What do you do if you (or your client) found an error on a bill that you had already posted? Read on for an explanation of how best to handle this situation.
We strongly recommend reviewing every bill for accuracy BEFORE posting the bill, regardless of the size of the billing run! Human error (or unexpected program calculation) is always a distinct possibility, and correcting errors before the bill is posted is MUCH easier than afterward, and avoids embarrassment or liability with your clients.
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Unposting the Bill
Abacus Accounting does allow unposting bills that have already been posted. If a bill is unposted, any time tickets that appeared on the bill re-appear as unbilled time tickets in your time tickets browse, and any costs and adjustments return to an unbilled status.
Unposting a bill should NOT necessarily be your go-to. The only situation where we recommend unposting a bill is if you have just posted the bill and found the error, but not sent the bill to your client yet.
- Navigate to Billing > Unpost Bills.
- Enter either a Matter Number, or simply enter the Start Date and End Date if you would like to unpost multiple bills in batch.
- Highlight the bill, then click Unpost.
Only the most recent invoice on a matter can be unposted.
If you have already sent the bill to the client, we recommend treating that bill as finalized, and simply adjusting their billing for the next billing cycle (see below). The reason for this is that, whether it included an error or not, if the bill was sent to the client, it is part of your billing history, and a record of it should be maintained.
In addition, unposting a bill can require a substantial amount of repetitious labor, if any of the following are the case:
- If you have already entered a client payment paying that bill. The bill cannot be unposted unless the client payment is deleted first. However, if the client payment was posted in the same posting batch as client payments made to other matters, those client payments will also need to be deleted (this is because the full posting batch is posted as a single transaction to the General Ledger).
- If the bill was processed using automatic trust check processing, and appeared on a trust check that was posted. The trust check will need to be voided first (which will void it on every matter that appeared on the check).
Adjusting the Next Bill (Recommended)
In most cases where a bill has already been posted, adjusting the next bill is what we recommend to correct for previous billing errors. Not only is this typically easier, it maintains your billing history, and complies with standard accounting best practices.
To correct for an overcharge, we recommend entering a write-off (or write-offs) for the incorrect charge(s). This article explains how to enter write-offs: How Do I Do Write-Offs?
To correct for an undercharge, simply enter the time ticket(s) or cost(s) now, and they will appear on the next bill you run. You can use the actual dates on the time tickets or costs, even if they are before the last bill was run. As long as the Start Date you set when you print the bill includes the date those charges were entered for, they will appear on the next bill, but nothing that you have already billed for will appear again.
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