The Vendor Master File program lets you add, change, or delete vendors in your files. It includes all the vital information concerning these creditors, and can be reviewed in screen display or report form.

The General Ledger Reference File includes the General Ledger number and the description for that number in the General Ledger. Depending upon how you set up your system, the General Ledger number can define different areas of accounting activity. The General Ledger Reference File Maintenance program allows you to add, change, or delete these references.

The Standard Entries File contains invoice information for payables that are entered on a regular basis. These payables might include goods or services that your company purchases at the same time every week, month, quarter, etc. These standard entries eliminate the need to post invoice data each time you wish to post these payables into the system.

The Accounts Payable System File Maintenance program defines your system in several ways. It indicates such things as:

The last check number used

Whether or not you are utilizing the Job Cost Distribution option

The cash, Accounts Payable, and discount account numbers in the General Ledger

The last document (invoice) processed

If you are using the expanded font option for your reports and listings

You are able to arrange these options and references to best suit your business needs. Your Taurus representative will help you design your system for optimal efficiency of operation.

In the Accounts Payable System, vendor records are entered (posted) into the system in a two-step process. First, they are entered into the New Payables Edit File. These temporary records can be altered or removed before they become part of the permanent record. All records posted to the temporary file are automatically verified for accuracy before updating the record. If any allowable discounts are entered, the program calculates and processes these upon entry.

The Update program is the second step in posting new payables into the system. Depending upon your business needs, updating can be either a daily or weekly operation. Your Taurus representative will help you decide what is best for your business requirements.

A specific invoice may fall into several descriptive categories of the General Ledger, and up to twelve distributions are allowed. Proofing calculations are automatic, and if General Ledger distributions are out of balance, the system prompts for corrective General Ledger distributions to be entered before posting.

Similarly, each New Payable record accommodates up to twenty separate Job Cost classifications for those systems equipped with the Job Cost Interface.

When all records have been posted and the files updated, a New Payables Register is printed, providing hard copy of the new transactions and assigning individual document numbers. The completed posting process transfers each new payable to the Open Invoice file, and the New Payables Edit file is cleared.

Month End Procedures include a variety of functions that provide status reports, ensure the transfer of information to other systems, and remove records from rapid-growth files to avoid filling them. Transfer programs extract relevant data from the files and record it elsewhere. These procedures ensure that information across all systems is current and that any calculations made accurately reflect the financial status of your business.

The recommended Year-End Procedure clears all year-to-date totals and resets them to reflect current totals.

The Reports and Listings feature of your Accounts Payable System provides a variety of documents that reflect the current financial status and activity of your business. In the Accounts Payable System, the Reports and Listings available fall into two primary functional categories. The documentation can be used as either finished presentation copy for distribution or as copy reference for ongoing processing needs.

The check writing capabilities of the Accounts Payable System enable you to decide what invoices will be paid and how much will be paid. Checks are also printed for distribution. Invoices can be selected or deferred for payment by individual document number, by vendor, or by invoice due date. Selection by vendor includes a cutoff date option to prevent selecting invoices that are not due for payment. Of course, payment of all open invoices is also an option. Partial payment procedures permit an even greater range of payment options.

If a manual check has paid an invoice in full, or has made a partial payment on an open invoice, the information entered will be reflected in that vendor's status report. Manual check records also affect the nature of the check run, and if an open invoice has been paid in part or in full, that invoice will be marked as partially paid or paid in full.

If an open invoice is partially paid by a handwritten check, a manual partial payment can be entered into the system and appropriately distributed throughout the range of document numbered open invoices or to only one document numbered invoice. Like other partial payment distribution procedures, the Manual Partial Payment Distribution routine automatically updates the vendor's current balance, vendor's discounts lost year-to-date, General Ledger cash, General Ledger Accounts Payable account, and the General Ledger Discount account.

The actual check run reflects all the payment decisions you have entered before the check run and updates all files. Open invoices that have been paid are flagged as waiting for reconciliation. Partially paid invoices are recreated to reflect the unpaid balance of the original invoice. These invoices - and all invoices deferred for the check run - are reset as neither selected nor deferred for payment

Each time a user begins to enter a new invoice, the system checks for duplication of a previously entered invoice. If the invoice number and date are not unique, the program shows information from the matching invoice as part of a warning message. Override is allowed when appropriate. This test may also be configured to warn of any duplicate invoice number, regardless of differences in date.

An open invoice may be located, viewed, and modified using the New Payables Posting program. Detailed information including the G/L distribution is recalled in its original input form. After changes are made, the New Payables Register and Update provides audit reporting and completes the changes, including any G/L adjustments. Open invoices can also be deleted using the same lookup method.

You can specify Net 10 End of Month instead of a specific number of Due Days in the vendor information. This method calculates a due date of the 10^th of the following month during new invoice entry. The system can be configured to extend an additional month for invoices received late in the month.

The Checkbook Register program shows a facsimile of a real checkbook, based on transaction detail in the computer. A running balance is shown beside each check, deposit, withdrawal, or bank charge. The checkbook balance includes all transactions, and a separate bank balance excludes items that have not been reconciled. Miscellaneous Deposit and Adjustment Posting creates G/L transactions while updating the checkbook information. A 40-character description may be entered to describe each transaction. If one bank account is used for both A/P and Payroll checks, the Payroll checks are transferred to the A/P system for reconciliation.

Open invoice inquiry allows lookup by invoice number, to jump directly to the invoice in question. Invoice history lookup asks for a start date to avoid wading through pages of invoices prior to the period of interest.

The Accounts Payable System eliminates multi-user conflicts by using effective routines for file access. It is possible for one user to work on check writing, while another is working on new invoice entry. The system may also be configured for Batch Processing. More than one user may input, list and update his/her own batch of invoices without affecting other batches.

For companies using more than one checking account, the Multi-Company option shares common vendor information, while tracking all invoice and check information by company or division. Operations throughout Accounts Payable have been adapted to ask for company number where appropriate. Separate vendor totals are kept for each company along with separate checkbook balances and G/L information. Combined reporting capabilities coexist with reporting by company. Several pre-existing company functions have been added to the menus.

Fuel resellers can now record gallons along with dollars when entering fuel vendor invoices. A new file defines G/L memo accounts for gallons, as cross-referenced from G/L fuel inventory or expense accounts. When entering the G/L distribution for a fuel invoice, the presence of a memo account causes the program to also ask for number of gallons. G/L gallon memo transactions are automatically created during the invoice update procedure for later transfer to the G/L system. Month and year-to-date totals are collected for reporting purposes.

All functions have been tested and adapted for year-2000 date handling.