This article applies to Aiwyn Practice. The Accounts Receivable transactions ledger is available only to firms on Aiwyn Practice.
This article answers why Aiwyn keeps every accounts receivable transaction after you save it, and how each kind of correction changes the ledger without erasing anything.
Nothing you save in Accounts Receivable is erased
Once you save a payment, write-off, credit adjustment or debit memo, it stays in the ledger. No action permanently deletes a transaction.
When you correct a mistake, you do one of two things. You add a new entry that offsets the original, or you change the original's status so it no longer counts toward the client's balance. Either way, the original record stays. A disabled transaction keeps a Disabled status, and a reversed transaction keeps its Reversed badge.
A complete ledger is what makes a balance traceable
Every invoice, payment, credit and fee is an entry in one accounts receivable ledger. A client's balance is the total of the entries that increase what they owe, minus the entries that reduce it. Allocations link each payment or credit to the invoices it pays.
If an entry could vanish, the balance would change with nothing left to show why. Because entries stay, you can always see what was recorded, what was corrected and how the balance reached its current figure. Aiwyn also keeps a history of payment events, such as a bank payment settling or failing, so you can trace what happened to a payment. In Payment History, payments made through Aiwyn show as Completed, Failed or Refunded.
Invoices follow the same principle. When you reverse an invoice, the reason you give is logged with your name and the date.
The right correction depends on what went wrong and how the money arrived
| What went wrong | How you correct it | What stays in the ledger |
|---|---|---|
| A payment is applied to the wrong invoice | Open the payment and change its allocation. See Record and allocate payments. | The payment, with its new allocation |
| A manually recorded payment shouldn't exist, such as a duplicate or a payment recorded for the wrong client | Unallocate the payment. Then create a debit memo and apply it to the unattributed payment. Payments can't be disabled. | The original payment and the debit memo that offsets it |
| A credit adjustment or debit memo shouldn't exist | Disable the transaction with Disable transaction. | The original credit or debit memo, with a Disabled status |
| A check or other manually recorded payment bounced | Record the failed payment as non-sufficient funds. In Payment History, it shows as Failed. After the payment is pulled back, the matching Transactions record shows as Reversed and the invoices it paid reopen. | The payment, with its failure in Payment History and its Reversed record in Transactions |
| Money from a payment the client made online needs to go back to them | Issue a refund from the Payment History tab. You can't start a refund from the Transactions tab. Refunds return the full payment amount. [SME to confirm: partial refunds are still unavailable.] See Payment history and payment plans reference. | The payment, plus the refund as its own entry |
| An invoice was posted in error, has no payments applied and is outside a closed period | Reverse the invoice with Reverse Invoice. See How to change a sent invoice. | The invoice, marked Reversed. Its WIP returns to unbilled, and a draft invoice is restored. |
| A client's balance needs to go up or down by an amount, such as a billing error | Record a credit adjustment or debit memo, and give the reason in Note. See Record adjustments, memos and write-offs. | The original transaction and the adjustment |
Payments that clients make online through the payment portal can't be disabled or reallocated. Refund them instead. Payments you record manually, such as checks, can't be refunded through Aiwyn.
Invoices can't be disabled. Reverse them instead, provided they have no payments applied and are outside a closed period.
Disabling removes a credit or debit memo's effect, not its record
Disabling is the closest thing to a delete in Accounts Receivable, but it doesn't apply to payments. You can disable a credit adjustment or debit memo that shouldn't exist.
- The record stays in the ledger with a Disabled status.
- No money moves. Disabling doesn't cancel or refund a payment.
- The client isn't emailed.
- You can't undo it. If you need the transaction again, record it again.
To correct a manually recorded payment, unallocate it, create a debit memo and apply the debit memo to the unattributed payment. Payments clients make online can't be disabled or reallocated; refund them instead.
Disabled, non-sufficient funds, refunded and reversed record different events
These corrections sound alike, but each one tells a different story about the money.
- Disabled means someone at your firm removed a manually recorded transaction's effect. No money moved.
- Non-sufficient funds means a manually recorded payment failed outside Aiwyn after you recorded it, such as a bounced check. In Payment History, the payment shows as Failed.
- Refunded means your firm sent money from an online payment back to the client through the payment processor. The invoices it paid reopen, and both your firm and the client get a confirmation.
- Reversed means a transaction was undone after it was processed. Reversed invoices show this status. After a failed payment is pulled back, its matching record in Transactions also shows as Reversed, and the invoices it paid reopen.
- A reversing entry is none of these. It's a new credit adjustment or debit memo that you record to offset an earlier transaction. The earlier transaction keeps its own status.
Keeping every record makes the list longer and your notes more important
- Corrected transactions stay visible. A disabled or reversed transaction still appears in the Transactions list, and you can't filter disabled or reversed transactions out.
- The Transactions list is the activity log. It doesn't show who disabled a transaction or why. When you record an adjustment, use Note to say what it corrects, so anyone reading the ledger later can connect the two entries.
- A disabled transaction can't be restored, and a payment can be refunded only once. Check which correction fits before you act.
Related
- Record and allocate payments
- Record adjustments, memos and write-offs
- How write-offs differ from credit adjustments
- How to change a sent invoice
- Transactions list reference
- Work with the transactions list
- Payment history and payment plans reference
- How allocation determines a client's true outstanding balance
- Why an invoice still shows a balance after a payment