYOB FirstAccounts’s legendary ease of use, giving you the ability to quickly and closely monitor your business activity.


Deleting business contacts

1.	Print all the reports that you wish to keep that show the business contacts you’ll be purging. You might consider printing a copy of the Contact Log Report, which contains detailed information about all business contacts.

2.	Make a backup of your data file.

3.	Open the Card File Command Centre.

4.	From the File menu, choose Purge Contact Logs to open the first Purge Contact Logs window.

5.	From the list, enter the first month from which you do NOT want to remove business contacts. All business contacts dated prior to the month you select will be marked for purging.

6.	Choose to purge business contacts for customers, suppliers, employees or personal contacts only, or to purge business contacts for all people and companies in the Card File.

7.	If you’ve assigned identifiers to people and companies in the Card File and wish to purge business contacts for contacts with the same identifier(s), enter the identifier(s). We suggest you assign a common identifier (P for “purge” may be fitting) to each person or company whose business contacts you routinely purge, so you can enter that identifier in this window.

8.	If you don’t want to remove business contacts that have recontact dates assigned to them, indicate this in this window, as well.

9.	Click the Continue button. Another Purge Contact Logs window will appear, listing all the people and companies in the Card File that match the criteria you entered in the first Purge Contact Logs window.

10.	From the list, select the people and companies whose business contacts you want to purge.

11.	Click the Purge Contact Logs button. The business contacts for the time frame you specified and for the people and companies you selected in this window are purged.


Brad's Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Business contacts are the records of meetings and transactions you’ve had with customers, suppliers, employees and personal contacts. If you make contact with many people, deleting (also known as purging) business contacts may significantly reduce the size of your data file.

Business contacts don’t affect other accounting records, so you can purge as many contact records as you want without worrying about your accounting information.


Tracking time billing using the Contact Log

*	If you bill your time at a single rate, use the Contact Log Entry window to keep track of elapsed time with each of your clients. When it’s time to send an invoice to the client, print a Contact Log Report for the date range you want to include on the invoice. Using the information on the report, you can total the elapsed time for the date range. You can then create a service invoice in the Enter Sales window for the billable amount.

*	If you’re on retainer, print a Contact Log Report to report your activities to your clients.

*	Many service businesses use FirstAccounts’s pending invoices for time billing. Every new billing period, set up a pending invoice for each of your clients. Each time you perform a billable task, open the Enter Sales window and enter the client’s name. The pending invoice will appear in a search list; double-click it to display it in the Enter Sales window. In the scrolling list, enter a new line item for the services you just performed. When you’re finished, click the Pending button. When the billing period ends, record the pending invoice as an actual invoice, print it and send it to your client.

*	Many people use FirstAccounts service invoices for time billing. However, if you enter your services (for example, 1 hour of tax consulting) as items in the Invoice Item Information window, you can create item invoices in the Enter Sales window to bill your time.


Brad's Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

There are a few ways you can use FirstAccounts for time billing. This cue card contains a few ideas - you decide which is best for you.


Forms Cue Cards
Reports and Forms Cue Cards

Click a button to view a cue card.

Reports

 Filtering reports

 Formatting reports

Forms

 Saving customised forms

 Customising cheques and cheque stubs


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Over 80 comprehensive FirstAccounts reports allow you to monitor every aspect of your business. FirstAccounts’s forms provide you with the features you need to print professional-looking documents that track your business activity. Use these cue cards to perform various tasks with FirstAccounts reports and forms.


Saving customised forms

1.	Open the Customise window for the form you want to customise and make your changes to the form.

2.	When you’re finished customising the form, click:

 Save if you want to override the previous customisation of this form, or

 Save As if you want to save a new customised version of this form. You will then need to provide a file name and description for this new customised form.

3.	Your customised form will be saved, and you are returned to the Customise forms window. When you want to use the customised form, you can simply select it from the Select Form For… field.

Note: All customised forms are saved in a Forms folder within your FirstAccounts folder on your hard drive. You should backup this folder when you make changes to any form.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Use this cue card to save the changes you’ve made to a form.

Tip: The pre-printed and plain paper form layouts aren’t changed when you save a customised form. You can save as many customised forms as you like.


Customising cheques and cheque stubs

To customise an entire cheque, you’ll need to perform two separate tasks: customising the cheque form and customising the stub form. Click the topics below for cue cards that explain these tasks.

 Customising the cheque form

 Customising the stub form


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Cheques differ slightly from other FirstAccounts forms because cheque stubs are attached to them. Cheque stubs typically contain data fields that summarise the information that appears on the main part of the cheque. In FirstAccounts, three types of check stubs exist:

*	The Regular Stub layout is automatically assigned to cheques that are written using the Spend Money window.

*	The Payable Stub layout is automatically assigned to cheques that are written using the Supplier Payments window.

*	The Refund Cheque Stub layout is automatically assigned to cheques that are written using the Settle Returns & Credit Notes window.


Customising the cheque form

1.	In the Chequebook Command Centre, click Print Cheques to open the Forms Selection window.

2.	Make entries and selections in the Forms Selection window, then click the Customise button to open the Customise window for cheques.

3.	In the Customise window, you’ll notice that only the fields for the cheque - not the stub - appear in the window. (In the Form menu, you’ll notice that the Cheque Layout command is selected. This indicates that you’re currently viewing the layout for the cheque form only.)

4.	Customising the cheque form is the same process as customising any other form: you can move, activate and inactivate data fields and add, remove and change the characteristics of text fields, lines, rectangles and pictures.

You can customise only one cheque form, even though three different cheque stub forms exist. Each customised cheque you print will use the changes you make to the cheque form here.

5.	When you’re finished customising the cheque form, use the cue card below:

 Customising the stub form


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

This cue card explains how to customise a cheque form.

Remember that you can preview the changes you make at any time by clicking the Preview button in the Customise window.


Customising the stub form

1.	If you haven’t done so already, customise your cheque form first. Use the cue card below for help:

 Customising the cheque form

2.	To customise a specific cheque stub, choose the type of stub you want to customise from the Form menu. When you select a stub type, the cheque form’s fields will be dimmed, and the appropriate stub form’s fields will appear at the bottom of the Customise window. (You may need to use the scroll bar on the right side of the Customise window to view the stub’s fields.)

When a stub form is displayed in the Customise window, the fields and other items that make up the cheque form aren’t accessible. If you need to make changes to the cheque form again, choose Cheque Layout from the Form menu.

3.	After you’ve selected the stub you want, customising the stub form is the same process as customising any other form: you can move, activate and inactivate data fields and add, remove and change the characteristics of text fields, lines, rectangles and pictures.

You can make changes to all three available cheque stubs; however, changes you make to one stub won’t be made to the other stubs. You’ll have to change each stub individually if you want the same change to apply to all three stubs.

4.	When you’re finished making changes to the cheque form and stub forms, click OK in the Customise window, then choose Save from the File menu to save your changes.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

This cue card explains how to customise a cheque stub.

Remember that you can preview the changes you make at any time by clicking the Preview button in the Customise window.


Filtering reports

1.	From the Reports menu, choose Index to Reports to open the Index to Reports window.

2.	In the scrolling list of the window, highlight the name of the report you want to filter, then click the Filters button. The Report Filters window for the report appears.

3	The Report Filters window varies, depending upon the report you’re filtering. Make entries and selections in the Report Filters window, then click OK. The Index to Reports window appears again.

4.	To print the report, click the Print button. To display the report on your computer screen, click the Display button. The report will contain information filtered the way you set it up in the Report Filters window.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

You can control the amount of information that appears on your reports by using FirstAccounts’s filters. Filters allow you to choose specific pieces or ranges of data that can be included on a single report. For example, if you want to print a Customer Payment History Report for customer Eileen Kartoffel for the months of May through July, you can use FirstAccounts’s filters to select those criteria only.

You can use filters for reports you print on your printer, as well as reports you display on your computer screen. This cue card describes how to use FirstAccounts filters.


Formatting reports

1.	From the Reports menu, choose Index to Reports to open the Index to Reports window.

2.	In the scrolling list of the window, highlight the name of the report you want to format, then click the Format button. The Customise Reports window for the report appears.

3.	To make changes to a section of a report, click the section in the left side of the window to highlight the section, then make selections from the lists and boxes in the top half of the right side of the window. Depending upon the type of computer you’re using, you can set a variety of font styles, sizes, colors, alignments and effects.

4.	If you want to include the name of your company and the current date on the report, mark the Company Name and the Report Date selections.

5.	If you wish to change the printed area of your report, make changes to the Left Margin and Top Margin fields in the bottom right corner of the Customise Reports window.

6.	When you’re finished using the Customise Reports window, click OK. The Index to Reports window appears again.

7.	To print the report, click the Print button. To display the report on your computer screen, click the Display button.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Use this cue card to modify the look of individual reports by using different font styles, sizes, colors, alignments and effects, and by changing the reports’ page margins.


General Ledger Cue Cards

Click a button to view a cue card.

 Creating cheque accounts

 Changing account levels

 Deleting accounts

 Entering transactions in the 13th period

 Tracking depreciation

 Creating jobs

 Preparing reimbursement invoices


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

The General Ledger Command Centre is your pathway to your accounting success; using General Ledger, you can set up and work with your chart of accounts, which controls the majority of your accounting functions in FirstAccounts.


Creating cheque accounts

1.	In the General Ledger Command Centre, click Chart of Accounts to open the Chart of Accounts window.

2.	Click the Asset tab at the top of the window, then click the New button. The Edit Accounts window appears.

3.	In the top section of the Edit Accounts window, choose the Detail Cheque Account selection.

4.	Enter the rest of the information about the account in the bottom section of the window.

5.	When you’re finished, click OK and choose Save from the File menu to add the account to your chart of accounts.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

If you plan to write cheques in FirstAccounts, you’ll need to designate at least one account in your chart of accounts as a cheque account. If you set up multiple cheque accounts, you’ll be able to choose which account you want to use when you write a cheque.


Changing account levels

1.	In the General Ledger Command Centre, click Chart of Accounts to open the Chart of Accounts window.

2.	Highlight the account you want to change.

3.	Click either the Up button or the Down button.

4.	Choose Save from the File menu to save your changes.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Account levels are tools you can use to organise the accounts in your chart of accounts.

You can assign Level 2, Level 3 or Level 4 to detail accounts. Header accounts can be assigned either Level 2 or Level 3.

Level 1 is permanently assigned to each of the five account categories in FirstAccounts, and can’t be assigned to any other account.

You can change an account’s level, but it depends upon what type of account it is. For example, if the account is a Level 2 header account with detail accounts under it, you won’t be able to change its level. Similarly, if the account is a Level 3 detail account with a Level 2 header account above it, you won’t be able to change its level up to Level 2.


Deleting accounts

1.	Choose Save from the File menu to save the work you’ve done up to this point.

2.	Make a backup of your data file.

3.	In the General Ledger Command Centre, click Chart of Accounts to open the Chart of Accounts window.

4.	Highlight the account you want to remove, then click the Edit button. The Edit Accounts window appears, containing information about the account.

5.	Choose Delete Account from the Edit menu to remove the account.

6.	Choose Save from the File menu to save your changes.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

You can remove an account from the FirstAccounts system if the account fits the following criteria:

*	The account isn’t a Level 1 account.

*	The account has a zero balance.

*	No journal entries are assigned to the account.

*	None of your recurring transactions use the account.

*	The account isn’t linked to any transaction types.

*	The account isn’t linked to any of the items you’ve entered in the Invoice Item Information window.


Entering transactions in the 13th period

1.	Transactions for your 13th period can be entered in the General Journal Entry, Spend Money and Receive Money windows. Open the window you wish to use.

2.	In the Date field in any of the windows listed in step 1, enter an asterisk (*) before you enter the transaction’s date.

Example of how to perform step 2

3.	Enter the remainder of the transaction’s information as you normally do.

4.	Click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

If you chose to use 13 accounting periods in your fiscal year, FirstAccounts still divides your fiscal year into 12 calendar months. The 13th period does not chronologically follow the 12 months; instead, you can use any date you want to enter transactions in the 13th period. To do so, however, you must enter transaction dates a little differently than you are accustomed to. This cue card will help you enter 13th period transaction dates correctly.

Transactions for the 13th period can be entered in the General Journal Entry, Spend Money and Receive Money windows only.


Example - how to make an 13th-period entry in the Date field
Example: How to make an 13th-period entry in the Date field

If you want to place a transaction in the 13th period and want to indicate that the transaction is an adjustment for a transaction you originally entered on the 12th of December, 1999, enter *12/12/99. (If you simply want to place a transaction in the 13th period and the actual date does not matter, you can enter whatever date you want following the asterisk). Regardless of the date you enter after the asterisk, that month’s accounting records will not be affected by the entry.


Tracking amortization
Tracking depreciation

1.	Create a new asset account called Accumulated Depreciation for each of the accounts you depreciate. Give the new accounts names and numbers that are easy to compare with their corresponding asset accounts. (For example, if you have an asset account named “Company Van,” create an account named “Company Van - Accumulated Depreciation.”)

2.	Create a new expense account called Depreciation Expense.

3.	Determine your depreciation amounts for the items you depreciate.

4.	In the General Ledger Command Centre, click General Journal Entry to open the General Journal Entry window.

5.	Enter information in the fields at the top of the window the same way as you normally do.

6.	In the first line item of the scrolling list, enter one of the Accumulated Depreciation account numbers you created in step 1 in the Acct# column. In the Credit column of the first line item, enter the depreciation amount you calculated for the account in step 3.

7.	In the second line item of the scrolling list, enter the Depreciation Expense account number you created in step 2. In the Debit column of the second line item, enter the same amount you entered in the Credit column in step 6.

8.	For each Accumulated Depreciation account you created in step 1, continue following steps 6 and 7, making entries in the other line items in the scrolling list.

9.	When you’re finished making entries in the General Journal Entry window, click Record, then choose Save from the File menu.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Your company’s vehicles and equipment deteriorate and lose value each year. Part of the cost of vehicles and equipment can be allocated as an expense to your company each year you benefit from its use. The allocation of the cost of a piece of equipment over its useful life is called depreciation. There are several methods of depreciation; consult your accountant to see whether you should be depreciating vehicles and equipment and, if you should, which method is best for you.

FirstAccounts doesn’t calculate depreciation automatically, but you can easily record your depreciation amounts using a few steps, as described in this cue card.


Creating jobs

1.	In the General Ledger Command Centre, click Jobs List to open the Jobs List window.

2.	Click the New button to open the New Job window.

3.	Make entries in the fields of the Job Information window. When you’re finished, click OK and choose Save from the File menu to save the new job.

 Entering opening balances for a job

 Entering budgets for a job


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Setting up a job in FirstAccounts is a simple process. Use the Job Information window to enter basic information about the job, then use the Job Opening Balances window and Job Budgets by Account window to enter opening balances and budgets for the job. Use the instructions in these cue cards for help.


Entering opening balances for a job

1.	From the Setup menu, choose Account Balances/Job Opening Balances to open the Job Opening Balances window. Income and expense accounts appear in the list in the middle of the window.

2.	In the Job Number field, enter the number of the detail job whose opening balances you want to enter, or click the search icon and select the job from the search list that appears.

3.	Enter any opening balances for the job in each account’s Opening Balance field. You can also change any opening balances you’ve entered previously for this job, if you wish.

4.	Follow steps 2 and 3 for each job for which you wish to enter opening balances.

5.	Click OK, then choose Save from the File menu to save the entries you made.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

If you started using FirstAccounts after your business began working on a particular job, you can use the Job Opening Balances window to enter all the account activity that’s already occurred for the job. Use this cue card to help you perform this task.


Entering budgets for a job

1.	In the General Ledger Command Centre, click Jobs List to open the Jobs List window.

2.	Highlight the detail job whose budgets you want to enter and click the Budgets button. The Job Budgets by Account window appears. Income and expense accounts appear in the list in the middle of the window, and the number of the job you selected in the Jobs List window appears in the Job Number field.

3.	Enter budget amounts in each account’s Budgets field.

4.	If you want to enter budgets for additional jobs, enter the next job’s number in the Job Number field and enter that job’s budget amounts in the Budgets column again. Continue entering budget amounts until you’ve entered budgets for all jobs you want to budget.

5.	Click OK, then choose Save from the File menu to save your entries.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

You can create budgets for each of your jobs in FirstAccounts to help you assess your progress on a particular job and to determine the job’s effect on the state of your business. For each job, you can create a budget for each account that’s used in the job.

Use the instructions in this cue card to enter budgets for a job.


Preparing reimbursement invoices

1.	In the Sales Command Centre, click Enter Sales to open the Enter Sales window.

2.	In the Customer field of the Enter Sales window, enter the customer’s name whose reimbursement invoice you want to write.

3.	Click the Reimburse button. The Customer Reimbursable Expenses window appears. Be sure the To Be Reimbursed tab is selected. All reimbursable expenses for this customer appear in the list.

4.	Click the Action field of the reimbursable expenses you want to include on the reimbursement invoice.

5.	If the Reimbursement Item field appears at the top of the window, enter the number of the job item you set up to represent any non-items or items you don’t normally sell. You can also click the search icon and select the job item from the search list that appears.

If the Reimbursement Account field appears at the top of the window, enter an income account for the transaction you’re creating.

6.	Click Reimburse. The Enter Sales window reappears. All the reimbursable expenses you marked in the Customer Reimbursable Expenses window automatically appear in the Enter Sales window. You can change the information entered in the Enter Sales window, if you wish. (You can also add more line items, if you need to.)

**Important note about the next step**

7.	Click Record in the Enter Sales window, then choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction.

The items are now considered reimbursed. They appear in the Reimbursed\Removed list in the Customer Reimbursable Expenses and Job Reimbursable Expenses windows.


If you click Cancel instead of Record in the Invoice Sales window
If you click Cancel instead of Record in the Enter Sales window

In the next step of this task, you’re instructed to click the Record button. If you click the Cancel button instead of the Record button, the reimbursable expenses will still be considered reimbursed.

If you need to do so, you can return the reimbursable expenses to the To Be Reimbursed list using the Job Reimbursable Expenses window.


Brewsterís Backgrounders
Brewster’s Backgrounders

Use this cue card to automatically prepare a reimbursement invoice for a job.


Purchases Cue Cards

Click a button to view a cue card.

 Tracking credit card purchases

Tracking money a supplier owes you

Tracking a business contact who is both a customer and a supplier

Placing a purchase order in the Pending File

Adjusting the balance of your linked payables account


Brad's Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

The Purchases Command Centre is your central location for tracking the purchases you make in your business. Using these cue cards, you’ll be able to perform some of the more complex tasks in the Purchases Command Centre.


Tracking credit card purchases

Click a topic name for a cue card about that topic.

Creating an account to track your credit card purchases

Recording a purchase you’ve made with a credit card

Recording a payment you’ve made on your credit card bill


Brad's Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Tracking the purchases you make with your credit cards begins with setting up accounts for each of your credit cards. After the accounts are set up, you’ll then use the Spend Money window in the Chequebook Command Centre to record transactions that represent the credit card purchases you make. When it’s time to pay your credit card bill, you’ll use the Spend Money window again. Use the steps in these cue cards to accomplish all of these procedures.


Creating an account to track credit card purchases

1.	In the General Ledger Command Centre, click Chart of Accounts to open the Chart of Accounts window.

2.	Click the Liability tab, then click the New button. The Edit Accounts window apears.

3.	Choose the Detail Credit Card Account selection, then enter an account number and an account name.

4.	Click OK, then choose Save from the File menu to save the account you created.


Brad's Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

This cue card describes how to set up an account that tracks the purchases you make with a credit card. This account will work the same as a normal cheque account; for example, you can reconcile the account’s balance in the Reconcile Accounts window in the same way you reconcile your cheque accounts. After you set up this account, you’ll use it to track your credit card purchases in the Spend Money window in the Chequebook Command Centre.


Recording a purchase you've made with a credit card
Recording a purchase you’ve made with a credit card

1.	In the Chequebook Command Centre, click Spend Money to open the Spend Money window.

2.	From the list in the top left corner of the window, choose your credit card account. If you need help creating this account, use the cue card below:

Creating an account to track your credit card purchases

3.	Make entries in the Date, Amount, Payee and Memo fields.

4.	In the Allocation Account columns of the first line item of the scrolling list, enter the account you want to use to track the amount of the credit card purchase. (This account is usually an expense account.)

5.	In the Amount column of the first line item of the scrolling list, enter the amount of the credit card purchase.

6.	Click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction.


Brad's Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

This cue card describes how to record a purchase you’ve made with a credit card.

If you don’t have time to record each credit card purchase as you make them, you can record all your purchases in one big transaction when you receive your credit card statement instead.


Recording a payment you've made on your credit card bill
Recording a payment you’ve made on your credit card bill

1.	In the Chequebook Command Centre, click Spend Money to open the Spend Money window.

2.	From the list in the top left corner of the window, choose the account you want to use to make the credit card payment.

3.	Make entries in the Date, Amount, Payee and Memo fields.

4.	In the Allocation Account columns of the first line item of the scrolling list, enter your credit card account. If you need help creating this account, use the cue card below:

Creating an account to track your credit card purchases

5.	In the Amount column of the first line item of the scrolling list, enter the principal amount you want to pay to the credit card company. (If you don’t want to track finance charges separately, you can enter the entire amount you paid in this line item.)

6.	If you want to track the payment of finance charges, move the highlight to the next line item in the scrolling list. In the Allocation Account columns, enter the account you use to track finance charges. In the Amount column, enter the finance charge amount you want to pay.

7.	Click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction.


Brad's Backgrounders

You’ll use the Spend Money window to record a payment on a credit card bill.


Tracking money a vendor owes you
Tracking money a supplier owes you

Click a topic to view a cue card about the topic.

 When you’ve overpaid a supplier

When a supplier owes you money for another reason


Brad's Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

When a supplier owes you money, you need to create a credit balance with the supplier in FirstAccounts. In FirstAccounts terms, this credit balance is known as a debit purchase. Think of a debit purchase as a purchase order with a negative amount, or as a transaction that simply indicates that someone owes you money. Debit purchases remain in the FirstAccounts system until you apply their amounts to open purchases or deposit them as refund cheques into one of your cheque accounts.

There are a number of ways you can end up with a credit balance with a supplier, and a number of ways you can enter a debit purchase in FirstAccounts. Use the instructions in these cue cards to enter a debit purchase that applies to your situation.


When you've overpaid a vendor
When you’ve overpaid a supplier

1.	In the Purchases Command Centre, click the Supplier Payments button to open the Supplier Payments window.

2.	From the list in the top left corner of the window, choose the account you want to use to make the payment.

3.	Make entries in the Date, Amount, Supplier and Memo fields. When you make an entry in the Supplier field, the scrolling list at the bottom of the window will automatically fill with the transactions you’ve had with that supplier.

4.	If you’re not applying the payment to the first purchase order in the scrolling list, delete the amount that appears in the Amount Applied column for the first purchase, then click the Amount Applied column in the scrolling list for the purchase you’re applying the payment to. The amount of the purchase will appear.

5.	Change the amount that appears in the Amount Applied column to match the amount of the check.

6.	Click Record.

7.	A message will appear, explaining that a debit purchase will be created as a result of the transaction. Click OK.

8.	Choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction.

9.	To work with the debit purchase that you created, use the Settle Returns & Refunds window.


Brad's Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

This cue card helps you enter a transaction in which you pay a supplier more than you owe that supplier.

For more information about tracking money a supplier owes you, see Brad’s Backgrounder in the following cue card:

 Tracking money a supplier owes you


When a vendor owes you money for another reason
When a supplier owes you money for another reason

1.	If you don’t already have an account designated for tracking returns and allowances, use the Chart of Accounts window and Edit Accounts window in the General Ledger Command Centre to create one. Be sure the new account is an expense account.

2.	In the Purchases Command Centre, click the Enter Purchases button to open the Enter Purchases window.

3.	Click the Type button, choose Service, then click OK.

4.	Enter transaction information in the top of the Enter Purchases window as you normally do.

5.	In the Description column of the first line item of the scrolling list, enter whatever text you’d like to use to describe the transaction.

6.	In the Acct# column of the first line item, enter the account described in step 1.

7.	In the Amount column of the first line item, enter the amount the supplier owes you. Enter this amount as a negative amount - in other words, use a minus symbol (-) before you enter the dollar amount.

8.	Click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction. A debit purchase is created.

9.	To work with the debit purchase that you created, use the Settle Returns & Refunds window.


Brad's Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

This cue card helps you enter a transaction that tracks money a supplier owes you for no specific reason.

For more information about tracking money a supplier owes you, see Brad’s Backgrounder in the following cue card:

 Tracking money a supplier owes you


Placing a purchase order in the Pending File

1.	In the Purchases Command Centre, click Enter Purchases to open the Enter Purchases window.

2.	Click the Type button, choose Service, then click OK.

3.	Make entries in the Enter Purchases window the same way as you normally do to create a regular purchase order. Enter quantities and amounts the same way, as well.

4.	If you made a deposit on the pending purchase order, enter that amount in the Paid Today field.

5.	When you’re done entering the purchase order information, click the Pending button. If you made an entry in the Paid Today field in step 4, your supplier deposits account is increased by the amount of the deposit, and your payables cheque account is decreased. Otherwise, none of your financial records are changed. The purchase order is added to the Pending File.


Brad's Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

If there are times when you want to record a purchase order that hasn’t occurred yet, or if you want to create an estimate of how much a transaction will cost you, you can create a purchase order and place it in FirstAccounts’s Pending File. The Pending File is a “storage area” where pending transactions are contained until you convert them into actual transactions. Until you convert a pending purchase order into an actual purchase order, a purchase order in the Pending File doesn’t change your financial records at all, unless you enter a deposit on the pending purchase order.

This cue card describes how to place purchase orders in the Pending File.


Adjusting the balance of your linked payables account

Two situations can cause a discrepancy in the balance of your linked payables account. Click each of the scenarios below for information about researching and solving possible problems with the balance of this account.

 Scenario 1

 Scenario 2


Brad's Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

The balance of your linked payables account appears in a couple of locations in FirstAccounts: in the Chart of Accounts window (the account is usually named “Accounts Payable”), and in the Totals field at the bottom of the Analyse Payables window when the Summary selection is marked. At times, you may notice that the balances shown in these two locations aren’t the same. These balances are calculated differently:

The balance in the Chart of Accounts window reflects all transactions that have been applied to the linked payables account.

The balance in the Analyse Payables window is the balance due on open purchases (unpaid purchasing transactions) only.

Although these amounts are calculated in different ways, the amounts should be the same at all times. If they’re not, review the situations in these cue cards to correct the difference in the amounts.


If you linked payables account needs adjusting: Scenario 1
If your linked payables account needs adjusting: Scenario 1

1.	To find out whether a transaction was applied to your linked payables account, choose General Ledger/Find Transaction from the Command Centres menu.

2.	In the Account field, enter your linked payables account number. In the Dated From/To fields, enter a date range that includes all possible transactions (for example, 1/1/1998 to 31/12/2020).

3.	All transactions appear in the scrolling list. If any of them show anything other than PJ (for example, GJ or SJ) in the Src column, you must delete those entries (unless they were adjustments to the balance of your linked payables account), and then reenter them using the Enter Purchases window. These tasks are explained in the following steps.

4.	In the Find Transaction  window, take a look at the zoom arrows next to the Src column. If the arrows are gray, continue to step 5. If the arrows are white, skip to step 6.

5.	If the arrows are grey, choose Preferences from the Setup menu to open the Preferences window. In the Preferences window, click the Security tab, then unmark the selection labeled Transactions CAN’T be Changed; Saved Entries Must be Reversed. When you’re finished in the Preferences window, click OK.

6.	Click the zoom arrow next to a transaction that displays something other than PJ in the Src column. The window in which the transaction was originally entered appears.

7.	Choose Delete from the Edit menu (the word “Delete” will be followed by the type of transaction you are viewing). The transaction is removed, and the Find Transaction window reappears.

8.	Follow steps 6 and 7 until all transactions that display something other than PJ in the Src column of the Find Transaction window are removed.

9.	Using the Enter Purchases window, reenter all the transactions you removed, using accounts other than your linked payables account. Service purchase orders and miscellaneous purchases typically are assigned expense accounts. (Your linked payables account should be a liability account.)

10.	When you’re finished reentering transactions, choose Save from the File menu. The balance of your linked payables account should now be the same in both the Chart of Accounts window and in the Totals field of the Analyse Payables window when the Summary selection is marked.

11.	If you used the Preferences window in step 5, be sure to open that window and mark the Transactions CAN’T be Changed; Saved Entries Must be Reversed selection again.


Brad's Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

If you’ve used your linked payables account as an allocation account in any transaction other than a purchasing transaction (such as a cheque, deposit or General Journal entry), the balance of your linked payables account shown in the Chart of Accounts window will reflect the transaction’s amount, but the balance shown in Totals field of the Analyse Payables window won’t reflect the transaction’s amount because a purchasing transaction wasn’t recorded.

For an explanation of why your linked payables account might need adjusting, see Brad’s Backgrounder for the following cue card:

Adjusting the balance of your linked payables account


If you linked payables account needs adjusting: Scenario 2
If your linked payables account needs adjusting: Scenario 2

1.	To find out whether you’ve assigned your linked payables account to any purchasing transactions, choose Index to Reports from the Reports menu to open the Index to Reports window, then click the Purchases tab.

2.	Choose Purchases & Payables Journal from the scrolling list, then click the Filters button. The Report Filters window appears.

3.	In the Dated From/To fields, enter a date range that includes all possible transactions (for example, 1/1/1998 to 31/12/2020). When you’re finished, click OK. The Index to Reports window reappears.

4.	Be sure Purchases & Payables Journal is still selected in the scrolling list, then click the Display button.

5.	All purchasing transactions appear in the Screen Reports window, an on-screen version of the Purchases Journal. If any of the transactions are service purchase orders or miscellaneous purchases and both debit and credit your linked payables account, you must delete those transactions (unless they are historical purchases entered in the Historical Purchase window, or if they are transactions used to settle a supplier’s debit purchase), and then reenter the transactions in the Enter Purchases window using accounts other than your linked payables account. These tasks are explained beginning with step 6.

If none of the purchasing transactions in the Purchases Journal use your linked payables account, you shouldn’t use these instructions to adjust the balance of your linked payables account. Consider using the following cue card for help:

 Scenario 1

6.	To begin the process of deleting transactions that debit and credit your linked payables account, write down the ID number(s) of the transaction(s) you need to remove (these numbers are displayed in the ID# column of the Purchases Journal). You’ll need to keep these numbers in mind so you know which transactions to delete.

7.	Click Close to close the Screen Reports window, then click Close to close the Index to Reports window.

8.	Choose Purchases/Find Transaction from the Command Centres menu to open the Find Transaction window.

9.	In the Purchase# field, enter the number of the first purchasing transaction you need to delete. You can also click the search icon next to the Purchase# field to display a list of purchasing transactions to choose from. After you enter a transaction number in the Purchase# field, the scrolling list will display all information about the purchasing transaction, including the original transaction and any payments that have been applied to the original transaction.

10.	Take a look at the zoom arrow next to the ID# column in the scrolling list. If the arrow is gray, continue to step 11. If the arrow is white, skip to step 12.

11.	If the arrow is grey, choose Preferences from the Setup menu to open the Preferences window. In the Preferences window, click the Security tab, then unmark the selection labeled Transactions CAN’T be Changed; Saved Entries Must be Reversed. When you’re finished in the Preferences window, click OK. The Find Transaction window reappears.

12.	Click the zoom arrow next to the transaction at the top of the list. The Enter Purchases window, displaying the original transaction, appears.

13.	Choose Delete Purchase from the Edit menu. The transaction and any payments applied to it is removed, and the Find Transaction window reappears.

14.	Continue deleting all transactions that you wrote down in step 6 until they’re all removed.

15.	Using the Enter Purchases window, reenter all the transactions you removed, using accounts other than your linked payables account. Service purchase orders and miscellaneous purchases typically are assigned expense accounts. (Your linked payables account should be a liability account.)

16.	When you’re finished reentering transactions, choose Save from the File menu. The balance of your linked payables account should be the same in both the Accounts List window and in the Totals field of the Analyse Payables window when the Summary selection is marked.

17.	If you used the Preferences window in step 11, be sure to open that window and mark the Transactions CAN’T be Changed; Saved Entries Must be Reversed selection again.


Brad's Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

If you’ve used your linked payables account as the allocation account in a purchasing transaction in the Enter Purchases window, the balance of your linked payables account shown in the Chart of Accounts window will remain unchanged because your linked payables account is both debited and credited by the transaction. However, the amount shown in the Totals field of the Analyse Payables window will include the amount of the transaction if there’s a balance due on the purchasing transaction.

For an explanation of why your linked payables account might need adjusting, see Brad’s Backgrounder for the following cue card:

Adjusting the balance of your linked payables account


Tracking a business contact who is both a customer and a vendor
Tracking a business contact who is both a customer and a supplier

1.	Use the Card File Entry window to create two separate cards - one customer card and one supplier card - for the company you conduct both sales and purchasing transactions with.

2.	Use the Enter Sales window to record sales transactions with the customer card, and use the Enter Purchases window to record purchasing transaction with the supplier card. (You don’t need to do anything different when you enter these transactions.)

3.	When both you and the company you’re doing business with owe each other money, use credit invoices and debit purchases to reduce each other’s outstanding balances. If you’d like to see an example of how these types of transactions should be entered, use the cue card below:

 Example of how to perform step 3


Brad's Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Some businesses conduct both sales and purchasing transactions with the same company. In effect, a company such as this is both a customer and a supplier. If you have this type of relationship with a company, use the instructions in this cue card for information about how to properly track your sales and purchasing business with that company.


Example: Tracking a business contact who is both a customer and a vendor
Example: Tracking a business contact who is both a customer and a supplier

You’ve created a customer card and a supplier card for ABC Company. Let’s say ABC Company buys $100 worth of merchandise from you, and you record an invoice for $100. The next day, you purchase $20 worth of services from ABC, and you record a purchase order for $20. For the sake of convenience, you don’t pay ABC the $20; instead, you reduce their balance with you to $80. To record this properly in FirstAccounts, you’ll need to work with both a credit invoice and a debit purchase, following these steps:

1.	In the Sales Command Centre, click Enter Sales to open the Enter Sales window.

2.	Click the Type button, choose Miscellaneous Sales, then click OK.

3.	Make entries in the fields in the Enter Sales window. In the first line item of the scrolling list, enter a transaction for -$20 (don’t forget the minus sign). Make note of the account you enter in the Allocation Account columns - you’ll need to enter this account number later in this process. When you’re finished making entries in the window, click Record and choose Save from the File menu. The transaction you created is called a credit invoice.

4.	In the Sales Command Centre, click the Settle Returns & Credit Notes button to open a search list of credit invoices. Double-click the credit invoice you created in step 3; the Settle Returns & Credit Notes window appears, listing all the company’s sales transactions, including the $100 invoice you recorded. The amount of the credit invoice ($20.00) appears in the Credit Amount field.

5.	In the scrolling list, click the Amount Applied column for the $100 invoice. $20.00 appears in the Amount Applied column.

6.	Click Record, then choose Save from the File menu. The balance the company owes you is reduced to $80.

7.	Next, you’ll remove the $20 balance you owe the company. In the Purchases Command Centre, click Enter Purchases to open the Enter Purchases window.

8.	Click the Type button, choose Miscellaneous Purchase, then click OK.

9.	Make entries in the fields in the Enter Purchases window. In the first line item of the scrolling list, enter a transaction for -$20 (don’t forget the minus sign). In the Allocation Account columns of the first line item, be sure to use the same account that you used in the Allocation Account columns of the Enter Sales window in step 3. When you’re finished making entries in the window, click Record and choose Save from the File menu. The transaction you created is called a debit purchase.

10.	In the Purchases Command Centre, click the Settle Returns & Refunds button to open a search list of debit purchases. Double-click the debit purchase you created in step 9; the Settle Returns & Refunds window  appears, listing all the company’s purchasing transactions, including the $20 purchase order you recorded. The amount of the debit purchase ($20.00) appears in the Debit Amount field.

11.	In the scrolling list, click the Amount Applied column for the $20 purchase order. $20.00 appears in the Amount Applied column.

12.	Click Record, then choose Save from the File menu. The balance you owe the company is reduced to $0.


Brad's Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

This cue card provides a detailed example of how to conduct business with a company with whom you conduct both sales and purchasing transactions.

In two of the steps in this cue card, you’ll need to enter an account number before you can record transactions. If you plan to frequently conduct both sales and purchasing business with a company, you may want to consider creating an account designed specifically to track this type of business activity.


Sales Cue Cards

Click a button to view a cue card.

 Tracking finance charges

 Entering consignment sales

 Tracking money you owe a customer

 Tracking sales on retainer

Tracking a business contact who is both a customer and a supplier

Removing pending invoices with deposits

 Tracking bounced customer cheques

 Tracking bad debts

Adjusting the balance of your linked receivables account

Placing an invoice in the Pending File

 Creating new invoice item records


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

The Sales Command Centre provides a great deal of flexibility in working with all your business’s sales transactions. These cue cards provide details about some of the more complex Sales Command Centre tasks.


Tracking finance charges

To track finance charges, you can do one of three things:

A.	When you’re entering a customer payment in the Customer Payments window, enter a finance charge payment in the Finance Charge field in the Customer Payments window, or

B.	Create an entire invoice for the finance charges in the Enter Sales window, then use the Customer Payments window to enter payments against the invoice, or

C.	Add the finance charge amount to the outstanding balance of the open sale, then use the Customer Payments window to enter payments against the open sale.

More information about how finance charges are calculated in FirstAccounts


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Finance charges are calculated when you print customer statements. Finance charge amounts can be printed on customer statements, if you wish. However, finance charge amounts are not automatically tracked by FirstAccounts; they’re merely printed on statements. This gives you the freedom to decide how you want to deal with finance charges.

You can, however, track finance charges yourself using a few options in FirstAccounts. This cue card explains these options.


How finance charges are calculated

If you assign finance charges to balances that aren’t paid by their due date, finance charges will be assessed beginning the day after the due date. Due dates and finance charge amounts are determined by the selections you make for each of your customers in the % Monthly Charge for Late Payment field of the Credit Terms window. (To open the Credit Terms window for a customer, display the customer’s card in the Card File Entry window, then click the Terms button.)

A finance charge amount is calculated in FirstAccounts by multiplying the customer’s overdue balance by 1/30th of the monthly finance charge rate for each day the balance is overdue. For example, if a customer’s overdue balance is $100 and their monthly finance charge rate is 1.5%, their daily finance charge rate is .05% (1/30th of 1.5%), and their finance charge amount for each day their payment is overdue is $0.05 ($100 multiplied by .05%).

If a customer pays part of an overdue balance during the overdue period - and you use the Customer Payments window to apply the payment - the finance charge amount that’s calculated will be based upon the remaining overdue balance.


Entering consignment sales transactions
Entering consignment sales

Four separate tasks make up the process of entering consignment sales. Click a button to view a cue card.

 Creating a consignment item

 Selling a consignment item

Paying a supplier after you sell a consignment item

Analysing the sales of your consignment items


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Use these cue cards to set up and sell an item that you sell on consignment, as well as pay a supplier for the sales you make on consignment and review the results of your consignment sales. A consignment item is an item that you sell for another person or company, but that you don’t store in your inventory. When most companies sell items on consignment, they receive payment for the items when they’re sold, and then they write a cheque for a percentage of the selling price to the person or company for whom they sold the item.


Creating a consignment item

1.	In the Sales Command Centre, click Invoice Items to open the Invoice Items window. Click New to open the Invoice Item Information window.

2.	In the Item# field, don’t enter an item number in the same manner as you normally enter an item number in this field; instead, enter the name of the company for whom you’re selling the item. For example, if you’re selling an item for the Lee Corporation, enter LEE in the Item# field.

3.	In the Name field, enter the name you use to describe the item. (You may want to use the word “consignment” in this name to help you remember the purpose of this item.)

4.	Enter or select an account number in the Income Account field.

5.	Enter any other information about the item.

6.	When you’re finished, click OK, then choose Save from the File menu to save the new item record.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Use this cue card to set up a consignment item - an item that you sell for another person or company, but that you don’t store in your inventory.


Selling a consignment item

1.	In the Sales Command Centre, click the Enter Sales button to open the Enter Sales window.

2.	Click the Type button, choose Item, then click OK.

3.	Enter information in the top half of the Enter Sales window as you normally do.

4.	In the first line item of the scrolling list, enter the quantity of the consignment item that you sold in the Ship column, then enter the consignment item’s item number in the Item# column. If you haven’t created the consignment item yet, use the following cue card to do so:

 Creating a consignment item

5.	Make entries in the remaining fields of the Enter Sales window as you normally do.

6.	When you’re finished making entries in the Enter Sales window, click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Use this cue card to record the sale of a consignment item - an item that you sell for another person or company, but that you don’t store in your inventory.


Paying a vendor after you sell a consignment item
Paying a supplier after you sell a consignment item

1.	If you haven’t done so already, use the Card File Entry window to create a card for the supplier you intend to pay for the consignment sale.

2.	In the Chequebook Command Centre, click Spend Money to open the Spend Money window.

3.	Create a cheque transaction in the Spend Money window to pay the supplier. Be sure to enter the supplier’s name in the Card field and the amount you intend to pay the supplier in the Amount field. When you enter a line item in the scrolling list to allocate the transaction to an account, be sure to enter an expense account in the Allocation Account columns.

4.	When you’re finished making entries in the Spend Money window, click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Use this cue card to write a cheque to a company for whom you’ve sold a consignment item. The typical type of company you’d write such a cheque to is usually considered a supplier, since they provide you with an item that you sell.


Analyzing the sales of your consignment items
Analysing the sales of your consignment items

1.	Choose Sales/Analyse Sales from the Command Centres menu to open the Analyse Sales window

2.	All your items are listed in the Analyse Sales window, along with sales information about each of the items. Your consignment item also appears in the list.

3.	Use the buttons in the Analyse Sales window to view information about your consignment item in different ways.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Follow the instructions in this cue card if you want to review the sales figures for your consignment items.


Tracking money you owe a customer

Click a button to view a cue card.

 When a customer has paid you too much

When a customer has returned items to you

When you owe money to a customer for another reason


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

When you owe a customer money, you need to create a credit balance with the customer in FirstAccounts. In FirstAccounts terms, this credit balance is known as a credit invoice. Think of a credit invoice as an invoice with a negative amount, or as a transaction that simply indicates that you owe someone money. Credit invoices remain in the FirstAccounts system until you apply their amounts to open sales or write refund cheques for them.

There are a number of ways a customer may have a credit balance with your business, and a number of ways you can enter a credit invoice in FirstAccounts. Use the instructions in these cue cards to enter a credit invoice that applies to your situation.


When a customer has paid you too much

1.	In the Sales Command Centre, click the Customer Payments button to open the Customer Payments window.

2.	From the list in the top left corner of the window, choose the account into which you want to deposit the payment.

3.	Make entries in the Customer, Date, Amount Received and Memo fields. When you make an entry in the Customer field, the scrolling list at the bottom of the window will automatically fill with the customer’s transactions.

4.	If you’re not applying the payment to the first invoice in the scrolling list, delete the amount that appears in the Amount Applied column for the first invoice, then click the Amount Applied column in the scrolling list for the invoice you’re applying the payment to. The amount of the invoice will appear.

5.	Change the amount that appears in the Amount Applied column to match the amount of the payment.

6.	Click Record.

7.	A message will appear, explaining that a credit invoice will be created as a result of the transaction. Click OK.

8.	Choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction.

9.	To work with the credit invoice that you created, use the Settle Returns & Credit Notes window.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

This cue card helps you enter a transaction in which a customer pays you more than they owe you.

For more information about tracking money you owe to customers, see Brad’s Backgrounder for the cue card below:

 Tracking money you owe a customer


When you owe money to a customer for another reason

1.	If you don’t already have an account designated for tracking returns and allowances, use the Chart of Accounts and Edit Accounts windows in the General Ledger Command Centre to create one. Be sure the new account is an expense account.

2.	In the Sales Command Centre, click the Enter Sales button to open the Enter Sales window.

3.	Click the Type button, choose Service, then click OK.

4.	Enter transaction information in the top of the Enter Sales window as you normally do.

5.	In the Description column of the first line item of the scrolling list, enter whatever text you’d like to use to describe the transaction.

6.	In the Acct# column of the first line item, enter the account described in step 1.

7.	In the Amount column of the first line item, enter the amount you owe the customer. Enter this amount as a negative amount - in other words, use a minus symbol (-) before you enter the dollar amount.

8.	Click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction. A credit invoice is created.

9.	To work with the credit invoice that you created, use the Settle Returns & Credit Notes window.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

This cue card helps you enter a transaction that tracks money you owe a customer for no specific reason.

For more information about tracking money you owe to customers, see Brad’s Backgrounder for the cue card below:

 Tracking money you owe a customer


When a customer has returned items to you

1.	In the Sales Command Centre, click Enter Sales to open the Enter Sales window.

2.	Click the Type button, choose Item, then click OK.

3.	Enter transaction information in the top of the Enter Sales window as you normally do.

4.	In the Ship column of the first line item in the scrolling list, enter the quantity of the first item the customer returned to you. Enter this quantity as a negative quantity - in other words, use a minus symbol (-) before you enter the quantity.

5.	In the Item# column of the first line item, enter the item number of the first item that was returned to you.

6.	If the customer returned more than one type of item, repeat steps 4 and 5 for each item that was returned to you.

7.	Click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction. A credit invoice is recorded for the customer, and your quantities sold levels on reports are changed to reflect your correct levels.

8.	To work with the credit invoice that you created, use the Settle Returns & Credit Notes window.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

This cue card helps you enter a transaction that returns the items sold on an item invoice and credits the customer who returned the items.

For more information about tracking money you owe to customers, see Brad’s Backgrounder for the cue card below:

 Tracking money you owe a customer


Tracking sales on retainer

There are two ways to track sales on retainer. Click the method you want to use.

Using a credit balance to track sales on retainer

Using a pending invoice to track sales on retainer


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

You can use FirstAccounts to easily track sales on retainer. When you conduct business on retainer, two things usually happen:

1.	You receive a retainer amount.  The customer pays you in advance for services you’ll perform in the future. The amount the customer pays you, usually called a retainer amount, indicates that the customer has a credit balance with your business.

2.	You reduce the customer’s credit balance.  As you perform services for the customer, you reduce the credit balance the customer has with your business.

There are a couple of ways you can perform these tasks. Use these cue cards to follow the method you want to use.


Using a credit balance to track sales on retainer

Recording the retainer amount

1.	In the Sales Command Centre, click Enter Sales to open the Enter Sales window.

2.	In the Enter Sales window, create a blank invoice of any type.

3.	In the Paid Today field of the invoice, enter the retainer amount paid to you by the customer.

4.	Click Record. The amount is deposited into your linked receivables cheque account, and a credit invoice is created for the customer.

Recording charges to the customer’s balance

5.	Each time you perform services for the customer, use the Enter Sales window to record a sales transaction for the services. When you’re finished recording the transaction, choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction.

6.	Click Settle Returns & Credit Notes in the Sales Command Centre.

7.	In the Select From List window that appears, choose the credit invoice you created in step 4, then click Apply to Invoice. The Settle Returns & Credit Notes window appears, listing all the customer’s transactions, including the sales transaction you created in step 5.

8.	In the Credit Amount field, enter the amount you are charging for the services you rendered. Most likely, the amount you enter in this field will be the same as the total amount of the sales transaction you recorded in step 5. Example

9.	In the scrolling list, click the Amount Applied column for the sales transaction you created in step 5. The amount displayed in the Credit Amount field appears.

10.	Click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction. The services you performed are paid for, and the customer’s credit invoice is reduced. If you didn’t use the entire amount of the credit invoice, the remaining amount will continue to be stored in the same credit invoice.

11.	If the credit invoice still exists, follow steps 5 through 10 each time you perform services for the customer.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Use the instructions in this cue card to track sales on retainer by creating a credit balance for the customer. When you’re ready to charge the customer for services you’ve rendered, you’ll reduce the credit balance by using the Settle Returns & Credit Notes window.

Use this method of tracking sales by retainer if you plan to perform many services over an extended period of time, or if you wish to record the income from services only when they’re rendered.


Example: Entering amounts in the Credit Amount field

For instance, say the amount of the credit invoice is $200. Although $200.00 automatically appeared in the Credit Amount field when you chose the credit invoice and opened the Settle Returns & Credit Notes window in step 7, you can change this amount. For example, if the total amount of the sales transaction you entered in step 5 was $150, enter $150 in the Credit Amount field. When you record this transaction in step 10, the additional $50 will remain in the credit invoice, which can be used the next time you perform services for the customer.


Using a pending invoice to track sales on retainer

1.	In the Sales Command Centre, click Enter Sales to open the Enter Sales window.

2.	Click the Type button, choose Service, then click OK.

3.	Enter information in the Enter Sales window as you normally do. In the Amount column of the first line item in the scrolling list, enter the retainer amount.

4.	When you’ve entered all the transaction information, click the Pending button to save the transaction as a pending invoice.

5.	When you’re ready to bill the customer for services you’ve performed, open the Enter Sales window and enter the customer’s name in the Customer field. The pending invoice will appear in a list; double-click it to display it in the Enter Sales window.

6.	If you wish, you can change any information that appears in the window. When you’re finished, click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction as an actual invoice.

7.	In the Sales Command Centre, click Customer Payments to open the Customer Payments window.

8.	Enter the customer’s name in the Customer field. All the customer’s transactions appear in the scrolling list, including the invoice you saved in step 6.

9.	Enter the customer’s payment to the invoice in the same way as you normally enter customer payments. When you’re finished, click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Use the instructions in this cue card to track sales on retainer by creating a pending invoice for the customer. When you’re ready to charge the customer for services you’ve rendered, you’ll convert the pending invoice into an actual invoice.

Use this method of tracking sales by retainer if you plan to perform only one service for the entire retainer amount, or if you wish to record the entire retainer amount all at once.


Tracking a business contact who is both a customer and a vendor
Tracking a business contact who is both a customer and a supplier

1.	Use the Card File Entry window to create two separate cards - one customer card and one supplier card - for the company you conduct both sales and purchasing transactions with.

2.	Use the Enter Sales window to record sales transactions with the customer card, and use the Enter Purchases window to record purchasing transaction with the supplier card. (You don’t need to do anything different when you enter these transactions.)

3.	When both you and the company you’re doing business with owe each other money, use credit invoices and debit purchases to reduce each other’s outstanding balances.

 Example of how to perform step 3


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Some businesses conduct both sales and purchasing transactions with the same company. In effect, a company such as this is both a customer and a supplier. If you have this type of relationship with a company, use the instructions in this cue card for information about how to properly track your sales and purchasing business with that company.


Example: Entering transactions for a business contact who is both a customer and a vendor
Example: Tracking a business contact who is both a customer and a supplier

You’ve created a customer card and a supplier card for ABC Company. Let’s say ABC Company buys $100 worth of merchandise from you, and you record an invoice for $100. The next day, you purchase $20 worth of services from ABC, and you record a purchase order for $20. For the sake of convenience, you don’t pay ABC the $20; instead, you reduce their balance with you to $80. To record this properly in FirstAccounts, you’ll need to work with both a credit invoice and a debit purchase, following these steps:

1.	In the Sales Command Centre, click Enter Sales to open the Enter Sales window.

2.	Click the Type button, choose Miscellaneous Sales, then click OK.

3.	Make entries in the fields in the Enter Sales window. In the first line item of the scrolling list, enter a transaction for -$20 (don’t forget the minus sign). Make note of the account you enter in the Allocation Account columns - you’ll need to enter this account number later in this process. When you’re finished making entries in the window, click Record and choose Save from the File menu. The transaction you created is called a credit invoice.

4.	In the Sales Command Centre, click the Settle Returns & Credit Notes button to open a search list of credit invoices. Double-click the credit invoice you created in step 3; the Settle Returns & Credit Notes window appears, listing all the company’s sales transactions, including the $100 invoice you recorded. The amount of the credit invoice ($20.00) appears in the Credit Amount field.

5.	In the scrolling list, click the Amount Applied column for the $100 invoice. $20.00 appears in the Amount Applied column.

6.	Click Record, then choose Save from the File menu. The balance the company owes you is reduced to $80.

7.	Next, you’ll remove the $20 balance you owe the company. In the Purchases Command Centre, click Enter Purchases to open the Enter Purchases window.

8.	Click the Type button, choose Miscellaneous Purchase, then click OK.

9.	Make entries in the fields in the Enter Purchases window. In the first line item of the scrolling list, enter a transaction for -$20 (don’t forget the minus sign). In the Allocation Account columns of the first line item, be sure to use the same account that you used in the Allocation Account columns of the Enter Sales window in step 3. When you’re finished making entries in the window, click Record and choose Save from the File menu. The transaction you created is called a debit purchase.

10.	In the Purchases Command Centre, click the Settle Returns & Refunds button to open a search list of debit purchases. Double-click the debit purchase you created in step 9; the Settle Returns & Refunds window appears, listing all the company’s purchasing transactions, including the $20 purchase order you recorded. The amount of the debit purchase ($20.00) appears in the Debit Amount field.

11.	In the scrolling list, click the Amount Applied column for the $20 purchase order. $20.00 appears in the Amount Applied column.

12.	Click Record, then choose Save from the File menu. The balance you owe the company is reduced to $0.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

This cue card provides a detailed example of how to conduct business with a company with whom you conduct both sales and purchasing transactions.

In two of the steps in this cue card, you’ll need to enter an account number before you can record transactions. If you plan to frequently conduct both sales and purchasing business with a company, you may want to consider creating an account designed specifically to track this type of business activity.


Removing pending invoices with deposits

There are two ways to remove a pending invoice and its deposit. Click the method you want to use.

By writing a refund cheque for the deposit amount

By deleting the deposit’s record from your data file


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

If you want to remove a pending invoice that included a deposit when you recorded it, you must remove the deposit amount before you can remove the pending invoice. You can choose between two methods for how to remove the deposit amount.


Writing a refund cheque for the deposit amount

1.	In the Sales Command Centre, click Enter Sales to open the Enter Sales window.

2.	In the Customer field, enter the customer’s name. A search list appears, listing all the customer’s pending invoices. Double-click the pending invoice you want to remove to display the pending invoice in the Enter Sales window.

3.	Delete any items and amounts that appear in the window, including GST and freight amounts. When you’re finished removing this information, the Balance Due field will display the deposit amount as a negative number.

4.	Click Record. A message appears, asking whether you wish to record the sale. Click OK, then choose Save from the File menu. The transaction you’ve just recorded is called a credit invoice.

5.	In the Sales Command Centre, click the Settle Returns & Credit Notes button to open a search list containing credit invoices. Highlight the credit invoice you created in step 4, then click the Refund button; the Settle Returns & Credit Notes window appears, displaying the amount of the credit invoice in the Amount field.

6.	Click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the refund cheque. Your records are no longer affected by the pending invoice and the deposit.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Follow the steps in this cue card to remove a pending invoice and write a refund cheque for the amount of a deposit that was placed on the pending invoice.


Deleting the deposit
Deleting the deposit’s record from your data file

1.	In the Sales Command Centre, click Transaction Journal to open the Transaction Journal window. Click the Receipts tab to display all the transactions that are in the Cash Receipts Journal. The deposit you want to remove is included in this list of transactions.

2.	Locate the deposit you want to remove in the list of transactions. When you find it, take a look at the zoom arrow on the left side of the transaction. If the arrow is gray, continue to step 3. If the arrow is white, skip to step 4.

3.	If the arrow is gray, choose Preferences from the Setup menu to open the Preferences window. In the Preferences window, click the Security tab, then unmark the selection labeled Transactions CAN’T be Changed; Saved Entries Must be Reversed. When you’re finished in the Preferences window, click OK.

4.	Click the zoom arrow next to the deposit transaction. The Customer Payments window appears, displaying the deposit transaction.

5.	Choose Delete Payment from the Edit menu to remove the deposit, then choose Save from the File menu.

6.	Next, you’ll remove the pending invoice from your records. In the Sales Command Centre, click Enter Sales to open the Enter Sales window.

7.	In the Customer field, enter the name of the customer for whom you originally recorded the pending invoice. A search list appears, listing all pending invoices for that customer. Double-click the pending invoice you want to remove; the pending invoice’s information appears in the Enter Sales window.

8.	Choose Delete Pending Sale from the Edit menu, then choose Save from the File menu. The pending invoice is removed from your records.

9.	If you used the Preferences window in step 3, be sure to open that window and mark the Transactions CAN’T be Changed; Saved Entries Must be Reversed selection again.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Follow the steps in this cue card to remove a pending invoice and the record of a deposit that was placed on the pending invoice.


Tracking bounced customer cheques

1.	In the Sales Command Centre, click Transaction Journal to open the Transaction Journal window. Click the Receipts tab to display all the transactions that are in the Cash Receipts Journal. The payment you want to remove is included in this list of transactions.

2.	Locate the payment you want to remove in the list of transactions. When you find it, take a look at the zoom arrow on the left side of the transaction. If the arrow is gray, continue to step 3. If the arrow is white, skip to step 4.

3.	If the arrow is grey, choose Preferences from the Setup menu to open the Preferences window. In the Preferences window, click the Security tab, then unmark the selection labeled Transactions CAN’T be Changed; Saved Entries Must be Reversed. When you’re finished in the Preferences window, click OK.

4.	Click the zoom arrow next to the payment transaction. The Customer Payments window appears, displaying the payment.

5.	Choose Delete Payment from the Edit menu to remove the payment, then choose Save from the File menu. If you used the Preferences window in step 3, be sure to open that window and mark the Transactions CAN’T be Changed; Saved Entries Must be Reversed selection again.

6.	If you don’t want to charge a penalty for the bounced cheque, you’re done. If you do want to charge a penalty, continue to the next step.

7.	In the Sales Command Centre, click the Enter Sales button to open the Enter Sales window.

8.	Click the Type button. If you intend to send the customer a bill for the penalty, choose Service. If you don’t intend to send the customer a bill for the penalty, choose Miscellaneous Sales. After you make your selection, click OK.

9.	Make entries in the fields of the Enter Sales window as you normally do, entering the amount of the penalty in the Amount column of the first line item of the scrolling list. (You may want to consult an accountant to determine which account you should use in the transaction.)

10.	When you’re finished making entries in the Enter Sales window, click Record, then choose Save from the File menu to save the transaction.

11.	When the customer pays the penalty amount, use the Customer Payments window to apply the payment to the sales transaction you recorded in step 10.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

If a customer’s cheque bounces after you record and save it in the Customer Payments window, follow the steps in this cue card to remove the bounced payment and, if you wish, charge a penalty for the transaction.


Tracking bad debts

1.	Using the Chart of Accounts and Edit Accounts windows, create a new expense account named Bad Debts.

2.	In the Sales Command Centre, click Enter Sales to open the Enter Sales window.

3.	Click the Type button, choose Miscellaneous, then click OK.

4.	Make entries in the fields of the Enter Sales window. In the scrolling list, enter one line item for each of the customer’s outstanding amounts. Be sure to enter negative amounts. In the Allocation Account column of each line item, enter the Bad Debt account you created in step 1.

5.	When you’re finished making entries in the Enter Sales window, click Record, then choose Save from the File menu. The transaction you created is called a credit invoice.

6.	In the Sales Command Centre, click the Settle Returns & Credit Notes button to open a search list containing credit invoices. Double-click the credit invoice you created in step 5; the Settle Returns & Credit Notes window appears, displaying all the customer’s sales transactions. The amount of the credit invoice you selected appears in the Credit Amount field.

7.	Click the Amount Applied column in the first line item of the scrolling list. The exact amount that’s owed by the customer for the transaction appears in the Amount Applied column. (If only one transaction appears in the scrolling list, the amount will automatically appear in the Amount Applied column.) Continue clicking the Amount Applied column for each of the transactions in the scrolling list.

8.	When you’re finished making entries in the Amount Applied column for all transactions in the scrolling list, click Record, then choose Save from the File menu. All the customer’s outstanding balances are cleared from your records.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

Follow the steps in this cue card if you no longer expect payments from a delinquent customer. These instructions will help you close the customer’s account.


Adjusting the balance of your linked receivables account

Two situations can cause a discrepancy in the balance of your linked receivables account. Click each of the scenarios below for information about researching and solving possible problems with the balance of this account.

 Scenario 1

 Scenario 2


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

The balance of your linked receivables account appears in a couple of locations in FirstAccounts: in the Chart of Accounts window (the account is usually named “Accounts Receivable”), and in the Totals field at the bottom of the Analyse Receivables window when the Summary selection is marked. At times, you may notice that the balances shown in these two locations aren’t the same. These balances are calculated differently:

The balance in the Accounts List window reflects all transactions that have been applied to the linked receivables account.

The balance in the Analyse Receivables window is the balance due on open sales (unpaid sales transactions) only.

Although these amounts are calculated in different ways, the amounts should be the same at all times. If they’re not, review the situations in these cue cards to correct the difference in the amounts.


If your linked receivables account needs adjusting: Scenario 1

1.	To find out whether a transaction was applied to your linked receivables account, choose General Ledger/Find Transaction from the Command Centres menu to open the Find Transaction window. Select the Account tab.

2.	In the Account field, enter your linked receivables account number. In the Dated From/To fields, enter a date range that includes all possible transactions (for example, 1/1/1998 to 31/12/2020).

3.	All transactions appear in the scrolling list. If any of them show something other than SJ (for example, GJ or PJ) in the Src column, you must delete those entries (unless they were adjustments to the balance of your linked receivables account), and then reenter them using the Enter Sales window. These tasks are explained in the following steps.

4.	In the Find Transaction window, take a look at the zoom arrows next to the Src column. If the arrows are gray, continue to step 5. If the arrows are white, skip to step 6.

5.	If the arrows are grey, choose Preferences from the Setup menu to open the Preferences window. In the Preferences window, click the Security tab, then unmark the selection labeled Transactions CAN’T be Changed; Saved Entries Must be Reversed. When you’re finished in the Preferences window, click OK.

6.	Click the zoom arrow next to a transaction that displays something other than SJ in the Src column. The window in which the transaction was originally entered appears.

7.	Choose Delete from the Edit menu (the word “Delete” will be followed by the type of transaction you are viewing). The transaction is removed, and the Find Transaction window reappears.

8.	Follow steps 6 and 7 until all transactions that display something other than SJ in the Src column of the Find Transaction window are removed.

9.	Using the Enter Sales window, reenter all the transactions you removed, using accounts other than your linked receivables account. Service invoices, professional invoices and miscellaneous sales typically are assigned income accounts. (Your linked receivables account should be an asset account.)

10.	When you’re finished reentering transactions, choose Save from the File menu. The balance of your linked receivables account should now be the same in both the Chart of Accounts window and in the Totals field of the Analyse Receivables window when the Summary selection is marked.

11.	If you used the Preferences window in step 5, be sure to open that window and mark the Transactions CAN’T be Changed; Saved Entries Must be Reversed selection again.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

If you’ve used your linked receivables account as an allocation account in any transaction other than a sales transaction (such as a check, deposit or General Journal entry), the balance of your linked receivables account shown in the Chart of Accounts window will reflect the transaction’s amount, but the balance shown in Totals field of the Analyse Receivables window won’t reflect the transaction’s amount because a sales transaction wasn’t recorded.

For an explanation of why your linked receivables account might need adjusting, see Brad’s Backgrounder for the following cue card:

Adjusting the balance of your linked receivables account


If your linked receivables account needs adjusting: Scenario 2

1.	To find out whether you’ve assigned your linked receivables account to any sales transactions, choose Index to Reports from the Reports menu to open the Index to Reports window, then click the Sales tab.

2.	Choose Sales & Receivables Journal from the scrolling list, then click the Filters button. The Report Filters window appears.

3.	In the Dated From/To fields, enter a date range that includes all possible transactions (for example, 1/1/1998 to 12/31/2020). When you’re finished, click OK. The Index to Reports window reappears.

4.	Be sure Sales & Receivables Journal is still selected in the scrolling list, then click the Display button.

5.	All sales transactions appear in the Screen Reports window; an on-screen version of the Sales Journal. If any of the transactions are service invoices, professional invoices or miscellaneous sales and both debit and credit your linked receivables account, you must delete those transactions (unless they are historical sales entered in the Historical Sale window, or if they are transactions used to settle a customer’s credit invoice), and then reenter the transactions in the Enter Sales window using accounts other than your linked receivables account. These tasks are explained beginning with step 6.

If none of the sales transactions in the Sales & Receivables Journal use your linked receivables account, you shouldn’t use these instructions to adjust the balance of your linked receivables account. Consider using the following cue card for help:

 Scenario 1

6.	To begin the process of deleting transactions that debit and credit your linked receivables account, write down the ID number(s) of the transaction(s) you need to remove (these numbers are displayed in the ID# column of the Sales Journal). You’ll need to keep these numbers in mind so you know which transactions to delete.

7.	Click Close to close the Screen Reports window, then click Close to close the Index to Reports window.

8.	Choose Sales/Find Transaction from the Command Centres menu to open the Find Transaction window, then click the Invoice tab.

9.	In the Invoice# field, enter the number of the first sales transaction you need to delete. You can also click the search icon next to the Invoice# field to display a list of sales transactions to choose from. After you enter a transaction number in the Invoice# field, the scrolling list will display all information about the sales transaction, including the original transaction and any payments that have been applied to the original transaction.

10.	Take a look at the zoom arrow next to the ID# column in the scrolling list. If the arrow is gray, continue to step 11. If the arrow is white, skip to step 12.

11.	If the arrow is gray, choose Preferences from the Setup menu to open the Preferences window. In the Preferences window, click the Security tab, then unmark the selection labeled Transactions CAN’T be Changed; Saved Entries Must be Reversed. When you’re finished in the Preferences window, click OK. The Find Transaction window reappears.

12.	Click the zoom arrow next to the transaction at the top of the list. The Enter Sales window, displaying the original transaction, appears.

13.	Choose Delete Sale from the Edit menu. The transaction and any payments applied to it is removed, and the Find Transaction window reappears.

14.	Continue deleting all transactions that you wrote down in step 6 until they’re all removed.

15.	Using the Enter Sales window, reenter all the transactions you removed, using accounts other than your linked receivables account. Service invoices, professional invoices and miscellaneous sales typically are assigned income accounts. (Your linked receivables account should be an asset account.)

16.	When you’re finished reentering transactions, choose Save from the File menu. The balance of your linked receivables account should be the same in both the Chart of Accounts window and in the Totals field of the Analyse Receivables window when the Summary selection is marked.

17.	If you used the Preferences window in step 11, be sure to open that window and mark the Transactions CAN’T be Changed; Saved Entries Must be Reversed selection again.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

If you’ve used your linked receivables account as the allocation account in a sales transaction in the Enter Sales window, the balance of your linked receivables account shown in the Chart of Accounts window will remain unchanged because your linked receivables account is both debited and credited by the transaction. However, the amount shown in the Totals field of the Analyse Receivables window will include the amount of the transaction if there’s a balance due on the sales transaction.

For an explanation of why your linked receivables account might need adjusting, see Brad’s Backgrounder for the following cue card:

Adjusting the balance of your linked receivables account


Placing an invoice in the Pending File

1.	In the Sales Command Centre, click Enter Sales to open the Enter Sales window.

2.	Click the Type button, choose either Item, Service or Professional, then click OK.

3.	Make entries in the Enter Sales window the same way as you normally do to create a regular invoice. Enter quantities and amounts the same way, as well.

4.	If the customer made a deposit on the pending invoice, enter that amount in the Paid Today field.

5.	When you’re done entering the invoice information, click the Pending button. If you made an entry in the Paid Today field in step 4, your customer deposits account is increased by the amount of the deposit, and your receivables cheque account is increased. Otherwise, none of your financial records are changed. The invoice is added to the Pending File.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

If there are times when you want to record an invoice that hasn’t occurred yet, or if you want to create an estimate for a customer, you can create an invoice and place it in FirstAccounts’s Pending File. The Pending File is a “storage area” where pending transactions are contained until you convert them into actual transactions. Until you convert a pending invoice into an actual invoice, an invoice in the Pending File doesn’t change your financial records at all.

This cue card describes how to place invoices in the Pending File.


Creating new invoice item records

1.	In the Sales Command Centre, click Invoice Items to open the Invoice Items window.

2.	Click the New button to open the Invoice Item Information window.

3.	In the Item# field, enter a unique number to assign to the new item. You can use numbers, letters and symbols in the item number.

4.	In the Name field, enter the name of the new item.

5.	.Enter the account number you’ll use to track the income you receive from the sale of items in the Income Account field. A default account number may appear in this field. If so, make sure the default account is the account you want to use.

6.	Enter the price at which you usually sell one selling unit of measure of this item in the Selling Price field. The selling price is the default price for one selling unit on an item invoice. For example, if you sell cans of soda in cases, enter the price of one case of soda.

7.	Enter the method by which this item is packaged when you sell it in the Selling Unit of Measure field.

Some typical units of measure include Each, Pair, Case, Gross, Hour and Day. These descriptions are printed on invoices. For example, assume one of your items is a lamp set that’s always sold in pairs; this item could be assigned the selling unit of measure of Pair.

8.	Choose a GST code from the Tax Code When Sold list.

9.	When you’re finished setting up the item, click OK to accept the entries you’ve made in the Invoice Item Information window, then choose Save from the File menu.


Bradís Backgrounders
Brad’s Backgrounders

The item records you work with in the Invoice Item Information window in the Sales Command Centre can be either items or services. Follow the steps in this cue card to make the proper entries in the Invoice Item Information window.