Re: [SL] AR balance sheet vs trial balance vs outstanding

[David J <ja...@in...>]

And what would really improve this Cash v. Accrual matter
would be to have the ability to setup the default
[cash|accrual] in the company settings.
eg System, Defaults.  So that [cash|accrual] doesn't need to
be reselected each and every time a report is requested.  Or
worse, forgotten.
And while we're discussing company-wide options, the
"company name" should prolly go there too.  Why does the
name need to be re-entered for each and every new user ? 
Seems unusual.
- David J


> Cash vs Accrual can certainly cause some problems,
> especially if   you're cash based, because everything
> defaults to Accrual.
>     That said, one does have the option to choose which
> way to run a   report in virtually every case so unless
> you make a mistake and   choose the wrong one the reports
> should(!) be correct either way.    This may be the heart
> of the problem though, there may be some   reports which
> simply don't pay attention to the setting.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Michael
> 
> 
> On Apr 18, 2007, at 5:45 AM, ma...@hu...
> wrote:
> 
> >> Chris Johnson wrote:
> >>> Mark, your clue re receipt and invoice happening in
> different years >>> definitely seemed promising.
> >
> >> To me it seems you use a mixture of cash based
> accounting and accrual >> based accounting?
> >> AR for accruals, cash customers for cash based?
> >
> > This, I believe is the crux of the matter.
> >
> > If you are doing cash-basis accounting, I think you
> > technically   should not
> > be using invoices--you should enter cash receipts when
> > the money   comes in.
> >
> > However, DS has given users like me enough rope, which I
> > have used liberally.  (A situation I prefer.)
> >
> > That being said, I think technically it is possible to
> > create cash-  basis
> > reports that ignore invoices (and their dates) and just
> > use the cash receipt date.
> >
> > But it can convoluted--what cash-basis date would you
> > use for an   invoice
> > line item that is associated with an expense account? 
> > For example,   say
> > you want to book advance payment discounts to a
> > marketing expense   and you
> > put that discount as a seperate line item on an invoice
> > using a   special
> > part number.  You can't use the invoice date, in case
> > the invoice   is never
> > paid.
> >
> > I guess you would book this as cash when the invoice is
> > fully paid.  A partial cash payment would not trigger
> > it.  There are probably other complicating wrinkles I am
> > not considering, like returns, credit   memos,
> > etc, etc.
> >
> > I'm not an accountant, but I've thought about this one a
> > lot.    Improved
> > cash-basis reports was the first item on my wish list. 
> :) >
> > m
> >