Hi there.
I created an account named “Discounts”. (I don’t use the discount checkbox in sales invoices because that doesn’t affect any account and I like to have a report with the total of discounts I have applied during the month).
The problem is when I’m invoicing…
I use two different softwares to make invoices (Manager and another one) to compare the totals and everything. But the problem is:
In my old software, if I sell an article for $10 and I apply a discount of 10%, then the invoice total will be $9. So, the subtotal of the invoice is $10, the total is $9 with a discount of $1
Now in manager I have a problem with this. If I sell a product for $10, and I select the discount account, it affects the subtotal when I don’t want that account to affect the subtotal (just the total).
The correct amount to the accounts needs to be like this:
-“Sales Account”-$10
-“Discount Account”-$1
-“Customers Account”-$9
Now in manager is affecting me like this:
-“Sales Account”-$9
-“Discount Account”-$1
-“Customer Account”-$9
What do you suggest me to do, or what I’m doing wrong? Hope I made myself explained, let me know if not.
Greetings.
Please post a screen shot of the Edit screen for a transaction that shows what you think is wrong. Also post a screen shot of the View screen for the same transaction. Until you show what you’ve done, no one can explain the result or determine whether anything is wrong.
Maybe it’s almost obvious that the discount account will affect the subtotal, because it is appearing on the lines where the articles are. But what can I do to not affect the subtotal, just the total?
You cannot discount a total. You must either discount the line item, using the discount checkbox and field, or add a line item as you have. The reason is that everything on the invoice must be posted to some account, and nothing in the totals section (which would include taxes, etc.) is posted to an income or expense account. The final total or balance due is posted to Accounts receivable on the balance sheet. Tax amounts are posted to Tax payable, a liability account.
I also caution you that, when using separate discount lines, you must be careful about taxes, which your example does not include. Tax should normally be calculated on the discounted line item price, not the original price. So, if you use the separate discount line, you must apply the tax code to it, also. Otherwise your tax calculation will be wrong. That is another reason discounts cannot be applied to the total: taxes are calculated line by line.
I’m not trying to discount the total. What I want is: Those $10dlls to be in subtotal, the the discount for $1dll and then the total of everything, thtat in this case it will be $9dlls.
The reason I want it like this, is because I want to see the accounts sepparetely with their correct totals. If I leave it like this the $10dlls article will now appear on the report (sales account) as $9dlls because of the discount. And it should be $10dlls in the sales account and 1dll for the discount (the discount is correct but is affecting the sales account).
I set up an account “Discounts Received” in the Income section and then created an invoice and used a line item to record the discount. This shows sales of 10 and discounts of -1 in the accounts.
Most of us (users of Manager) would like a report to know how many discounts, freights, sales, and totals we have applied in an invoice by individual accounts. Unfortunately we don’t have that report and those accounts created. (Unless we do it manually like in my case).
Hope one day @lubos can add this accounts (freight & discount) just like the sales account.
Anyway, thanks for replying. Greetings to everyone
I don’t think I am misunderstanding you at all. But I do think you have not looked carefully enough at your Summary page after entering transactions.
In your example, since “X” is an inventory item, the sales invoice will post 10 of income to Inventory - sales and -1 to the Discount account. The cost of “X” will also be posted to Inventory - cost of sales and 9 will post to Accounts receivable. I am not sure where you first came up with the idea that only 9 would post to what you called your “Sales Account.” This is exactly as shown in @Joe91’s example.
Do not expect this to happen. Discounts are simply price reductions. If you want to see them separately, Manager already provides a method: the exact one you are using. And freight can be handled the same way. But all transactions are “above the line,” not after totals are calculated. This is necessary to properly handle taxes, and every computer-based accounting system I know about does things this way.
