Audience: Accounting Manager and Administrator
Summary: This is an overview of automatic discounts and how they are calculated, configured, and applied in MineralTree. This feature is available for QuickBooks Desktop, NetSuite, Great Plains, and the Universal Connector.
In this article:
- Configuring global discounts in MineralTree
- Configuring vendor discounts in MineralTree
- How discounts are calculated
- How discounts are applied
- Managing expired discounts
The Automatic Application of Discounts feature makes it easier to take advantage of early payment discounts. You can opt to have discounts auto-applied to payments made within the discount window rather than manually adjusting the payment amount before submission.
Configuring Global Discounts
To enable this feature as a company-level default, navigate to Settings > Manage Company Settings and click on the Settings tab.
Configuring Vendor Discounts
You can override the company-level default per vendor. To do this, go to the Vendor Details page under the Payment Preferences section. By default, the vendor will be set to use the company default, but you can select whether discounts should always or never be automatically applied for a specific vendor.
How Discounts Are Calculated
MineralTree calculates discount information (date and amount) from standard discount terms retrieved from the accounting system. For the example shown below, if you have a discount term of 1% 10 Net 30, the discount information will be calculated as follows:
Discount Date = Invoice Date + 10 days
Discount Amount = 1% of Invoice Amount
All invoices with applicable discounts will be indicated on the Invoices tab by a percentage icon. Upon hovering over the icon, you can see the discount terms and calculated date and amount.
How Discounts Are Applied
Discounts are automatically applied if the payment date is on or before the discount date. You will see the discount applied upon sending the invoice into the payment queue. Keep in mind that the payment date is set to the current date by default. If you change the payment date to after the discount date, you will see a warning icon indicating that the payment is outside of the discount terms and prompting you to manually unapply the discount. To manually unapply (or apply) a discount to a payment in the queue, click the caret button to the right of the payment amount and select ‘Unapply Discount’ or ‘Apply Discount.’
The Auto-Apply Discounts feature can be used in conjunction with the Auto-Scheduling Payments feature. If a payment is scheduled for submission on or before the discount date, the discount will be automatically applied and the payment authorizer will see the discounted amount in their approval queue.
If a discount has been applied to a payment, the payment approval request will contain information about the discount amount and the discount date.
Managing Expired Discounts
Under the Payment Authorizer view, the discount icon will appear for all payments to which discounts have been applied. If the discount has expired while awaiting approval, the warning icon will appear-- the discount will not be automatically removed, but you will be warned that the discount has expired.
In the Payment Details page, there is an option for the payment authorizer to manually unapply or apply a discount by checking the ‘Apply Discounts’ box.
Additionally, in the History Log of the Payment Details page, it is recorded whether the discount was automatically or manually applied. Any discounts applied will be stated on the remittance sent to vendors.