XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks Online
Country Restriction: All supported countries
Risk Type: Financial Reporting Risk
Business Function: Sales
Overview
This XBert finds sales invoices that are still sitting in Draft or Awaiting Approval (Submitted) status. Until an invoice is approved, the income it represents does not appear in your reports, so your figures can be understated and your tax may be affected.
What it does
XBert scans your sales invoices and groups any that are still in Draft or Awaiting Approval status by the month they are dated. For each affected month it shows how many invoices are outstanding and their combined value, so you can see at a glance where unapproved income is building up.
How it works
Each time your data syncs, XBert reviews your sales invoices across a rolling 12-month period and raises one alert for every month that still contains invoices in Draft or Awaiting Approval status.
To keep the alert focused on issues you can act on, XBert deliberately ignores some invoices:
Invoices that have already been approved (authorised), voided or deleted are not flagged.
The most recent month or two are left out, because invoices dated very recently are often still being prepared and approved as part of normal day-to-day work.
Only invoices with a value greater than zero are included, and only invoices dated from 2022 onwards.
The alert updates automatically as you work through it, and clears once every flagged invoice for that month has been approved, voided or deleted.
Example/Use Case
Mark from MBA Cleaning raises a $6,000 invoice to Sea View Holiday Apartments for cleaning services. He saves it in Draft and forgets to approve it. Sea View pays promptly, but because the invoice was never approved, the income is missing from Mark's reports. His Profit and Loss is understated and his activity statement (BAS) could be wrong. Once Mark approves the invoice and matches it to the payment, his books line up again.
Accounting software
This XBert runs on Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks Online.
Which countries it supports
This XBert is available in all supported countries.
Processes
This alert falls under the Sales (AR) business area and helps you keep your income complete and your reporting accurate. To resolve it:
Open the list of invoices flagged for the month in question.
Review each invoice still in Draft or Awaiting Approval status.
Approve (authorise) any invoice that is valid so the income is recorded correctly.
Void or delete any invoice that is a duplicate or no longer needed.
If an approved invoice has already been paid, match it to the payment.
Once every flagged invoice for that month has been approved, voided or deleted, mark the XBert as resolved.