Accounts Receivable Import Guide

Modified on Mon, 7 Aug, 2023 at 1:12 PM

The Accounts Receivables Import is a useful tool for creating bills in Actionstep. It provides a means to add receivable amounts and determine fee allocation for invoices.

 

 

The Accounts Receivables Import creates bills with due balances.


Unlike some other imports, there is no "update" option for the Accounts Receivables Import. Items can only be created.


 

This article offers general best practices and outlines the proper use of each of each field in the import specification.


See Import Spreadsheet Reference for more information and import templates.



Avoiding Issues

The number one issue for Accounts Receivables Imports is incorrect information in the import spreadsheet. Use the following guidelines to avoid common data issues with Accounts Receivables Imports.

 

 

Single row vs multiple-row bills

A little information on how bills are imported. Bills can be imported in a single row or over multiple rows.

 

Single Row

 

Bills in a single row will only have one fee amount and one expense/disbursement amount. Single row bills are less prone to error, as the information and calculations are less complex. There are a maximum of two tax code applied to one figure each, so it's easier to check for accuracy.

 

 

A bill with 500.00 in fees with a 10% tax code and 200.00 is expenses/disbursements with a 15% tax code, we expect:

 

  • An Invoice total sales tax amount of 80.00 (50 in fees, 30 in expenses/disbursements) 
  • An Invoice balance due of 780.00 (fees + expenses/disbursements + tax)

 

 

Multiple row

 

Bills spread over multiple rows can have multiple fees and expenses/disbursements. Each fee and expense/disbursement can have its own tax rate. Because a bill can be created from many rows, checking the accuracy of the total figures is more complex than a single-row bill.

 

 

If a bill has four rows:

 

  1. 400.00 fee with 15% tax
  2. 300.00 fee with no tax
  3. 200.00 expense/disbursement with %10 tax
  4. 100.00 expense/disbursement with %15 tax

 

The configuration above is unlikely but possible with the Accounts Receivables Import.

 

 

We would expect:

 

  • An Invoice total Sales tax amount of 95.00 (60 + 0 + 20 + 15)
  • An Invoice balance due of 1095.00 (700 fees, 300 exp/disb, and 95 tax)

 

 

Multiple rows for the same bill must all contain matching:

 

  • Invoice numbers 
  • AR/Invoice dates
  • Customers/Clients Matters
  • Invoice balance due
  • Invoice total sales tax amount

 


 

These fields have only one value per bill, so they are the same value for each line of the bill.

 


Calculating the Invoice Balance Due

The Invoice balance due is the total amount of fees, expenses/disbursements, and tax.

 

One common issue is using the balance due for the line instead of the whole bill. For multiple-row bills, this number must be the same for every row of the bill. If the number is incorrect, fee, expense/disbursement, and tax amounts will adjust based on the percentage allocations of the amounts for the rows. That is, it will change your figures to equal the Invoice balance due figure.


 

Calculating Invoice Total Sales Tax Amount

Similar issues occur with the Invoice total Sales tax amount that occur with the Invoice balance due.

 

The Invoice total Sales tax amount is the total amount of tax for all fees and disbursements.

 

This figure is the same for every line of a multiple-row bill.

 

 

With multiple tax rates possible between different fees and disbursements, this number needs to be accurate. If the number is incorrect, the import compensates for the difference by attempting to apply tax amounts to the fees and disbursements. It does not tax the inputted Invoice total Sales tax amount. This results in a bill that has adjusted fees, disbursements, and taxes and an incorrect balance due in Actionstep.

 


Test Imports

The best way to avoid a bad Accounts Receivables Import is to perform a test import of real data. Import a bill or two and compare the results to your calculations and expectations. If a calculation or figure is incorrect, it can be rectified for other records before importing them. Once you're results are accurate and expected, ensure that the rest of the data is formatted to the working specifications.

 


Import Fields

The following table explains how to use each column of the Accounts Receivables Import specification.


Columns names will vary by region and system configuration.


 

 

 

Field

Description

Invoice number

Assigns an invoice number to the bill in Actionstep. This field is alphanumeric.


When importing a bill with multiple rows, this field must match for every included item.

 

Accepted formats:

  • Plain, alphanumeric text

 AR date/Invoice date

The accounts receivables date of the invoice.


Accepted formats:

  • Excel formatted date 
  • American (mm/dd/yyyy) 
  • European (dd/mm/yyyy)
  • European long (dd mmm yyyy) 
  • Month Day Year (mmm dd yyyy)

 

Client/Customer

The customer or client being billed.

 

Each imported bill can only have one client/customer. If more than one client/customer is entered on a multiple-row bill, only the first record is considered for that bill.

 

Accepted formats:

  • Import reference 
  • Email address 
  • Participant ID 
  • First + Last name 
  • Display name
  • Timekeeper initials

Matter

The matter associated with the bill.

 

Each imported bill can only be associated with one matter. If there is more than one matter referenced in a multiple row bill, only the first record is considered for that bill.


Accepted formats:

  • Import reference 
  • Matter ID 
  • Matter Name 
  • File reference

 

Invoice balance due

The total receivable amount for the entire invoice. Fees + Expenses/Disbursements + Tax.

 

Each imported bill can only have one Invoice balance due. Every line of a multiple-row bill must contain the same amount in this column. If there are multiple amounts entered for the same bill, only the first row is considered for the bill.

 

An incorrect Invoice balance due will adjust your fee, expense/disbursement amounts and taxes to add up to the Invoice balance due. This means most figures will be incorrect.

 

Amounts of 0.00 will cause the row to be rejected.

 

Accepted formats:

  • Currency (2 decimal places)

Invoice total Sales tax amount

Uses first row. Incorrect tax will result in incorrect figures for fee, expense/disbursement, and tax amounts. The total new charges will display an incorrect figure, but the balance due will be the imported Invoice balance due.

 

Accepted formats:

  • Currency (2 decimal places)

 

Fee credit lawyer/Commission recipient

The person to whom fees for the row will be allocated. Use multiple rows to allocate fees to difference people.

 

Accepted formats:

  • Import reference 
  • Email address 
  • Participant ID
  •  First + Last name 
  • Display name
  • Timekeeper initials

Hours

Sets the hours worked and hours billed for time entries created from imported fee amounts.

 

Accepted formats:

  • Number/Decimal (2 decimal places)

Fees amount (excl tax)

 

The amount of fees for the line. When imported, will result in a time entry for that amount. Can be it's own line or included on the same line as an expense/disbursement.

 

For multi-line bills, the amount in this column is for the line item, not the entire bill.


 

Accepted formats:

  • Currency (2 decimal places)

 

Expense/Disbursement amount (excl tax)

The amount of expenses/disbursements for the line. When imported, each row will result in an expense/disbursement being created in Actionstep. Can be its own line or on the same line as a fee.

 

For multi-line bills, the amount in this column is for the line item, not the entire bill.

 

 

Accepted formats:

  • Currency (2 decimal places)

Fees income account

The income account to record fees when payment is received. By default, this will use the setting for the fee credit lawyer/commission recipient in Admin > Billing.

 

Accepted formats:

  • Account number Account ID Account name

 

Fees tax code

The tax code applied to the fee amount in the bill row. This code can be different or similar for each row on a bill.

 

For a successful import, all tax rates for line items should have a corresponding tax code in Actionstep. If this is not configured correctly, calculations for bill figures will be incorrect.

 

Each line with a fee amount can have it's own tax code. When multiple tax codes are used in a single bill, be careful with the Invoice total balance due and Invoice total Sales tax amount calculations.

 

Accepted formats:

  • Tax code
  • Tax code name

Expense/Disbursement income account

The income account to record expenses/disbursements when payment is received. By default, this will use the setting for the fee credit lawyer/commission recipient in Admin > Billing.

 

Accepted formats:

  • Account number Account ID Account name

Expense/Disbursement tax code

The tax code applied to the expense/disbursement amount in the bill row. This code can be different or similar for each row on a bill.

 

For a successful import, all tax rates for line items should have a corresponding tax code in Actionstep. If this is not configured correctly, calculations for bill figures will be incorrect.


Each line with an expense/disbursement amount can have it's own tax code. When multiple tax codes are used in a single bill, be careful with the Invoice total balance due and Invoice total Sales tax amount calculations.

 

Accepted formats"

  • Tax code
  • Tax code name

 

 

 

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