XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks Online
Country Restriction: Australia only
Risk Type: Cash Flow Risk
Business Function: Sales
Overview
The "Unpaid Income With A Cancelled Business" XBert checks for money owed to you by a customer whose Australian Business Number (ABN) has been cancelled. It matters because chasing payment from a business that is no longer registered can be difficult, so it pays to act early.
What it does
This XBert looks at your sales invoices and compares each customer's ABN against the Australian Business Register (ABR). It flags a customer when:
The customer's ABN is recorded on the ABR with a status of cancelled.
There is still money owing on one or more of that customer's invoices (an outstanding balance greater than $0.00).
The invoice is dated after the date the ABN was cancelled.
XBert finds the cancelled ABN in one of two ways: from the ABN saved on the customer's contact record, or, where no ABN is saved on the contact, from the most recent ABN XBert has seen for that customer.
How it works
XBert matches each customer's ABN to the Australian Business Register. When the ABN shows as cancelled and that customer still owes you money on an invoice raised after the cancellation date, XBert raises the alert. XBert groups all qualifying invoices for the same customer together and shows you the total amount outstanding.
To keep this alert relevant, XBert only counts invoices with a status of Draft, Submitted, Authorised or Paid. Invoices that have been voided or deleted are ignored. Invoices fully paid off (no balance owing) are not flagged, and invoices dated before the ABN was cancelled are deliberately left out.
This XBert applies to Australian organisations only and forms part of your accounts receivable risk monitoring.
Example/Use Case
Steve, who owns a local newsagency, sends an invoice for $85 to Dave's Plumbing for stationery supplies. A few weeks pass and the invoice is still unpaid. XBert checks Dave's Plumbing against the Australian Business Register and finds the ABN was cancelled last month. Because the invoice is dated after that cancellation, XBert alerts Steve. Steve contacts Dave and recovers the payment before the business closes for good. Without the alert, that $85 may have been written off as a bad debt.
Accounting software
This XBert runs on Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks Online.
Which countries it supports
Australia only. It relies on the Australian Business Register, so it does not apply to organisations in other countries.
Processes
This alert falls under the Bookkeeping - Sales (AR) area and helps reduce the risk of bad debt. To resolve it:
Confirm the customer's ABN using the ABN Lookup website to check the cancellation.
If the ABN saved against the contact is wrong or out of date, update the contact in your accounting system with the correct details.
If the cancellation is genuine, contact the customer to arrange payment of the outstanding amount while you still can.
Consider prioritising collection of these invoices, as recovering money from a deregistered business can become harder over time.
Avoid raising new invoices to a business with a cancelled ABN until its registration is confirmed.
Once the amount is collected, written off, or the contact details are corrected, mark the XBert as resolved.