Microsoft Dynamic GP 2010 : Receivables Management (part 2) - Receivables Setup Options, Sales Territories, Salespeople

2. Receivables Setup Options

The Receivables Setup Options window (Microsoft Dynamics GP | Tools | Setup | Sales | Receivables | Options) allows you to:

• Set up descriptions and codes for each receivables transaction type

• Set up the numbering scheme and the next number for each receivables transaction type

• View the dates when sales routines, such as aging, were last run

• Set the default tax schedules for receivables transactions

• Change labels for the customer user-defined fields

• Choose what amount types are included in sales history kept for receivables transactions

It is recommended to leave the Descriptions and Codes for receivables transactions with the default values, to facilitate support and training. The default Next Number values for all the transactions are quite long, many companies choose to take out a few zeros to make these numbers easier to work with. Keep in mind that these numbers will not auto-increment the number of digits they use, so after reaching SALES9999, the system will not be able to go to SALES10000 automatically and will instead go to SALES0000. Consider the expected volume of each type of transaction before deciding how many digits to leave.

The Date of Last section is strictly informational, no changes to the system will occur if these dates are changed. These dates are updated when processes such as aging customer accounts and accessing finance charges are performed in Dynamics GP. To ensure accurate information is available, it is recommended not to change these dates manually.

The Default Tax Schedule IDs set on this window will default on all receivables transactions. Even though taxes can be changed as needed on every individual transaction, if you plan on using the Receivables module to routinely enter customer transactions that require tax calculations, filling out this section can save some time and effort during transaction entry. Other modules, such as Sales Order Processing, will have separate tax setup options.

One way of making tax calculations easier is to create two catchall tax schedules—one containing all sales tax details and another containing sales tax details for all jurisdictions that tax freight. To decide what tax details to use on a transaction, Dynamics GP first looks at the shipping method type to determine whether to use the customer Tax Schedule ID or the company Tax Schedule ID. It then uses the tax details that are in both the tax schedule set up for the transaction and the customer/company tax schedule. As an example, suppose you have the following tax schedules in Dynamics GP:

The following table shows how taxes will be calculated using different setup options when the shipping method is Delivery (meaning the customer's tax schedule is used):

Miscellaneous charge taxes are separated out to allow the Miscellaneous field to be used on transactions for non-taxable items if sales are taxed. This option is rarely used, but is there if needed.

In the User-Defined 1 and User-Defined 2 fields, you can enter labels that will change what these fields are called on customer setup and inquiry windows, as well as reports. The user-defined fields are used to store additional information about a customer. User-Defined 1 can also be used as a filter for Receivables Trial Balance reports, whereas User-Defined 2 cannot.

The Sales History Includes section allows you to choose what types of amounts become part of the sales total that gets stored as part of the sales summary for each customer. The sales summary for customers can be seen on various windows, such as the Customer Yearly Summary Inquiry (Inquiry | Sales | Yearly Summary). As an example, consider the following selections on the Sales History Includes section:

A transaction with a Sales amount of $95, Discount of $5, Freight of $10, and Tax of $7 will add $90 (Sales less Discount) to the customer's sales total. The default setting on this window has only Sales selected, but many companies like to include either all or at least the Discount and Miscellaneous amounts as well.

The following screenshot is an example of a typical Receivables Setup Options window:

3. Sales Territories

Sales Territories in Dynamics GP are used for the grouping and reporting of sales transactions. They are not required, but can add another level of available reporting filters and summaries if used. If you are not going to be using sales territories, you will need to set up one default territory to be used on various Dynamics GP setup and transaction windows.

To set up a sales territory, navigate to Cards | Sales | Sales Territories. On the Sales Territory Maintenance window, the only required field is the Territory ID, the rest are informational only. The Territory ID can be up to 15 characters and it is recommended to keep these alphanumeric like other IDs. All the Maintain History checkboxes are marked by default when a new territory is created; it is best to leave these marked in case this history is ever needed.

4. Salespeople

Similar to sales territories, salespeople in Dynamics GP are used for the reporting and grouping of sales. When using the Receivables module to enter sales transactions, only one salesperson can be assigned per transaction. In the Sales Order Processing module, each line item on transaction can have a different salesperson. Even if the commissions functionality is not being used in Dynamics GP, it may be helpful to set up all the salespeople in the company so that they can be assigned to transactions for reporting purposes.

To set up salespeople, navigate to Cards | Sales | Salesperson. On the Salesperson Maintenance window, the only required fields are Salesperson ID and Territory ID—this is the reason why you will need at least one sales territory, even if they are not used. If the salesperson is also a vendor or an employee set up in Dynamics GP, you can link the Salesperson ID to the Vendor ID and/or Employee ID. Currently there is no functionality in Dynamics GP that will use these links for any transactions, it is simply for information and reporting. Similarly, there is a Commission ID field that is grayed out and the documentation states that it is for functionality not yet available.

The Percent field will determine whether Dynamics GP calculates commissions on sales transactions that are assigned to the Salesperson ID. If a value is entered for Percent, General Ledger distributions will be created for Commissions Expense and Commissions Payable accounts on every sales transaction for the salesperson. The Applied To setting determines whether the commissions amount is calculated on the Sales amount (subtotal, not including any trade discounts, miscellaneous charges, freight, or tax) or the Total Invoice amount.

When you create a new salesperson, the Maintain History checkboxes will be marked and it is recommended to leave these in case history is needed. The following is an example of a typical Salesperson Maintenance window: