Accounts

Sales linked accounts

Here's a list of the linked accounts that are used for sales transactions, along with information about how each linked account is used:

Asset Account for Tracking Receivables

This is also known as your linked receivables account. Summarizes all the money your customers owe you; it appears on your balance sheet and other financial reports. The amounts your customers owe your business for purchases they've made on account are considered assets. This account is debited (increased) whenever you enter sales on account using the Sales window. This account is credited (decreased) whenever you enter payments from customers using the Receive Payments window.

Note that you can use the Company Data Auditor to compare the total of your customer invoices with the linked receivables account balance.

Bank Account for Customer Receipts

Used to track the amounts paid to you by your customers. Depending on your choices in the Preferences window, this account may appear as a default entry for the transactions you enter in the Receive Payments window. If you like, you can choose another bank account, or you can indicate that the funds aren't ready to be deposited. When you enter a payment from a customer, this account (or the bank account you select instead of it) is debited (increased) by the amount of the transaction, and your linked Asset Account for Tracking Receivables is credited (decreased).

The account you select here must be a bank or credit card account type.

Income Account for Freight

Used to track the freight amounts you enter for the sales you make using the Sales window. This account enables you to see how much of your gross sales amount is actually goods or services, and how much is payment for shipping. This account appears on the Trial Balance, the Profit and Loss Statement and other reports.

This account is used only if you marked "I collect freight on sales" in the Easy Setup Assistant or the Sales Linked Accounts window. If you don't ship goods to your customers, you don't need this account.

Liability Account for Customer Deposits

Used to track the amounts customers pay in advance for orders entered in the Sales window. The amount is considered a liability for your company until the sale actually is made, because all or a portion of the deposit will have to be repaid to the customer if the sales isn't made. This account appears on the Trial Balance, the Profit and Loss Statement and other reports.

This account is used only if you marked "I track deposits collected from customers" in the Easy Setup Assistant or the Sales Linked Accounts window. If you don't take deposits from your customers, you can skip this account.

Expense or Cost of Sales Account for Discounts

Used to track the discounts taken by customers for early payment, based on the credit terms you've assigned to them. When you enter payments using the Receive Payments window, the discount amount the customer is eligible for appears as a default entry, but you can enter a larger or smaller amount, if necessary. The actual discount amount you enter is tracked using the Expense or Cost of Sales Account for Discounts.

This account is used only if you marked "I give discounts for early payments" in the Easy Setup Assistant or the Sales Linked Accounts window. If you don't offer early-payment discounts to your customers, you can skip this account.

Income Account for Late Charges

Used to track the fees you collect when a customer's payment is past due, or if you offer revolving credit and charge a finance fee on unpaid balances. This account is updated when you enter an amount in the Finance Charge field in the Receive Payments window.

This account is used only if you marked "I assess charges for late payment" in the Easy Setup Assistant or the Sales Linked Accounts window. If you don't collect late fees or finance charges from your customers, you can skip this account.

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