Backloading Accounts Payable into ESC Accounting

When first switching over to ESC Accounting from a previous accounting system, you'll want to make sure that you bring over all of your payable records.  This will ensure that your bills don't go unpaid, therefore avoiding disruptions in business.  

Setup

The first thing you'll need to do is enter your vendors into ESC.  Vendors are anyone you'll be paying bills to - including suppliers, utility companies, tax collectors, etc..  You'll enter your vendors into ESC by going to the Vendor Center and clicking Add Vendor.  

Learn more about creating vendors.

When you're ready to begin backloading your bills, head to Company → Select Open Accounting Period and select the oldest period created at the bottom of the list.  This will allow items to be entered without getting a "Period is closed" error.

Create Bills

To create the bills, head to Vendors → Enter Bills.

Enter outstanding invoices into AP and use the “Invalid Account” as the debit account for the entire amount including shipping, etc. It probably is not a good idea to enter lump sum invoices for vendors in this case to avoid confusion when you pay the bills.

Check Totals

After all open invoices are entered, view the Open Invoice Report by going to Vendors → Reports → Open Invoice Report.  The report total from ESC should match the AP balance on the Trial Balance and/or the Open Invoice Report from your previous accounting package. If the balances do not match, print an Open Invoice Report from both packages and compare them to find the discrepancy.

Backloading Vendor 1099 Amounts

From Banking → Write Checks, enter a check for the total amount paid to each vendor year to date using a date that falls in or prior to your “Backload Period.” These checks should be marked clear before you reconcile your checking account the first time. To do this, go to Banking → Account Register and put a check mark in the Clr column.