Procedures & Implementation

To make sure that the cash flows are configured to Cloud Kicks' business needs, Linda invites Axel Martel from the Sales team to test with her in their sandbox.
Before we begin, she explains that using cash flow covers the use case where a customer payment pays multiple invoices, which is not covered by using the Payment object alone.

Reminder of the definition

Cash flow refers to the movement of cash, in or out, that a company experiences during a specific period. A cash flow therefore concerns banking transactions generated during the year.

How Cashflows work

In normal circumstances, the use of invoice payments alone may be sufficient. However, it can happen that a payment balances several invoices. In this case, there is no link between the payments. The cash flow is an additional information that allows to better reflect the bank movements. The payment records then become a link between the cash flows and the invoices.

Thus, for each bank entry, a cash flow should be created. It can then be manually distributed to one or more invoices by creating payments.

Axel and Linda have understood the principle well, now they would like to set up records to get into practice.

Tips for using cash flows

The implementation can be done during the year when the need arises.

Beware:Once you start using it, it is recommended that you use cash flows to store all incoming payments and keep your data consistent.
For example, even if a payment is only intended to balance a single invoice, you will need to create a cash flow record for it first and then a payment.

Steps to create a cash flow

First, to find the cash flows, you need to enter Cash Flow in the application launcher at the top left.

Create Cash Flows manually

1. Click on New.
2. Fill in the information as it appears in the bank, including the credit amount, date, payer account and Corporate Name for which the payment is intended, and save.

Your cash flow is created!

Note: You can either do this manually as shown here, or import a file as suggested below, or make a connection with a banking system with the help of a Salesforce integrator.

Linda is curious to test the Import button. She quickly prepares a small CSV file for her test.

Import Cash flows

Here is the simple file that was created by Linda for this example:

If you have accounts with identical names, it may be necessary to use the Salesforce IDs of the accounts rather than their names. You will then have to go through an intermediate step to associate a Salesforce ID with an account identified from the bank entry.

Import cash flows extracted from your bank into Frisbii in bulk

It uses the Salesforce import wizard described in this training module .
It is of course possible to use other methods such as Dataloader or the free browser extension Salesforce Inspector .

Click on Import.
The Salesforce Import Assistant opens:
1. Click on Cash flows in the Custom Objects column.
2. Then click on Add new records in the second column.
3. Choose the Account Name.
4. And the Corporate Name Name.
5. Drag your CSV file into the upload zone.
If necessary change the character code and separation value.
Click on Next.
A mapping validation page is displayed. Make sure that for each row, the data type in the grey columns matches. If everything is OK, click on Next.
A summary page will appear. Check the information and if everything is OK click on Start Import.
A confirmation pop-up window appears next. Click on OK.
The bulk data loading task page is displayed with the details of the operation you have just started. Check that everything went well. The import may take some time depending on the amount of data you wish to import.
Feel free to check in a list view like below, or a report, that the last cash flows created are what you expected.

You have correctly imported your cash flows. You now need to letter these payments, i.e., allocate them to the invoices.

Note: A lettering assistance tool is planned in the Frisbii roadmap. In the meantime, you can either do it manually or develop your own lettering assistance mechanism.

Axel and Linda are happy with the result of their import. Now they would like to know how to integrate these cash flows into their daily creation of payments.

Apply a cash flow to invoices by creating new payments

Open a cash flow.
From the related list Payments, click on the arrow and then New.
Fill in the information to create the payment. You must choose the amount and the invoice on which you apply this payment.
Automatically, the balance of the cash flow will evolve according to the settlements already created.
Repeat steps 1 to 3 to distribute the amount of this cash flow to the desired invoices.

Apply a cash flow to existing pending payments

You may be using Frisbii's payment schedule functionality.
An invoice may therefore be awaiting several payments.
Instead of starting from the cash flow to create the payments, this time you will fill in the cash flow on the existing payment.

1. Note or remember the cash flow number to be applied.
2. Go to the settlement record you want to associate.
3. Fill in the cash flow field of the settlement with the one you noted in step 1 and uncheck Pending.

4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 until the cash flow is fully distributed.

Notes:

There is no validation rule preventing over-allocation of a flow. However, you can create your own.
A lettering tool is being developed to automatically propose open invoices or pending payments to be lettered with a cash flow.
The import of your bank file will probably not be possible without a transformation of the file so that it corresponds to the expected format.

Linda and Axel continue their tests. They want to propose validation rules to the sales team before going into production. Also, they ask Mary how they could anticipate the import of the bank file. Mary shows them an example. Once their concept is completed, they have planned a training session for the sales team.