From a reporting perspective there are two very important and different dates to look at sales and commission information from, the Invoice Date and the Payment Date.
The Invoice Date is found on an individual Invoice entry. It represents the date the invoice was issued, which in typical accounting terms is the ship date of the product ordered from the manufacturer to the customer.
The Payment Date is found in a Payment Entry. It represents the date the commissions were paid to the sales agency, which is typically noted as the check date on the commission check from the manufacturer. For accounting purposes at the sales agency, the Payment Date may also be entered as the deposit date of the check to account for revenue recognition practices of the agency.
The Invoice Date is found on an individual Invoice entry. It represents the date the invoice was issued, which in typical accounting terms is the ship date of the product ordered from the manufacturer to the customer.
The Payment Date is found in a Payment Entry. It represents the date the commissions were paid to the sales agency, which is typically noted as the check date on the commission check from the manufacturer. For accounting purposes at the sales agency, the Payment Date may also be entered as the deposit date of the check to account for revenue recognition practices of the agency.
The invoice date is the typical date used when discussing sales with the customer as this is the date closest to the customers order issuance and the date they received the product.
The payment date is irrelevant of the customer and only reflects the time delay in the payment of commissions earned to the agency. More and more manufacturers are moving to a commission payment schedule that reflects when they get paid on the invoice, rather then when the invoice is issued. This fact makes the payment date variable in terms of the invoice date, so that an individual invoice may not be paid on for several months.
In reporting terms, these two dates are very different things to look at. Following is a list of where each date type can be found:
The Reports and Data Analysis that deal with customer sales and trending are run by Invoice Date, which is reflected in the Parameters names Beginning Invoice Date and Ending Invoice Date.
The Reports and Data Analysis that deal with commission payments, to the agency or the sales rep, are run by Payment Date. The parameters are named Beginning Payment Date and Ending Payment Date.
The payment date is irrelevant of the customer and only reflects the time delay in the payment of commissions earned to the agency. More and more manufacturers are moving to a commission payment schedule that reflects when they get paid on the invoice, rather then when the invoice is issued. This fact makes the payment date variable in terms of the invoice date, so that an individual invoice may not be paid on for several months.
In reporting terms, these two dates are very different things to look at. Following is a list of where each date type can be found:
The Reports and Data Analysis that deal with customer sales and trending are run by Invoice Date, which is reflected in the Parameters names Beginning Invoice Date and Ending Invoice Date.
- Sales Summary
- Sales and Commissions
- Agency Sales Summary
- Agency Sales and Commissions
- Sales Rep Sales Summary
- Sales Rep Sales and Commissions
- Sales and Commission Analysis
- Sales Summary Analysis
The Reports and Data Analysis that deal with commission payments, to the agency or the sales rep, are run by Payment Date. The parameters are named Beginning Payment Date and Ending Payment Date.
- Commission Statement
- Agency Commission Statement
- Sales Rep Commission Statement
- Commissions Payment Reconciliation Report
- Commission Payment Analysis