5.2 Overview of System Features and Capabilities

Generally, companies have somewhat similar bills to pay for their facilities, business services, and suppliers. However, their accounts receivable transactions can be very different, depending on the industry. We’ll explore an array of software features across QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, and SAP to preview various transaction types.

QuickBooks Online

Accounts Receivable invoicing is a tool that companies of all sizes and sectors will need. QuickBooks Online provides small businesses with user-friendly invoicing capabilities to suit any industry type. Let’s spend some time navigating the ins and outs of basic customer invoice generation and processing.

The Invoices tab under the Sales section displays overdue and deposited invoices, as well as navigation to the Create Invoice function.

Figure 5.1: Invoices tab showing snapshots of paid and unpaid dollar amounts, as well as a filterable list of invoices.

Here is a view of the Create Invoice screen, which is suitable for both goods and services.

Figure 5.2: Example screen showing the ability to invoice for both goods and billable service hours.

Let’s go back to the main Invoices tab. Selecting the Action drop-down menu will display additional actions, such as duplicate, send, send reminder, share invoice link, print, and void actions.

Figure 5.3: Main Invoices tab under Sales. Locate the Action drop-down menu in the upper-right corner next to a gear.

Clicking on Receive Payment from the Actions menu will pull up the Receive Payment screen, which allows users to enter in payment details with notes and attachments for added documentation.

Figure 5.4: Receive Payment screen displays the invoice received, along with the invoice details. Add a memo or attachments for added documentation.

Businesses can use the Payment Links tab to create and share unique payment links with customers and track their payment status. Users can create single-use payment links and add to invoices, estimates, or receipts for efficient payments. Multi-use links can also be created for companies who have a product they can sell to many customers, which can be posted on social media, sent via text message, or included on a website. Additionally, the payment links feature can generate for customers to scan for in-person payment transactions. You can see how it works in this video from QuickBooksHelp: “How to Use Payment Links in QuickBooks Online.”

Figure 5.5: Payment Links tab has a quick and easy setup for businesses.

Navigating to the Customers tab displays a dashboard summary of estimates, unbilled income, overdue invoices, open invoices and credits, as well as payments.

Figure 5.6: Customers tab provides an easy snapshot of monetary interactions with customers.

Under the Customers view, payment receiving, transactions, statements, customer details, and late fees can be accessed from the same screen.

Figure 5.7: Users can search for customers by either name or details. Clicking on a customer pulls up all the details of the customer and the business’s transactions with them.

Scrolling down in the same window view, you can see different example memos, statuses, and actions for one customer.

Figure 5.8: Customers window view helps keep track of actionable items.

The New Transaction drop-down menu navigates to invoice, payment, estimate, payment link, sales receipt, credit memo, delayed charge, time activity, and statement functions.

Figure 5.9: Find the New Transaction drop-down menu next to the Edit options.

Here is an example of a created Sales Receipt.

Figure 5.10: Sales receipts show the dollar amount with the product or service, description, quantity, and date. There’s also an option to include tax.

Creating statements is equally straightforward in QuickBooks Online.

Figure 5.11: Create Statements page allows users to pull different statement types, set the statement date, and alter the start and end dates, all while providing a total balance for the customers on the statement.

AR Reports

Like invoices, receipts, and statements, every business will need some version of Accounts Receivable reports as well. Reports can be accessed from the main menu located on the left-hand side of the home screen.

Figure 5.12: Reports screen allows users to pull from a standard set of reports, set custom reports, and review management reports.

Selecting the Accounts Receivable Aging Summary (as selected in the previous image) will take you to an A/R Aging Summary Report like the example shown here.

Figure 5.13: Example A/R Aging Summary report for Craig’s Design and Landscaping Services.

The summary report can be customized by report period, number formats, and other filters.

Figure 5.14: Use the Customize Report option to provide filters.

Here is an example of an A/R Aging Detail report.

Figure 5.15: Example A/R Aging Detail for Craig’s Design and Landscaping Services.

Transaction Tools for Retailers

While QuickBooks Online’s generic invoice and reporting features can work for both goods and services, integrations are also available for businesses that use multiple sales transaction channels. Retailers are different from other industries and can vary within the category due to contrasts between brick-and-mortar and e-commerce platforms, or perhaps even hybrid models. Smaller retail companies often sell on multiple channels, such as Amazon, Square, and Shopify.

QuickBooks Online Advanced offers free apps to connect with Amazon, eBay, Shopify, and Square platforms.

Figure 5.16: App Transactions section of Transactions allows users to skip manual entry of transaction data from their various sales channels.

The standard QuickBooks Online offers free apps to connect with Amazon, eBay, and Shopify sales channels.

Figure 5.17: Connect Sales Channel option is great for businesses if they don’t need to integrate customer, product, or inventory data.

Keep in mind, QuickBooks Online can sync with other e-commerce store platforms and other transaction apps through a number of integration tools. However, these apps may require additional steps and costs for connection. More and more integration tools are being added as more selling platforms are developed or upgraded.

Sage Intacct

Theoretically, using accounts receivable software can help companies get paid faster through more efficient invoicing, payment, and collections processes. In the case of QuickBooks, it is often just a few people who are running the entire business, along with completing all the accounting tasks. Time is money. Larger operations, with more employees, need more payment processing power and system integration than what QuickBooks Online can offer.

Let’s take a look at two Sage Intacct software systems that use automation to facilitate billing and payment transactions. These Accounts Receivable software are designed to speed up payment processing, offer more payment options, and seamlessly integrate with other systems like CRM and sales tax software to reduce administrative tasks.1

The Invoice screen offers a standard header format with custom field options.

Figure 5.18: Invoice screen provides many options to include on the invoice.

Recurring invoices can be set up and automatically generated to reduce manual “copy and paste” processes for each invoice period. This feature also enables reporting to forecast recurring payment revenue.

Figure 5.19: Recurring Invoice screen is similar to the standard Invoice screen, with options for data to include on the invoice, payment options, and scheduling options.

From the Print/Email Invoices screen, multiple customer invoices can be emailed with a few clicks.

Figure 5.20: Print and email multiple invoices to multiple customers, all in one screen.

Receiving payment in Sage Intacct includes options for electronic payments for faster processing.

Figure 5.21: Select Invoices for Payment screen allows for multiple payment methods.

The Accounts Receivable dashboard can be customized to display key metrics according to user preference and role.

Figure 5.22: Customizable Accounts Receivable dashboard.

Sage Intacct also offers customizable reports to consolidate accounts payable information into one screen. This example Customer Aging Report shows invoice status and amounts by customer.

Figure 5.23: Example Customer Aging Report shows payment totals across days.

This example AR Aging Report summarizes outstanding customer invoices in an alternate format with additional fields.

Figure 5.24: Similar to the example Customer Aging Report, this example AR Aging Report shows outstanding invoice totals across days.

Sage Intacct Collections Software provides automated tools to organize customer communications under a centralized system. Features include management tools to assign owners to collection cases, as well as payment reminder scheduling and sending.

Figure 5.25: Example Dunning Notices screen documents and tracks the progression of collections notices.

SAP S/4HANA Finance Accounts Receivable Launchpad

Moving from midsize firms to Fortune 500 corporations, managing and analyzing a high volume of financial data requires larger teams. Investment in ERP systems enhances connectivity through user-based tools and integrations with outside systems. As we move through the key areas of accounting systems, keep the user experience in mind. When employees spend hours cross-referencing multiple systems to manage customer invoices, statements, and payments, companies look to ERP finance and accounting systems to improve efficiency and reporting.

Here is an example of an Accounts Receivable menu, which can display customer balances, receivables to be processed, incoming payments, total receivables, and future receivables. The menu is highly customizable to suit enterprise client requirements.

Figure 5.26: Similar to previous SAP menus we’ve looked at, this example Accounts Receivable menu is fully customizable.

SAP Fiori offers extensive Smart Business apps to support the Accounts Receivable user role. Let’s take a look at a few reporting apps that can be used to analyze large volumes of customer invoice data.

SAP Fiori Smart Business Apps—Analytical Overview App

This analytical overview app displays accounts receivable KPIs and navigation to other accounts receivable apps.2

This example overview features AR Aging Analysis, AR Breakdown, Days Sales Outstanding, Cash Collection Tracker, and Top 10 Debtors.

Figure 5.27: Accounts Receivable overview provides colorful and clear snapshots.

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

This app analyzes doubtful accounts, displaying overdue receivables and their associated allowances. Users can also drill down for individual customer account details.3

Figure 5.28: Users can review the summaries of Allowance for Doubtful Accounts or click on customer names to see specific details.

Cash Collection Tracker

This analytical app tracks collection progress against due receivables for a selected period.4

Figure 5.29: Cash Collection Tracker shows collection versus receivables for the fiscal period.

Days Sales Outstanding

This analytical app displays Days Sales Outstanding (DSO). DSO figures can be viewed in chart or table format by account group, accounting clerk, calendar month, calendar year, company code, country key, customer, customer classification, display currency, exchange rate type, G/L account, reconciliation account, region, or special G/L.5

Figure 5.30: Day Sales Outstanding overview for the last 12 months.

Days Sales Outstanding—Detailed Analysis

This app conducts a detailed DSO analysis that can be filtered by company code, due period, and country of customer.6

Figure 5.31: Screen for Days Sales Outstanding—Detailed Analysis.

Supervise Collections Worklist

This overview app displays all open receivables for collection to supervise collection specialist activities.7

Figure 5.32: Supervise Collections Worklist screen provides an actionable worklist for open receivables.

Since SAP Fiori was created as a user experience interface, its Smart Business apps are designed with specific user roles in mind.

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