How do I remove paid receivables transactions in Microsoft Dynamics GP?

In Microsoft Dynamics GP, there is a difference between how fully paid transactions are managed:

  • In Payables Management, fully paid vendor invoices will be automatically transferred to History, and be labelled in the Microsoft Dynamics GP inquiry window as “HIST”.
  • In Receivables Management, when a payment is applied which satisfies the full balance on a sales invoice, the invoice will remain in the “OPEN” status.

The reason the two are different is because in Receivables Management, you have the option to send a statement to the customer. Statements collect all “OPEN” transactions to display, regardless of whether or not they’ve been paid in full, and displays how the payments are applied. This allows customers to use their statement(s) as a way to make sure their invoices and payments are applied properly.

Changing the Status of Fully Applied "OPEN" Receivables Management Transactions to "HIST"

The process of moving an open transaction into the history is called “Paid Sales Transaction Removal”. To navigate to the window that performs this task, go to “Microsoft Dynamics GP > Tools > Routines > Sales > Paid Transaction Removal”.

Navigating to the Paid Transaction Removal window. Click to enlarge.

It is important to note, that while it is called “Paid Transaction Removal,” this process does not actually delete the transaction, it only moves the transaction from “Open” to “History” by consolidating period balances.

Paid Sales Transaction Removal - Configuration

Paid Transaction Removal window. Click to enlarge.

In the “Customers” field, you can choose whether or not to remove the paid sales transactions of all customers, or within a certain range. If you wish to remove only certain customers’ transactions, click the “From” bullet and select a “From” and “To” date. You may select the range based on either Customer ID, Name, or Type.

If you wish to further restrict customer record transactions to remove, use the Class ID field and indicate a range “From” and “To”.

Within the “Remove” section, check off which types of transactions you want to include in the removal.

The “Cutoff Date” allows you to enter a cutoff date for transactions to be removed. Transactions with a transaction date on or before the indicated date will be removed. Checks have separate cutoff dates, because you will want to be sure that those payments have cleared with the bank before you remove the transactions associated with them. Once moved to History, checks cannot be marked as NSF (Non-sufficient funds).

Paid Sales Transaction Removal – Finishing up and Reporting

Once all preferences have been selected, click “Process” to remove the range of transactions you selected. That’s all!

If “Balance Forward Consolidation” is checked, all customer documents will be summarized, and moved from the current aging period to the non-current aging period. A Balance Forward Consolidation Register will be printed after the consolidation process is complete.

If you have “Print Register” checked, then the Paid Transaction Removal Report will print when you close the window. This report will show paid transactions that have been removed from the system, or transferred to History. For auditing purposes, this report should be saved in your company’s records.

Frequency

Removing paid transactions should be a regular part of your company’s standard financial procedures. We recommend performing the above procedure on a monthly basis, or quarterly at the latest.