When we create Payments and we select a Supplier, we do not have a choice to select his bank account (in which the payment was made).
Of course, this could be implemented through Custom Fields or the Description field, but this does not seem to be efficient, so I propose the following structure:
Create a new entry “Bank Accounts” to be added in Suppliers’ data. This entry will be completed by the user (at his/her discretion) with one or more than one bank accounts of the respective Supplier.
When we create a Payment, just right to the Supplier’s name, the field of his bank accounts to be appeared as a drop-down list (in order the respective bank account to be selected - in case bank transfer was made). This data is proposed to be depicted in the payment document finally created.
In my opinion, through this feature, we will be able to have direct access to the whole payment information and respond to any questions of our suppliers without the need to write the bank account details for any payment made.
Now, we can only create a custom field (connected to Supplier’s tab) which can be either text (to be completed by the user) or a drop-down list with default data (such as the bank accounts we need).
However, in the first case, we need to type every time the supplier’s bank account and in the second one, we should create a drop-down list under the custom field with the bank accounts from all of our suppliers (and update that whenever a new supplier is added). This was the reason I mentioned that as a non-efficient process.
On the other hand, if we have bank account(s) matched with the respective supplier, it will be much more easier.
In any case, you should update something when you add a new supplier whether you manually add the supplier bank account in the Supplier or in the Custom Field.
Also, if you have a complete – as much as possible – bank list, you don’t need to update as much since it’s likely that multiple suppliers use the same bank.
Just for informational reasons about the transaction/payment made.
We have many cases when suppliers make a call and ask a) if, b) when and c) to which account they have been paid.
We can answer if and when the payment has been completed, without having the information of the respective bank account recorded in Payments.
Based on this experience I shared my proposal.
As I mentioned, this requirement can be satisfied through Custom Fields, but this would mean that every time we have to type or select (among a large number of bank accounts) the bank account that was paid [e.g. if we have 200 suppliers, then we will have a list of 200 (minimum) bank accounts to be listed/selected - in case a supplier has more than one bank accounts we need to handle a larger number of them in one custom field].
But you really don’t have to type it in everytime. Use a SupplierClasaic Custom Field and check Show custom field in printed documents and it should automatically appear in your payments.
This solution is ok and this is the one I have already implemented.
However, in case the supplier has more than one bank accounts (or cash) used for his payments then it cannot work.
The only way I have found to achieve that was by creating:
Different custom fields in Supplier’s tab to enter each bank account.
Different custom themes (through adjusting the code to give only the Custom Field connected to the bank account needed to be depicted in the final document of Payment).
However, I thought that it is not a proper solution and this was the reason to submit my proposal.
In any case, if there are not any other users with similar requirements, I do not want to insist on that.
a supplier custom field which lists all bank accounts a supplier uses
on invoice custom field which specifies which specific bank account is used for that particular invoice. This could be an index to the above list or a copy of one of the entities. (I assume you are currently using such an index to select your custom theme).
Currently in Manager the workflow would involve having two windows open when entering invoices. For this type of functionality a hyperlink from a selected supplier/customer/employee to their definition would be useful, a feature other users have requested.
@evans to me it seems likely that you are dealing with one of two scenarios:
1. The supplier is passing the expense of their own management to you and you have accepted it – for one reason or another.
As a customer, you’re only responsible for remit the funds and it should be on the supplier to manage their bank account transfers after that.
Furthermore, after you comply with their instructions, they still nag you about which account you remitted to.
In this case, I recommend ignoring supplier instruction and remitting to one account. If the account changes, you only have to change it once in your Supplier once and for good.
In case you have zero bargaining power with your supplier, I can understand the situation you must be in but that’s an edge case that doesn’t justify the development effort since it will only cater to a minute fraction of the user base.
2. You are dealing with your supplier under different divisions, agreements or otherwise accounts.
In this case, it’s fine to remit to different bank accounts per supplier since – in fact – you should maintain multiple accounts per supplier anyway because that’s a good practice.
It sounds like you need to prove to the supplier that payment was made if and when a supplier inquires about a payment.
The quality of information, when you manually capture the bank details to which the supplier payment was made, is not very good because technically it is possible to record a payment and indicate bank details for a transaction that did not occur.
A better option would be to attach proof of payment generated by your bank whenever a payment is made to a supplier. Manager allows you to attach documents to your transactions. This would provide good quality evidence of the following:
The bank details to which the supplier payment was made
Confirmation that the payment to your supplier was successfully executed by your bank
When the supplier inquires about a payment, the proof of payment document can simply be shared with the supplier. This option is much simpler and the quality of information much more reliable.
