Finances FAQ
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Q. How can I raise a credit note?
A. If it is inventory based, do a Sales Return for the goods, and the credit memo is created automatically.
When creating a new invoice using the “Add a Memo Invoice” link from the invoice menu, there are two options, customer and shipment
Q. How can I add a miscellaneous charge e.g. freight to an invoice?
A. The miscellaneous charge is added to a exisiting invoice:
The miscellaneous charge can be added as a single amount to ONE venture or added to multiple ventures - use the 'Distribute By' list and 'recalculate'
Q. How can I add a new miscellaneous charge type?
A. The miscellaneous charge types are added in the System Tables:
Q. I need to send three invoices in the same email to a customer how do I do this? I have a network installation (not webservice)
A. On the server, go to the folder .../visdocumentsandimages/deliveries. The 'Deliveries' folder contains the Sales Invoice documents. You can attach them to your email message in the usual way
Q. I need to void an Invoice which is posted. It is a memo invoice whose cost was entered against a venture. The invoice is for testing fees, so there really aren't goods to return to the warehouse, how do I void the invoice?
A. Take a look at the invoice and see how you entered it, do it the exact same way with a negative amount. If you look at the original invoice at the top you will see one of two things Memo invoice (customer) or (shipment). If it is (customer) note the misc charge used, the amount and the customer. Then go to Add New Invoice, select that customer and proceed. If it is (shipment) note the misc charge used, the amount and the shipment, then go to Add New Invoice, select that shipment and proceed. Then select the misc charge and enter the negative amount. Posting this invoice will negate the original invoice
Q. When I try to apply a cost to a venture, I cannot see the venture in the scan. Where is it?
A. Using Venture Explorer, check the status of the venture to see if it is closed (meaning the goods have been sold to a customer). In Cost Entry there is a check box for “Include Closed Ventures” – if you check the box, the Venture will show up in the scan for selection
Q. Which accounts do the miscellaneous charges post to?
A. A miscellaneous charge (added to invoices) will post to the specified account in the GL account listed under Tools, Accounting Administration, invoice Misc Charge Types. Miscellaneous charges are specified by you when the accounting integration is setup
Q. What is a miscellaneous charge?
A. A miscellaneous charge is an additional charge (added to your customer’s invoice) for items/services pertaining to a sale. E.g. Additional manufacturing cost such as tooling, additional freight charge, etc.
Q. How are GL accounts setup in VISCO?
A. In VISCO, GL accounts are setup in Tools, Accounting Administration, Cost Type Code Maintenance and Invoice Miscellaneous Charge Type Maintenance. GL account names in VISCO and the integrated accounting system must match exactly in order for costs to be posted correctly
Q. Which GL account do memo invoices post?
A. Memo invoices, whether they are credit, debit or sales returns will post to the default account specified in the GL, unless there is a miscellaneous charge added, and then that charge amount will go to the specified account
Q. What is a sales invoice?
A. A sales invoice is automatically generated when product is delivered to a customer. In VISCO, selecting ‘ship and invoice’ on the Delivery will generate a sales invoice for that customer based on the sale order releases (shipments) on the delivery
Q. What is a Memo Invoice?
A. This is an invoice that is not a sales invoice. A memo invoice can be used to issue a credit, a debit, make a correction or for a sales return
Q. How does VISCO handle returns to the vendor for damaged/warranty product?
A. Sales Returns in VISCO are done through the "Finance" menu under the A/R section. When a portion of a shipment (or the entire shipment) is returned it is sent directly back to the warehouse it came from and inventory qty and valuation reflects that change. Meanwhile, a credit memo is created automatically and will appear amongst the list of Invoices in the Invoice section of the system.
Purchase Returns (shipping goods back to the original vendor) can be done and this removes the estimated costs, however you cannot return goods that have any outstanding actual costs in the system
Q. We entered a voucher with the wrong vendor. It was posted to our accounting system. I need to cancel that voucher and re-enter to the right vendor. What to do?
A. In VISCO, create a negative voucher (against the mistaken vendor), apply it to the container, post it into your accounting system and both systems will show 0 cost for the (mistaken) vendor. Then enter the actual invoice again with the correct vendor in VISCO and post to your accounting system
Q. I need to enter some vouchers for the previous month can I change the system date back to last month and cause no harm? Then can I change it back to this month?
A. Yes, you can change the allowed dates to the previous month and that will of course affect that month’s balance. Make sure anyone who is doing In Transits, Warehouse Receipts or Invoices know that you are doing this and should either
Basically you need to be careful no one affects the previous month’s data while the vouchers are added. After the vouchers are added, you can change the dates back to this month.
Q. When I try to post a batch, I get an error "Error posting venture cost batch: Could not add bill to QB. There is an invalid reference to QB account "
A. This is caused when there is a cost type setup in VISCO that is not in QB so one or more of the vouchers in the batch did not post to QB. You need to setup the cost type in QB and post the voucher(s) again. Check which vouchers posted to QB before posting the batch again, otherwise you may have duplicate entries in QB
Q. On an Invoice, the unit of measure is incorrect, is there a way to change it?
A. You have 2 options depending on whether the invoice is pending or posted.
Q. I’m having problems to showing the ‘Bill To’ address information on the Invoice
A. In Invoice maintenance – scroll all the way to the bottom on the header information tab. There is the sold to address, ship to address and under the sold to is the ‘bill to’ address. This is the address you need to edit
Q. What does the message when posting an invoice "vendor not found" mean?
A. The integration with your accounting system is not working make sure the accounting system is running and a user is logged in. (The first thing the integration tries to do is connect to vendors)
Q. What does the Error when posting “Error Posting Venture Cost Batch :Exception from HRESULT: ... at..” mean?
A. The integration with your accounting system is not working make sure the accounting system is running and a user is logged in
Q. On an SO, I need to invoice only the first three lines, how do I do this?
A. In Inventory Allocation, for the first 3 lines the Action Column is ‘Release to Logistics’. If you select Proceed, the three lines will be released you can add them to a delivery and ship/invoice
The other line has ‘none available’ (meaning there is no inventory available) so for this line, the Action Column displays ‘Do Not Process’. If you select ‘Proceed’ this line will remain unallocated and you will be able to release it when the product is available at a future date
Q. In Invoice Maintenance When creating a deposit invoice I get this message "Invoice amount does not equal venture material amount. Invoice total does not equal venture details". What does it mean?
A. The message means, for the Invoice Misc. Charge type you have selected, you must enter the same amount in the Venture Details Tab. However, If you do not have an associated Venture or PO yet (because this is a deposit invoice), it would make sense that you can not do this. If this is the case, go to the System tables - Invoice Miscellaneous Charge types and select ‘edit’ for this charge (the charge for the deposit)
There is a column that says ‘non venture misc charge’ and the current setting is No. Change this to Yes. Update the charge type. Then go back into your invoice, remove the charge and add it again, it will not give you that error message.
Q. I accidentally put 2009 instead of 2010 for this invoice date, can I change it? The invoice has been posted
A. After it has been posted, there is no way in VISCO to change it. As a courtesy, the VISCO support team can change it in the DB. You will need to change it manually in your accounting system. In the VISCO System Tables, there is an option called Accounting Allowed dates. We recommend you modify the date to only allow for 2010
Q. Entering costs in VISCO before goods are in transit. I need to post a cost against a venture that is not yet in-transit. We received the bill and must pay it. But the goods won't ship for another few weeks. Does a venture have to be in transit in order to post a cost to it?
A. Yes a venture must be in transit or a least have that status in VISCO. Here is how it is done - create a container and in the container name include the PO number and a note of ‘not in-transit’. When you know the container is in-transit, you can modify the container number and details or remove the item from the container and place it in the correct one.
Q. How can I make changes to an invoice that has already been posted to QB?
A. You have 2 options:
Q. I get an error when I try to add a new customer, vendor or product "System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapException: Server was unable to process request. ---> etc..."
A. This is the standard error when the accounting system is not open on the server. Please verify it is running and the user is logged in.
Q. I receive an error when trying to post a batch " ...indicates further ‘Vendor Accounting Key **** is not valid’; " One for each invoice in the batch
A. Your Cost types do not have a GL Account associated with them. To enter the cost types, go to Tools, Accounting Administration. When there is not a proper GL account attached to a cost type, changing the cost type table will help for future entries. However bills already entered must either be deleted then added back by the user or the VISCO Support team can go ‘behind the scenes” and update current entries with the correct GL account information.
Q. Is there a way to have multiple invoices on one delivery order? I am going to ship the total quantity at one time then stagger the invoices
A.You can have multiple releases/shipments in one delivery. They would be on separate invoices if the customer or ship to address is different. If the shipments are for the same customer or ship to address, then putting them on the same delivery would not work. You will need to have them in separate deliveries.
Q. On an invoice the billing information needs to be modified slightly, I need to change the billing address
A. To change the Billing Information on the Invoice…. in Invoice Maintenance, the first tab, Scroll all the way to the bottom. You have the sold to, ship to and bill to addresses that you can modify. These changes will reflect on the invoice document
Q. I am trying to post the costs for a container but the accruals are wrong, they are all rounded for some reason
A. Take a look in the Tools, System Table, Currency. The currency table had both USD and CAD set to only allow up to 2 decimal places. On documents, that is fine, but this setting is for within VISCO, to know when the system should round. You need to go to the System Table, Currency and change the decimal places back to 4, then recalculate the accruals for the PO
Q. It seems that VISCO is posting Credit Memos to our Accounts Receivable Account. It should go to the same account as Invoice. These Credit Memos are being issued as new Invoices under Finance/Invoicing. They are not Sales Returns.
A.You need to check the GL Accounts Receivable Account and Invoice Account codes in VISCO. Also make sure your integrated accounting system has the exact same GL codes as VISCO. In VISCO, go to Tools, Accounting Administration to check the codes