How do I deal with delayed payments/sales?

[Wiliam Colls]

On 08/29/2012 08:46 AM, mikedefieslife wrote:
> Hi, I'm new to GNU Cash.
>
> I have some accounting knowledge (high-school and university) but as it's 10
> years old, it's probably more of a hindrance than a help.
>
> How do I deal with delayed payment when it comes to sales in GNU Cash?
>
> For example:
>
> I sell a service on 01/01/12 for £50, so I put that in my Sales account, but
> the client doesn't pay until 01/03/12 (yes they are very slow with payment).
> Now when I add the £50 sale to my sales account on 01/01/12, this will
> automatically add that balance to my Bank account too for the same date.
>
> The problem is that the client doesn't pay until 01/03/12, so in GNU Cash my
> Bank account doesn't match what's actually gong on.
>
> Do I need a suspense account? How do I work this in GNU Cash.
>
> Thanks
>
The other half of the initial sales posting goes to Accounts Receivable 
(Asset); that is Debit Accounts Receivable, Credit Income:Sales. When 
your customer pays you, the posting will be Credit Accounts Receivable, 
Debit Bank.

When you create the invoice for the customer, this should happen 
automatically. You will be asked to specify the income account, but the 
Invoice function knows to post the Debit to AR. Similarly, when the 
customer does pay you, the Process Payments function knows to post the 
money to Bank, and you tell the system to Credit AR.

HTH
>
>
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