Two ways to start a customer's balance
| Way | Where | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Opening amount on the customer | Customer > the Opening information section | You only know the total the customer owes |
| Customer / Supplier voucher wise opening (the Sales Opening tab) | Opening Entries › Customer/Supplier | You have the old unpaid invoices and want each one on the books with its own date and due date |
The opening amount
On the customer, fill Opening amount and Opening amount type (debit means the customer owes you; credit means you owe the customer). The amount is booked on the opening entry date, which is the day before the active fiscal year starts (The fiscal year). It needs an active numbering series for customer opening balances; without one the customer is not saved (Document numbering for sales).
Because it is one entry on one old date, the ageing report shows it as one bill that is as old as the year.
Voucher-wise opening
Open Customer / Supplier Voucher Wise Opening, choose Sales Opening, and add one line for each unpaid invoice: the Party, Bill date, Due date, Agent and Amount. Each line gets a number from the opening series. If no series exists the screen says "Please set document number for sales invoice wise opening."
Each bill keeps its own age, so the customer ageing, the oldest-unpaid-bill check on the sales screens (Credit limit and credit days on sales screens) and later receipts (What clears what in the customer's account) all work bill by bill.