Issuing an AR Refund

AR Refunds are processed using the AR Invoice Lookup program.  The AR Invoice Lookup program allows the operator to “tag” or select one or more open credit balance invoices for a single customer and issue a refund for the total of the selected invoices. 

To issue a refund, the operator selects the AR Invoice Lookup program from the menu and finds the open negative invoice balances to be refunded.  The AR Invoice Lookup program can be sorted by company and invoice number so that the operator can review and select from the open invoices and credit memos for each customer.

Once the operator finds the invoice amounts to be refunded, they can select a single record by highlighting it, or they can select multiple records by tagging them (placing a check in the tag checkbox that is displayed in the left column of the lookup).  Once the invoices to be refunded  have been tagged in the lookup, the operator can issue a refund by selecting the Issue Refund Check option from the More or the Context Menu.

Note: Each operators ability to issue a refund and to print a refund check is based on system security settings, and the AR Refund option normally defaults to disabled for all operators.   You will receive an access not allowed message if you try to use the option and have not been granted the appropriate security rights.  You should contact your system administrator for assistance if you do not have access to use the option.

Once the operator identifies the invoices to be processed and selects the Issue Refund Check option, the system verifies that.

•      The invoices to be processed are all in your house currency.  Refunds may only be processed against invoices which are in your house currency.

•      The company name on the invoices being processed is the same.  The system will allow you to issue a refund check only when all invoices are for the same company.

•      The selected invoices all have a negative balance.  The system will only allow you to issue a refund check against negative invoice balances.  You may not include open invoices with zero or positive balances.

If the selected invoices do not meet the above criteria, the system will display an error message and it will not allow you to process the refund.

Once the system has verified that the invoices selected in the AR lookup are valid, the system prompts for the Bank Account and check number to be used for the refund

•      The system displays the Account Description Lookup program.  The Account Description Lookup program lists the valid cash accounts that have been set up in your general ledger, and it allows you to select the bank account that the refund is being issued from.

•      The System prompts for the check number for the refund transaction.  The check number is required, must be numeric, and it should be unique for the bank account being used.  If you will issuing a check using a pre-printed check form, the pre-printed check number should be entered.  If you are issuing a credit card or another type of refund that does not require a check form, a unique number (like a cc transaction number) should be used. 

 Once the account and check number have been specified, the system displays a confirmation prompt indicating the amount to be refunded and the check number and bank account being used.  At this point, the operator can confirm the transaction or cancel it if necessary.  Once the operator confirms the refund information, the system

•      Closes the credit memo (negative) invoice balances that are being refunded.

•      Creates a record in the Bank file to document the refund issued to the customer.  The Bank record has a document type of R (refund) and a source of AR (accounts receivable).  The Bank record is created in the cash account selected for the refund and a unique Transaction number is assigned to the Bank record by the system.  The amount of the Bank record is the total amount refunded to the customer.  The name in the Bank record is set to the name of the company from the invoices being processed.

•      A journal entry is written to record the Bank transaction.  This journal entry has a source of AR, and it is posted to the Cash account selected for the refund, and the accounts receivable account that was used for each invoice being processed (based on the AR Autopost number stored in each invoice).

•      Optionally prompts the operator to print a refund check.  Once the refund transaction is processed, the system checks a system policy to determine if the operator should be prompted to print a check for the refund being processed.  If the policy is set to allow the user to print a check, the system will prompt the user to print it.  If the policy is not set to allow the user to print a check, the system will not prompt the user, and the check must be printed using a Bank Lookup program.

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Printing an AR Refund Check