Generating Customer Payments

The Automated Cash Application feature automatically generates customer payments in NetSuite from imported bank lines, and then applies those payments to invoices in NetSuite.

Note:

The Automated Cash Application feature enables you to generate an unapplied payment for a single customer. If you have the Consolidated Payments feature enabled, you can apply a payment to multiple customers at Customers > Accounts Receivable > Accept Customer Payments. For details on the Consolidated Payments feature, see Consolidated Payments. For information about applying payments, see Applying a Payment on the Customer Payment Page.

To do the following procedure, your role requires certain permissions. For details, see Permissions for Banking Features.

To generate customer payments:

If you have not already done so, import your bank data (see Bank Data Import).

All imported bank lines with a positive amount appear and can be processed on both the Match Bank Data and Automated Cash Application pages. However, it is best practice to first generate all customer payments, and then match the remaining imported bank lines.
To open the Automated Cash Application page, you can do one of the following:
- Go to Transactions > Bank > Automated Cash Application.
- If you are on the Match Bank Data page, click Automated Cash Application in the top-right corner.
From the Account list, select the bank or credit card account for which you want to generate customer payments.

NetSuite displays a list of imported bank lines for which NetSuite was unable to find matching payments. An imported line appears if the following criteria are met:

Important:
Not all bank lines on the Automated Cash Application page are necessarily payments.
- The bank line contains a positive amount.
- The bank line has never been matched to an existing account transaction in NetSuite, which was subsequently submitted on the Match Bank Data page. If an existing transaction was matched and submitted, NetSuite permanently removes the corresponding imported bank line from the Automated Cash Application page.
Note:
If you import bank lines that specify invoices and later change the customer ID or currency on the invoices, NetSuite cannot generate the payments.
(Optional) Filter the list of incoming bank lines. See Filtering Imported Bank Lines.
If needed, add or change a customer for an imported bank line. For details, see Adding or Changing a Customer.

To generate a payment from an imported bank line, you must select a customer. If a customer name is not selected and no customers are available from the dropdown list, see Troubleshooting Missing Records from the Customer Dropdown List.

Tip:
You can create a customer mapping rule from your customer selection that the system can remember and use for similar bank lines that get imported. See Creating Customer Mapping Rules.

The field in the Customer column for an imported bank line is populated if NetSuite achieves an exact, preferred, or partial customer match. See Customer Match Criteria.
To review the invoice (or invoices) to which a payment will be applied, click the plus icon in a row. See Reviewing Invoices for an Imported Bank Line.

Note:
If a payment from a customer has any open invoices under the customer's top-level customer or subcustomer, those invoices are not listed. To view invoices for another customer, change the customer you want to generate the payment for. See Adding or Changing a Customer. Note that you can generate a payment only for a single customer.

To generate a payment for multiple customers, go to Customers > Accounts Receivable > Accept Customer Payments. Make sure you have the Consolidated Payments feature enabled. For details, see Consolidated Payments.
(Optional) To view all open invoices for a customer, click View Invoices in the expanded details of a row.

Note:
In addition to invoices, NetSuite displays journal entries that have the same general ledger impact as the invoices.

For details, see Viewing Open Invoices for a Customer.
To include or exclude open invoices from payment application for a customer, see Including or Excluding Invoices from Payment Application.
If you want to generate a payment for a bank line, check the left box. This box is only active for a bank line if a customer is selected.
If you do not want to generate a payment for a bank line, clear the box.

Note:
You can generate customer payments that do not apply to any invoices, if no invoices are applicable.
After reviewing your imported bank lines, making any adjustments, and selecting boxes where appropriate, click Submit.

NetSuite displays the confirmation message, which details the number of payments being generated or excluded.
Click OK.

NetSuite begins the process of generating the payments, applying them to the applicable invoices, and matching them to the imported bank lines.

NetSuite redirects you to the Processed Records page, which displays the processing status of your batch. For details, see Checking the Process Status for Generated Payments.

Important:
If you set accounting preferences that make fields such as Class, Department, and Location mandatory, the fields in the customer payments are not populated. If you want to set values for mandatory fields, you need to edit the payment after it is created. See Correcting Payments to Invoices.

When an invoice number is not specified, the system applies the payment according to your preference settings. See .
When processing completes, you can view your matched and cleared transactions at Transactions > Bank > Reconcile Account Statement.

Continue with the reconciliation process:

If required, from the Match Bank Data page, match any unmatched transactions and then submit them. See Matching Bank Data.
Reconcile the transactions. See Reconciling Transactions.

Note:
When a transaction becomes unreconciled, NetSuite does not delete the payment generated by the Automated Cash Application feature. However, the corresponding imported bank line does not reappear on the Automated Cash Application page. Instead, you can find and process the imported bank line on the Match Bank Data page.

To generate customer payments:

Related Topics