Tracking and depositing funds

Keeping track of your inventory is critical for completing jobs efficiently. The main goal is to finish the job and get paid, which is why you're in business. It would be unfortunate if you managed every other part of your business well but didn't closely monitor your income.

Many small businesses lose much money without realizing it due to employee theft or simply misplacing funds. It's important to have a way to record and track every payment, whether by check, credit card, or cash. This ensures the money ends up in your bank account or is spent intentionally.

You can track your income using the Funds Control and Management form (accessed by pressing Ctrl-F9). It shows the FundsJournal, a file that records every check, bank card draft, or cash payment your business receives. There must be a way to collect these entries to make this work.

ServiceDesk identifies two main scenarios for a service company to collect payments.

• The first scenario is when payments are collected either before or at the same time as the job completion. This is common with Cash on Delivery (COD) jobs and sometimes with billed jobs (like when collecting deductibles on a home warranty job). In this case, the technician usually collects and brings the payment to the office. To record these payments, the PostVisitReporting process is used. This process asks if any funds were collected, what type, how much, etc. Based on your answers, ServiceDesk will record the details of the payment. This method is convenient as it's usually done during the technician's visit and provides a complete record of the job's history.

• The second scenario is when the job is completed, but the payment is still due. The job is billed, and the payment is received later. These payments usually come by mail and are received directly by the office. Since the job record will already be closed out, a different method is needed to record these payments. To do this, use the Funds form feature (press Ctrl-F9 to access the form, then select its 'receive Payment on formerly billed job(s)' option).

The system will guide you through a process to collect information about the payment and ask which invoice the payment applies to. Based on your answers, it makes entries in several files. First, it records the payment in the FundsJournal. Second, it records the payment in the ApplicationsJournal (press Alt-F9 to access it). This is where ServiceDesk records how you applied for each payment. Third, it updates every relevant AccountsReceivable record. Finally, if the payment covers the total due, it records a PayCode 3 entry to your SalesJournal, documenting the final and complete payment.

In summary, there are two ways to record each payment received. For payments received for jobs not yet recorded in the SalesJournal, use the PostVisitReporting process. For payments received after a job has been recorded to the SalesJournal, use the Funds Control and Management form function. Both methods provide a detailed record of each transaction.

ServiceDesk collects data about every money transaction, helping to ensure that no funds are lost or misplaced and preventing false claims of received funds or paid sales.

Jobs in ServiceDesk have records that stay in the JobsCurrent file until they're recorded to the SalesJournal. So, if a job gets lost, it remains in the JobsCurrent file, attracting attention as it ages.

ServiceDesk ensures no sale is recorded as paid unless it has been paid. It does this by checking the FundsJournal for receipts that match the invoice number and sale amount. If the amounts don't match, the entry is not allowed. If more money is found, a notice is provided for corrections.

ServiceDesk automatically creates an Accounts Receivable record for each billed job. This record can't be credited with payments unless done through ServiceDesk's specific process. This process results in matching entries being made in the FundsJournal. A billed item can't be finally recorded to the SalesJournal as paid without the same process.

Partial payments are common for billed jobs. ServiceDesk checks the FundsJournal and doesn't allow the operator to claim more than what's reflected there.

ServiceDesk ensures every job reaches a final and proper recording via the SalesEnter system and has corresponding entries in the FundsJournal. It creates a specific Accounts Receivable record for billed jobs for each, which can't show payment without adequate receipts in the FundsJournal. Before any record is credited with subsequent payments and closed, the FundsJournal must show adequate receipts.

The FundsJournal is where we record and verify the collection of funds for every sale. Whether you actually have the funds or not involves another verification step.

The final verification step is depositing the funds. ServiceDesk has a process for preparing bank deposits. If any receipts are missing during the deposit process, it's immediately apparent. Any item not deposited will remain in the FundsJournal as 'undeposited' until it's actually deposited.

ServiceDesk makes a 'deposit' entry in the FundsJournal when the deposit-preparing process is completed. This entry has to be checked off using the owner/manager password. If a deposit isn't received by the bank, it won't be checked off and will attract attention as it ages.

The owner should confirm deposit/item reports monthly, during bank statement reconciliation. If a deposit doesn't reach its destination, it won't be checked off and will be noticed during this process.

Thus, ServiceDesk provides complete security, ensuring actual funds for collections, proper deposits, and adequate entries for each sale. It's difficult for an unscrupulous employee to bypass these measures; even carelessness won't go unnoticed. This level of security is uncommon in small businesses unless an owner carefully handles every money transaction.

This is a brief guide to managing your finances. There are some unusual situations you might need to handle:

• Clients might pay different amounts than billed. For instance, they might pay more or less than the invoice. In such cases, you can keep track of the overall balance and use the 'Errors and Discrepancies' account in ServiceDesk.

• Some clients might pay quickly in exchange for a discount. When reporting these payments, add a '+' after the amount to indicate it's discounted. ServiceDesk will then ask for the discount rate and record the transaction accordingly.

• You might receive a single check for multiple invoices. In this case, ServiceDesk createstwo entries in the FundsJournal: 'MoveAppFrom' and 'MoveAppTo' to distribute the funds correctly.

• If you need to make refunds, there's an option for this in the Funds form.

• If you can't collect a payment (e.g., a denied charge, bounced check, or lost cash), you can write it off as 'Uncollectible' or 'Missing.' This will be recorded in your SalesJournal as a PayCode 6 entry.

• Lastly, if you need to enter a fund receipt manually (e.g., a replaced bad check), use the 'Add items' button in the Funds form. If you're replacing an old entry, remember to delete it.

Keeping your FundsJournal clean is mostly just a matter of regularly using the above operations. But remember, it's a continuous task that needs your attention.

Sometimes, you may notice duplicate entries in your FundsJournal. This usually happens when someone makes a report on a fund received, makes a mistake, and reports again. As a result, you'll see two entries for the same fund receipt, one correct and one duplicate. When preparing a deposit, you'll find a fund item matching one entry but not the other. It'll be clear that one entry is a duplicate, and it won't be included in the deposit. You can add a note to the duplicate entry by clicking on it to edit it. Since it's not included in the deposit, it won't be checked off and will stay on the list, appearing as if it needs to be deposited.

As the password-holder, make sure to check your FundsJournal for any duplicate entries and remove them.

These duplicates will have moved up as older items get deposited. Hopefully, the person preparing the deposit will have marked it as a possible duplicate or error.

Before deleting any entry, make sure it's actually a mistake. Check other entries linked to the same job by noting the invoice number and searching for it. For instance, you might see two $40 entries. If you search for this InvoiceNumber in your SalesJournal using SHIFT-F3, you might find that the total sale was only $40. This indicates that the second entry is a mistake. Go back to the listing, right-click on it, and delete it.

Sometimes, you might notice older items in the list that should have been deposited but haven't. This needs a quick chat with your deposit preparer. You'll want to know why those items remain without a deposit. The ideal situation is if you knew about any legitimate items that weren't deposited. This could be because of a missing check or a bank card number that didn't clear. Your deposit preparer would have told you about these, so there are no surprises. However, you must check this list from time to time.

Many ServiceDesk systems remind you to stay on top of tasks. The Funds form and its FundsControl system do this, too, but it's just a side effect of how they're set up. Like many systems that track records over time, there's a need to separate new, active records from older, historical ones. But instead of using separate files for active and historical records, we used one file with a moveable partition. The system tries to identify the oldest unresolved item (not checked off, written off, deleted, etc.). Entries more recent than this are considered current, and older ones are considered old. This setup allows the system to perform tasks faster because it knows that current items are on one side of the dividing line.

This system helps to keep you organized. If you let old items build-up without resolving them, the system can't update the Current-Area partition as needed. When you try to load the Funds form, it will tell you the CurrentArea is too large. It will ask to update the Partition, but you can't if you've left old items unresolved. So, it will tell you again the next time you try to load the form. This can get annoying, so it's a good reminder to clear out old items. It might be unconfirmed deposits or something else, but it's easy to find out by choosing the right display.

We are very proud of our FundsControl system. It connects many elements in ServiceDesk, providing safety and ease for controlling your funds. We hope you find it helpful, too.

Sometimes, you may have entries in your FundsJournal that were recorded with errors. For example, the funds type may be entered as an EFT when the intention is to record it as a Parts Credit.

As the owner/manager, you should periodically check for such entries and correct them. Here's how:

1. Select ‘View/Edit Items’.

2. Choose ‘All’ as the Fund type.

3. Click ‘Receipts’ and ‘Undeposited/Unverified.’

4. Left-click the line item to invoke the editing boxes.

5. Correct the entry.

6. Please enter to save your edits.

Sometimes, you may find duplicate entries in your FundsJournal. This happens when an incorrect report is replaced with a correct one, resulting in two entries for one fund receipt. The accurate entry gets processed, but the incorrect one remains in the Journal.

As the owner/manager, you should periodically check for such entries and remove them. Here's how:

1. Select ‘View/Edit Items’.

2. Choose ‘All’ as the Fund type.

3. Click ‘Receipts’ and ‘Undeposited/Unverified.’

4. Check the top of the list for any undeposited items.

5. Verify the entry is the one you intend to delete.

6. Right-click on the entry to delete it.

Remember, there might be older legitimate entries that haven't been deposited yet. This should prompt a discussion with your deposit preparer.