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How did you enter the information into Excel? I don’t see the time savings. |
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First of all, if you have a payment file from a bank or from a customer you can import it into Cash Application Data Loader automatically. You do not need to key in payment details into Excel.
Secondly, this Loader automatically matches bank/customer payment details with open invoices in QAD. Matching hundreds of individual payments takes only a couple of seconds.
And third, you can mass load payment details into QAD. It takes less than a minute to load 100 payments into QAD through the Loader; compare this to manually keying in each payment through the QAD user interface.
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We only have one customer, so we will get one check with about 500 invoices to clear from that one check. Can we use this tool? |
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Yes, that’s the simplest and easiest way to utilize this tool (and process in just three mouse clicks!). First, you import the file from the customer, and you’ll have all 500 invoices in Excel almost instantly. Second, you click on the Validate button to match them with open invoices in QAD, which takes only another couple of seconds. Third, you can review the matching, click on the Process button, and have all your payments recorded in QAD.
You can compare this process with the effort needed to key in all 500 payments into QAD manually.
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We process prepayments in our A/R module. If the invoice is posted for an amount LESS than the prepayment, then I have a hanging unapplied credit. If the customer wants cash back, then I pay them through A/P. Looking for a smoother solution. |
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This question is a little out of the scope of today’s session, because it seems like there is no problem processing payments in QAD. The issue is a bit broader and involves additional processes. We can schedule a discussion with your team to learn more about your account receivables process. We definitely have tools that would allow you to improve the efficiency of AR processes in QAD, but Cash Application Data loader alone will not resolve cash backs processing issue you described.
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What if I receive payment from customers, but I don’t have their customer bill-to number. Will QAD auto populate that cell accordingly with reference to the invoice number? |
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Yes. If invoice numbers in the payment file match those in QAD you do not need bill-to address. The Loader will automatically find matching open documents without a bill-to. It will auto populate bill-to accordingly with the invoice number references. Having bill-to in the payment file will just slightly decrease matching time, in this case.
If invoice numbers in the payment file do not match those in QAD (for example, customer sends its internal invoice numbers), you will need to key in the bill-to. Cash Application Data Loader has a Lookup button that will look up the bill-to in QAD. Once you select bill-to from the drop down list, you can run Lookuo for the invoice number. The Loader will show you the list of invoices in QAD with matching amounts (or are within allowed amount range).
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We write off our variances because they are usually just pricing errors and apply them straight to sales. Is there a way write off those variances when recording payments through the Loader? |
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Yes. There is a “Close” column in the Loader for each payment line. If you record partial payment and enter “Yes” in this column, the difference between open invoice amount and paid amount (variance) will be treated as discount and applied to the default discount account.
There is some flexibility in the Loader on how variances can be processed.
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Can we just copy and paste our info into the Loader? |
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Absolutely. This Loader has full Excel functionality, so you can easily copy-paste from one file to another.
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In our case, variances go to the discount account and we change this discount account as required. Can we change this discount account when processing payments in batch through the Loader? |
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Yes. The version of Cash Application Data Loader you have seen uses a default discount account. But, we can modify it and allow you to specify or change a discount account for each processed document. It would be just an additional column in the Loader called Discount.
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What we receive from our bank is in a much more abbreviated format than what you show as the initial input. Have you been able to work with banks to get the information in a better, more importable format. |
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Yes, if a bank sends your file in a strict format, and there is a document on how this file is structured, we can import it into Excel automatically.
The Open file function is a part of Cash Application Data Loader that we usually customize for each client, since we have not had clients with identical bank files so far.
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Is there a way to demo the software to see if it works well with our process? |
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Absolutely. We offer a free 60-day trial.
The generic version of the Loader may not be a perfect fit for your particular case, but it will be a good starting point. You will be able to see whether you will get enough benefit from it and if the concept, in general, is good for you.
If you are a new client, we will need to get some information from you about QAD version, etc., as indicated on our website. Feel free to phone or email us with any questions, of course.
If you are an existing client, just let us know that you’d like a trial. We’ll then send the 60-day trial with the work instructions. You can see how the generic version works for you, and we can go from there.
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How do you take a file that has multiple domains worth of data? |
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We work with one domain at a time. If you receive a file that references invoices from multiple domains, you can still import/open the whole file in the Loader. Obviously, payments that belong to other domains than you are currently connected to will not be matched against open QAD invoices. But, you can delete those lines and process only payments for that one domain. Then you will need to switch domains (there will be a separate button in the Loader that you did not see during the demo) and repeat the process for other domains.
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How do you map EDI data to the csv file? |
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Right now we have one client who receives EDI 820 files from its main customer, but it does some internal re-formatting of this file, and we receive it in a modified format versus standard EDI. It was the client’s decision in this case because they wanted the EDI file to be readable by their finance users as well.
But, we can implement standard EDI format if we will have documentation on how that file is structured.
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Is there any way to enter details in the remarks field with this Excel macro? |
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Yes, definitely. In the generic version used in this demonstration, you did not see a Remarks field. But as we mentioned earlier for the discount account field, we can add Remarks field as well.
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How can you handle checks that are Non-AR related, that would be posted as “N” with an account number? |
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The existing version of Cash Application Data Loader does not allow you to create Non-AR references in QAD. It automatically identifies matched amounts as regular payments. Processed, non-matched amounts are treated as unapplied payments.
However, we can add a separate field where you can explicitly specify whether non-matched payment is an unapplied payment or Non-AR amount.
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Can you enter manual payments? For example, if we have a payment from the customer but no invoices in QAD to apply it? |
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Yes, you can still record payments if there is no invoice in QAD to match with them. A payment will be recorded in QAD as an unapplied payment and will be applied to the invoice later. Good examples would be pre-payments, such as when you receive a payment first and only then issue the invoice.
You can also use the Loader to record manual payments. For example, if you have check numbers and amounts but did not receive payment file from the bank. You can download all open invoices from QAD, select those that have been paid off, specify the amount, and upload the payment details into QAD.
You can also offset open AR documents against each other. For example, if you have a number of DR/CR memo and open invoices that give you zero in total. You can download them from QAD, reference to zero amount check and process.
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Can you process/validate to the invoice line level (different part number on each line)? |
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No. You can pay invoice partially, but you cannot specify to what part/item in the invoice you apply payment. This is because you cannot do this in QAD. QAD does not allow you to apply invoice payments at the item level.
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We receive payments from 4 different sources. Wire transfers, Lockbox, Desktop Deposits & PayPal. Would you recommend your product in this case? |
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Absolutely. This would definitely save you a lot of time. In this case you will need four separate open file functions—one for each document format.
We do have clients with similar situations (i.e. PayPal, a few banks, and credit cards).
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Can you go into 27.6.4 using your batch and make changes, such as non AR? |
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Yes, of course.
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Does this tool work for both QAD SE and QAD EE? |
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No. Currently, this Loader works for versions of QAD Standard Edition only.
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What if we receive short payment and we have to right off remaining balance to bank fees, freight, interchange rates, etc. Do we have to manually enter those entries or will this Excel macro suffice? |
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Similar to the question regarding discount or variance write off, this can be addressed by adding an account field. You can then specify to which account the difference between amount applied and amount open should be applied.
We will need to collect more details about the process from you to make sure we understand the requirements correctly. For example and similarly, some of our clients create DR/CR memos for bank fees, freight, exchange rates, etc., and then they apply these DR/CR memos to the open portions of the invoices. With the Loader you can easily see all the memos and open invoices you have, and process these memos versus invoices.
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Will I benefit from this tool if I don’t have lockbox file or large volume of payments? Usually I have 10 to 40 invoices paid per day. |
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Even with just 10 to 20 payments per day, we think you will benefit from having this tool. It can free-up an hour each day that can be allocated to more complex tasks than keying in payments into QAD. That savings alone would be around 260 hours a year.
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We receive payment information from the customer in Excel format. Can we copy and paste it from there into the Loader ourselves? |
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Yes, absolutely. You can copy/paste data from the Excel file you receive from the customer into the Loader.
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