A/R & Collections
Accounts Receivable Setup
Support Guide
-
Overview
Accounts Receivables in Striven can help in facilitating the receiving of money for goods and services sold by your company. It is important to complete the initial set up before you begin using A/R Transactions in Striven such as Invoices, Sales Receipts, and Credit Memos. Determining requirements, information, and formats that should be available when entering A/R type transactions in Striven will help save time while working with Customers.
Read this guide if you are trying to:
✔ Manage A/R Settings in Striven.
✔ Determine and set up Payment Terms.
✔ Configure printable formats for A/R Transactions.
-
A/R Settings
Before your Company starts to receive Sales Orders in Striven, it is recommended you visit the Sales Settings to ensure your Accounts Receivable suits your Company’s needs. Here you can note the next available number(s) for Sales Orders and transactions, when to process Auto-Pay, and more. Below is a screenshot demonstrating how the A/R Settings appear and details of what can be accomplished there.
To view your Sales Settings, use the following steps below:
Company → Settings → Accounting → Sales → Settings
- General: This section has many options, which are described further below:
- Require Bill To/Ship To: Establishes whether you wish to require Customer Bill To and Ship To addresses on Sales Orders and A/R Transactions including Invoices, Credit Memos, etc.
- Default Sales Rep on Creation: If a Category is selected, the Sales Rep will be whomever is assigned at the Customer level for that Category. If no one is assigned, the default Sales Rep will be the person creating the Sales Order, Invoice, or Sales Receipt.
- Allow Grouping of Line Items for Sales Orders, Invoices, and Sales Receipts: Enables the ability to organize Items into groups on AR entries.
- Show Cost and Markup: Establishes whether you want to calculate cost and markup on Sales Orders and A/R Transactions including Invoices, Credit Memos, etc.
- Prompt to update the Item Cost if it is changed while creating Sales Orders and Invoices: Establishes whether you want the cost and/or markup Items updated if they are changed on Sales Orders and Invoices.
- Show Profit in Subtotals: Establishes whether you want to show estimated profits on Sales Orders and A/R Transactions including Invoices, Credit Memos, etc.
- Sales Orders: Global settings options for Sales Orders. These options include:
- Auto-Expire Recurring Sales Orders: Establishes whether you set recurring Sales Orders to automatically expire.
- Lead Time for Invoice Generation: Designates how far in advance recurring Sales Orders are generated.
- Allow 0 Quantity Line Items on Sales Orders: Provides the ability to include Line Items on Sales Orders with a 0 quantity.
- Invoice Memo: Allows you to create a Memo that will be used for Invoices that are automatically generated from Recurring Sales Orders.
Merge Fields for the Invoice Memo enable you to populate information such as Order Number, Order Name, Next Billing Period, and Prior Billing Period. Manually generated Invoices will not be created with this Memo line.
- Invoices: There are many options in the Invoices section including the following:
- Next Number: Here you can choose the next available number for Invoices created in Striven.
- From Email: Displays an email address on Invoice emails sent to Customers from Striven so they see an email address they are familiar with and can recognize. Users can select a Sender for the New Invoice notification upon creation or when resending the notification for an existing Invoice. This option displays when the Compose Email window is open. The From field will allow you to choose from a drop-down menu to select who the email is from.
- From Name: Displays a name on Invoice emails sent to Customers from Striven so they see a name they are familiar with and can recognize.
- From Category: If a Category is selected, the Invoice will be sent from whomever is assigned at the Customer level for that Category. If no one is assigned, the default Invoice from email and name would be used.
- Payment Terms: Designates the default Payment Terms for Invoices.
- Format: Allows you to set the default format used when creating Invoices.
- Automatically Generate the Invoice PDF for Printing Once a Day.
- Don’t Set Invoices “To Be Printed” if on Auto-Pay: For Customers with Auto-Pay enabled, their Invoices will not be set to be printed by default.
- Ignore Lead Time on Sales Orders if on Auto-Pay: For Customers with Auto-Pay enabled, any Lead Times on Sales Orders will be disregarded.
- Ignore Lead Time if Invoices are NOT set “To Be Printed”: Lead Time on Invoices that are not set “To Be Printed” will be disregarded.
Example of the Sales Settings Page
- General: This section has many options, which are described further below:
-
A/R Additional Configuration
Within the Sales Settings, you can also configure how A/R Transactions function including Credit Memos, Payments, Sales Receipts, and Finance Charges. Below is a screenshot displaying how the Sales Settings appear and details on what can be accomplished there.
- Credit Memos: Allows you to choose the next available number for Credit Memos created in Striven and decide if open Credit Memos are automatically applied to the oldest Invoices during nightly background Invoice process windows. If you choose to have Credit Memos automatically applied, a second checkbox will appear. If selected, this will add a restriction where “Open Credits related to Sales Orders can only be applied to Open Invoices related to the same Sales Order”.
- Sales Receipts: Allows you to choose the next available number for Sales Receipts created in Striven.
- Payments: This section contains many options, which are described below:
- Next Number: Allows you to choose the next available number for Payments created in Striven.
- Format: Allows you to designate the default Printable Format for Payments.
- Send Invoice Payment Receipt: Designates whether an Invoice Payment receipt will be sent to the Customer.
- Process Auto-Pay on: Allows you to choose whether to process Auto-Pay based on Due Dates or Invoice Dates.
- Don’t process Auto-Pay on Accounts with Open Credits and Payments: Determines whether or not to process Auto-Pay for Customers with Open Credits and Open Payments.
- Failed Payment Notification Recipients: Allows you to choose an internal user who will be notified when Customer Payments fail to be processed so that the Customer can be notified. Learn more about managing failed payments in Striven with the Failed Payment Queue Guide.
- During nightly automated Invoice creation process apply Open Payments to oldest Invoices: Determines if you would like open Payments to be automatically applied to the oldest Invoices during nightly background Invoice process windows.
- Finance Charges: Allows you to designate the Item associated with Finance Charges along with the Annual Rate and minimum amount to charge.
- Save: Saves your changes.
Example of Sales Settings page (continued)
-
Payment Terms
Payment Terms are time conditions on which two parties agree to fulfill a sale by a certain date or period. Payment Terms are available for both Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable Transactions and will allow your Company to track late Payments in Collections. Learn more about setting up Payment Terms in Striven by reviewing the Payment Terms section in our Accounting Setup Guide.
You can add new Payment Terms from the Payment Terms List. To view Payment Terms use one of the following steps below:
Company → Settings → Accounting → Sales → Invoices → Payment Terms
Company → Settings → Accounting → Sales → Sales Orders → Payment Terms
Company → Settings → Accounting → Purchasing → Bills → Payment Terms
Company → Settings → Accounting → Purchasing → POs → Payment Terms
Example of the Payment Terms List
-
Printable Formats
Customers can view Sales Orders and transactions in many ways from the Customer Portal, Email, or Mail. However, to provide a visual outside of the Portal, it’s recommended you create Printable Formats. Using the Printable Formats will allow a PDF printable version to be shared with the Customer. If they’re using the Portal, they will be able to view and print out the transaction so they have a hard copy for their records. There are default Printable Formats in Striven for your use, but you can also create your own. These are available with all Sales Orders and transactions including Invoices, Credit Memos, Payments, and Sales Receipts. Below is an image of the Invoice Formats List from which you can edit or add Printable Formats.
To view Invoice Printable Formats, use the following steps below:
Company → Settings → Accounting → Sales → Invoices → Invoice Formats
- Note: You can access other Printable Formats from the Settings, such as Credit Memos, Payments, and Sales Receipts.
Example of Configured Invoice Formats
When creating a new Printable Format, there are three main sections available for you to configure to suit your Company’s needs including Content, Items, and Totals. Let’s discuss each section one by one and explore what each section can help you accomplish with Printable Formats.
- Note: You can access other Printable Formats from the Settings, such as Credit Memos, Payments, and Sales Receipts.
-
Content
This section will allow you to utilize a text editor to add merge fields. Using merge-fields is very important when setting up Invoice Formats. The merge fields will take information from the Sales Order or transaction and merge it into the PDF automatically. Things like the Company Logo can also be added in using merge fields. Content sections can serve as Headers, Footers, or Terms & Conditions sections. Below is a screenshot illustrating how this section appears with merge fields and formatting.
Example of Setting Up Content Printable Invoice Formats
-
Items
This section will allow you to configure how the Items appear on the Printable Format. To configure the section header, you can choose a column header background color, as well as a font size and color. Within the Items, you can also choose what to include and exclude in the section from Quantity, Name, Description, and more. The columns can also be renamed and rearranged to fit your needs. Below is a screenshot featuring how the Items section appears.
Example of Setting Up the Items Section Invoice Formats
-
Totals
The Total section will add everything up and total Line Items on the Invoice. This section also allows you to hide information deemed less vital to your Company using a series of toggles. By using the Hide toggle, this notes that the section will be hidden on the format. Override the text for each piece of information by updating the Display As field. For example, rather than having Shipping & Handling shown on the Printable Format, this can instead be relabeled as S&H or Freight Charges. Below is an image displaying how this appears and what can be configured there:
Example of Totals Section of Printable Formats
- Note: For information regarding Printable Formats for Line Item Grouping, visit the Sales Order Setup section of our Sales Orders Guide.
-
Page Numbers in Printable Formats
Striven’s Printable Formats have the option to include page numbering on transactions. To turn on page numbering for your transaction formats, you will need to find the page number checkbox on the Format Settings page, above your format sections.
When the box is checked, further options appear for you to select the page number font color, type, and size.
Example of Page Number Settings for an Invoice Printable Format
These page numbers will display in a “Page __/__” format on the bottom of your transaction pages, but only when printing a particular transaction. Printing in batches from the Invoice Print Queue, for example, will not display the page numbers.
Example of Page Number Displaying on an Invoice
-
Currency Settings on Printable Formats
Currency display settings can be determined for transaction Printable Formats. These settings options are located on the Content, Items, and Totals sections of your formats. Striven provides the ability to select whether currency shows with currency symbols or currency codes.
The default setting for all Printable Formats will be to show the Currency Symbols (i.e. $, ￡, €, etc.), but you will also have the option to show the Currency Codes (i.e. USD, EUR, AUD, CAD, etc.) in addition to, or instead of the symbols.
Example of Default Currency Settings for Items Section of an Invoice Printable Format
If you wish to remove a currency setting from displaying, simply uncheck the box next to the display option you do not want to be displayed.
Example of Invoice Printable Format Displaying Currency Symbols & Currency Codes
-
Recap
With this guide, we’ve discovered different settings and options available in Striven for managing Accounts Receivables. We’ve explored the process of creating and managing Payment Terms. We’ve also discovered how to create Printable Formats for A/R type Transactions in Striven.
FAQs
-
Now that I’ve created Payment Terms for my Customers, how can I ensure they receive a Discount if they pay on time based on the Payment Term?
Discounts and Convenience Fees in Striven are a great feature in Striven that can help facilitate this process. Review our Discounts & Convenience Fees Guide to learn more.