Month-end statements

This article provides instruction and information on the following:

• Automatic Month-end Statement process
• Benefits and changes
• How to run Month-end statements
• Manual statement run
• Account Summary Report
• How to reverse a Month-end statement
• How to save Month-end statements for bulk mailing

Automatic Month-end Statement process

Paladin is in the process of rolling out the automatic Month-end statement process. To see if it has rolled out to your store(s):

1. In Paladin, from the main menu, select File > Setup.
2. Select the Receivables tab.
3. In the Statements pane, Enable Automatic Statement Generation will be checked. 

Figure 1: Enable Automatic Statement Generation

With this, Month-end statements will now process automatically overnight on the day of the month the previous statement run was performed. (Note: A different date can be set). The statement generation process is completely separated from the printing process, and printing and/or emailing statements can occur at different times; anytime you choose.

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Benefits and changes

Benefits:

• Statements are ready to print or email immediately after overnight processing.
• Reprinting and re-emailing statements is easy and fast.
• Specific ranges of customer name or ID can be set to restart printing or emailing.
• Statements can be printed or emailed in alphabetic or numeric order.
• If any email fails, there is the option to resend only the failed email. This means you will not have to start all over and send email to all customers, just to the ones that failed to be sent. The same goes for printing statements.

Changes:

• The Account Summary Report will no longer open automatically when printing statements. This report will now be stored and accessible by selecting F10 Recall Reports in the Reports module. For information and instruction, refer to the Account Summary Report section in this article.

Before printing and emailing, there are settings needed. These are covered in this article in the following sections:

• Setting up Network
• Setting up Store email
• Setting up Customer accounts

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Setting up Network

1. In Paladin, from the main menu, select File > Setup.
2. Select the Network tab.
3. In the Network pane, click the ellipses […] next to the Report Printer box.
4. In the Print window, select the printer you want to set from the Name box and click OK.
5. Click Save, and then click Close.

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Setting up Store email

1. In Paladin, from the main menu, select File > Setup.
2. Select the Forms tab.
3. In the Email Options pane, enter your email settings, which you can find on your email provider’s website.
4. Enter in another email in the Send Test Email To -> box and click Send Test Email To -> to verify that your email is set up correctly.
5. Click Save, and then click Close.

Note: Your store needs an email address set up in Paladin for you to email statements. If you do not have this set up, Paladin will not know where to send the email statements from. This is also beneficial for emailing invoices as well.

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Setting up Customer accounts

• Customer email set up
• Customer specific settings

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Customer email set up

Follow these steps for each customer you would like statements emailed to.

1. In Paladin, on the top ribbon, select the Customers.
2. Open a customer account you would like to email statements to.
3. In the Contact Information pane, click in the E-mail box.
4. In the Email manager window, type the customer’s email in the Enter email: box.
5. Click Add and then click F12 Finish.
6. In the Form Control pane, select E-mail statement copies? and Create month-end statement?
7. Click F12 Save.

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Customer specific settings

Balance Forward Statement and Open Item Statement:

1. In Paladin, on the top ribbon, select the Customers module.
2. Open the Credit tab, and in the Credit pane, decide the customer type and select either Balance Forward Stm. or Open Item Stm..  
3. Click F12 Save.

Note: Balance Forward Stm is the standard balance/credit structure. That is, pay and the balance goes down (automatically paying the earliest invoice first). Open Item Stm is for customers who pay full invoices off at a time, meaning you need to specifically apply payments to the corresponding invoice. This is done by:

1. 1. 1. On the bottom ribbon of the Customers module, click F6 Payment Management. 
      2. In the Payment Management window, select the invoice the customer wants to pay from either Charge Invoices or Credit Invoices.

Prompt Payment Discount:

1. In Paladin, on the top ribbon, select the Customers module.
2. Open the Credit tab, and in the Credit pane, select between the following:
   • Trade Discounts. This selection will cause all the customer’s transactions to never show discounted prices when charged to their account. However, the discounts are still applied and will only show in their month-end statement.
   • Percentage. This tells Paladin that the customer gets a prompt payment discount. In the text box to the right, enter a number that will be recognized as the percentage amount the discount will be. If Respect Min Margin is selected, you are telling Paladin not to allow any item to be discounted to a price lower than your minimum profit margin.
3. Click F12 Save.

Service Charge and Past Due Hold:

1. In Paladin, on the top ribbon, select the Customers module.
2. Open the Credit tab, and in the Credit pane, select between the following:
   • Apply Service Charge? This lets Paladin know that you want this customer to receive a service charge when their account becomes past due.
   • Ignore Past Due Hold? This tells Paladin to ignore the invoice hold rule if Invoice Hold When was set in Receivables from Paladin Configuration.
3. Click F12 Save.

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How to run Month-end statements

This functionality has been enhanced, and:

• Printing statements is faster since the statement processing occurs automatically overnight.
• The statement run is more reliable and stable by removing the printing function from the process. The generation and the printing are two separate processes.
• No more potential printer problems that can compromise the statement run. The process can be paused for paper jams, low ink, and so on.
• The ability to choose between printing or emailing statements.
• The ability to view and run individual statements that failed in initial batch run.
• The ability to print statements in alphabetical order or by account number order.

Month-end statements now process automatically overnight on the day of the month the previous statement run was performed (unless you select a different date—instructions below). Enable Automatic Statement Generation is automatically set. The run date defaults to the client’s last statement run date, but clients can choose a statement run date from the Create monthly statements on the evening of this day list. Changes are done through the Receivables tab in Paladin Configuration.

To change the statement run date:

1. In Paladin, from the main menu, select File > Setup.
2. Select the Receivables tab.
3.  In the Statements pane, select a numerical date from the Statements will include data up through this day, and will be generated the next morning list. 
4. Click Save, and then click Close.

Figure 2: Enable statement generation options

When you produce a Month-end statement, service charges and discounts are calculated, account reports are developed, and account statements are printed/emailed automatically.

1. In Paladin, from the top ribbon, select the Reports module.

A Month-end Statement Changes message window appears. The message introduces the enhanced Month-end statement process, tells the user that the statement run date default is the last day of the month their last statements were run, lets them know they can change that date, provides the benefits of the process, and lets the user know that the Account Summary Report is now auto-generated. The message window also provides:

• A link to instructions on statements
• A link to a quick 1-minute video on the advantages to the enhancement
• A link to an informational webinar.

Note: This message will reappear until a user password is entered in the To stop this message from appearing, enter your password box.

2. Enter your password, and click OK. The Reports module opens.

Figure 3: Month-end Statement Changes message window

3. In the Report Area pane, select Accounts Receivable > Statements.
4. Under Report List, click Month-End Statements.

Note: If it has been more than two weeks since the last statement run, the Statements have not run recently warning message appears:

Figure 4: Statements have not run recently warning message

5. Click OK.

Figure 5: Month End Statements report window

6. In the Month End Statements window, in the Report Settings pane, there is the option to Print or Email. Next to either option is text giving the status of each.

• Print: When Print is enabled, there are three options: 
   a.) Do not print statements configured to be emailed. Statements will print, and email that has been set for accounts will print when the Email option is used.
   b.) Include statements that haven’t been emailed. With this, either you decide certain accounts require printed statements, or the Email option was used, and email failed to be sent.
  c.) Print all statements. No statements will be emailed.
• Email: When this option is enabled, statements will be emailed. Again, next to this option is text giving status.

Note: If any email failed to send, a message appears in the Report Settings pane stating There were exceptions to email send. Click View to see a list of which email failed. 
The Unsent Statement Emails window opens. You have the option to repair/update the email so that it sends, or you can take note of the account and use option b.) of the Print option.

Figure 6: Unsent Statement Email warning message

7. Select your Print Order (Numeric or Alphabetic).
8. In the Accounts selection, set the Beginning and Ending account numbers.
9. The Printer (this computer only) setting defaults to the printer you have set for that particular terminal. As the Note states, if you change the printer, you have to make this update in the terminal’s Report Printer setting in Paladin Configuration.
10. In the Additional Settings pane, there is instruction on how to view the Account Summary report and links to the following:

• • • A link to a quick 1-minute video on the advantages to the enhancement
    • A link to instructions on statements
    • A link to an informational webinar

Figure 7: Additional Settings pane

11. In the Sorting Options pane, press either F12 Print or F12 Email. Note: Depending on which option you chose in the Report Settings pane, the button in the Sorting Options pane will change to reflect the choice. 

Figure 8: Sorting options

Note: If you are using the Print option, the Statement Printing window opens asking if the test statement printed correctly. Choose from the three button options to continue.

Figure 9: Statement Printing Test window

Important: On the off chance there is an interruption in the statement run, the Statement Processing window opens with the message shown in Figure 10. To reverse the statement run and run the process again, click Yes.

Figure 10: Statement Processing window/Statement run interruption message

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Manual statement run

Note: When automatic statement generation is enabled, the Generate Statements button is shown after 25 days. If automatic statement generation is disabled, to support clients who run statements twice per month, the Generate Statements button will be shown after 12 days.

To manually run statements: 

1. In the Month-End Statements window, under the Report Settings pane, click Generate Statements.

Figure 11: Manual Generate Statements option/button

2. In the Generate Statements window, select a date from the Statements include all activity prior to calendar.

Note: The default is the prior day before the current date with the timestamp one second before the current day (23:59:59). Any date prior to the current date will have that timestamp. If you select the current day, the time becomes the “current time;” that is, the exact time of day of the current day, i.e. ‘through right now.”

Figure 12: Generate Statements time setting

3. In either scenario, type yes in the Type the word YES to proceed box.

Figure 13: Generate Statements date option

4. Click Run. A status bar is displayed on the lower left corner of the screen showing the progress.
5. When the run is complete, the Statements Complete window opens. Click OK to close the window.

Figure 14: Statements Complete message

Important: On the off chance there is an interruption in the statement run, the Statement Processing window opens with the message shown in Figure 15. To reverse the statement run and run the process again, click Yes.

Figure 15: Statement Processing window/Statement run interruption message

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Account Summary Report

The Account Summary Report auto-generates when statements are run. This report corresponds with the current statement. The text shown in Figure 14 informs that reports can be viewed by clicking on F10 Recall Reports. Past reports, up to one year, are available.

Figure 16: Additional Settings pane/Account Summary report available to view 

 Pressing the AR Summary Report button at the top of the Report Settings pane will only display the report for the most recent statement run.

Figure 17: Report Settings pane/AR Summary Report button

If the most recent statement has not been run, the message shown in Figure 16 appears.

Figure 18: AR Summary Report window/No Report Found message

Note: All information in the Account Summary report is pulled from the Customer account settings in Paladin. No other configuration parameters are necessary.

To access the report after statements have run: 

1. In Paladin, on the top ribbon, select the Reports module.
2. On the bottom ribbon of the module, select F10 Recall Reports.
3. In the Recall Reports pane, select your report.
4. Click F12 Recall.

A PDF file of the report opens.

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How to reverse a Month-End statement

Note: If you have an accounting integration with Paladin, and you reverse month-end statements, the journal entry in your accounting software might also need to be removed. Reversing in Paladin does not reverse in the accounting software journal entry in your accounting software.

1. In Paladin, from the top menu, select Maintain > Accounts Receivable.
2. Click Reverse Statements.
3. In the Month End Statements window, select the statement date that you want to reverse.
4. Click Reverse, and then click OK.
5. You will see this message: Are you sure you want to reverse statements run on [date]?
6.  Click OK.

Note: If there are two or more statements with the same date, do NOT click Reverse. Call Paladin Customer Service.

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How to save Month-End statements for bulk mailing

Month-End statements can be saved to a file and sent to a service that prints, stuffs, and mails the statements.

1. In Paladin, from the main menu, select File > Setup.
2. Select the Receivables tab.
3. Check Statements Output to File System.
4. If you do not want to send statements to a printer, click to clear the Statements Output to Printer check box.
5. Click Save. The file will be saved in the Paladin POS Statements folder.
6. Click Close.
7. Generate the Month-End statements.

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