Introduction
PMWeb Payments are four tools that make tracking payment information simple and efficient.
Highlights include:
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Payments can be created directly from other PMWeb records
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Payments can be used to track deposits and advances
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Payments can be applied at multiple levels
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Note that this and related topics focus on payments as they appear and function in the PMWeb Cost Management module. The process is virtually identical in the Asset Management module but the screens and fields involved are slightly different.
Payment Records
Payment records can be created in several ways, including:
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By entering them directly in the
A/R and A/P Payments page
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By using the Add button on the
Payments Tab of a record (Progress Invoices, for example)
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It is important to understand that no matter which of these methods you use, an individual payment record is created in Cost Management/Payments.
This allows you a great deal of flexibility in deciding how payments are entered. Project Managers may prefer to record payments at the same time as they are entering invoices, perhaps to show that a deposit or partial payment was made. Clerks can create payment batches, submit them to the project accountant via PMWeb Workflow and then post them as approved payments. Your accounting department can continue processing payments in their software as they have always done and then Integration Manager can create those records in PMWeb for you.
The payment page uses the familiar layout: header information at the top of the page and tabs of data below.
Applying Payments
Two features make payments uniquely powerful:
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Payments can be applied at various levels.
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Payments can be applied at a level and then reapplied at a lower level.
The five levels at which payments can be applied are:
Payment Levels
When you create a payment you are actually creating two records. The first is the payment itself. The second, which is automatically created for you, is the application of the payment. Four dropdown lists in the header of the payment record determine the level at which the payment is saved and applied. These are:
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Program – which includes the “(Portfolio)” option
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Project – which includes the “*All*” option
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Contract or Commitment – which can be left blank
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Linked A/R or Linked A/P Invoice – which can be left blank
Note that these are “cascading” dropdowns. That means that if, for example, you select a specific project then you can only select contracts and Invoices that belong to that project.
As soon as you save the payment record the application record is created in the background. Note that, while the application has been made for you, it is not displayed in the payment record. Only additional applications of the payment appear. See the next section for more information.
Reapplying Payments
After you have created and applied a payment you can reapply it if you wish at one or more lower levels. This allows you to accept and record payments before specific records have been created in PMWeb. For example, you can use this technique to receive a deposit payment before you have created any invoices. Simply save the payment record at the contract level and later, when you have had a chance to create an invoice you can apply some or all of the payment to it.
Payments can be reapplied by:
Payment Batches
Payment batches offer a number of functional advantages. You can use them to:
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Create any number of payment records from a single batch
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A payment batch consists of summary information in the header and a details tab containing an unlimited number of payments. Payments can be added to a payment batch using any combination of these methods:
The selections you make for program and project in the
A/R and A/P Payment Batches Header Fields limit what payment records can be added to the details tab. For example, if you select a specific project in the header you can only add, link to or pay records for that project.