Agency Credit Limits and Credit Management

Purpose of this document

Credit limits are used to control the maximum credit amount extended to an agency and is supported by the credit management tools in Ceres. A credit limit is established at the agency level and is also displayed in summary format at the parent agency level. Ceres uses the credit limit information to perform a validation test when completing agency journals, agency orders and invoices. It tests the agency header and individual agency lines to see whether the credit limit has been exceeded. If the credit limit is left blank, there will be no credit limit rules for this agency.

If you establish a credit limit in Ceres, and set the corresponding rules in Agency Express, you can prevent agencies from ordering more than their credit limit via the web portal.

Ceres Object release 6.00.00 is required for the functionality described in this document.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Credit Limit Warnings Setup
• Entering a Credit Limit on an Agency Card
• Using Credit Management

Credit Limit Warnings Setup

1. The setup for Credit Warnings can be accessed from the Agencies & Receivables Setup. Agencies & Receivables Setup can be accessed by selecting “Search” from the Dynamics 365 Business Central Banner and entering “Agencies & Receivables Setup” in “Tell me what you want to do” then selecting “Agencies & Receivables Setup” from the results in the Go to Pages and Tasks section OR by selecting the “Agencies & Receivables Setup” menu action (if present) from your Role Center home page.

Credit Warnings: This field controls which credit warnings are displayed by Ceres when you create an Agency document (Order, Invoice, Return Order, and Credit Memo). The available options are:

Both Warnings: Both the Credit Limit and the Balance Due fields on the Agency Card are checked, and a warning is shown if the Agency has exceeded its credit limit or if the Agency has an overdue balance.

Credit Limit: The value in the Credit Limit field on the Agency’s card is compared with the Agency’s balance and a warning is shown if the Agency’s balance exceeds this amount.

Overdue Balance: The Balance Due field on the Agency Card is checked and a warning is shown if the Agency has an overdue balance.

No Warning: No warnings are shown.

Note: If an Agency has exceeded their Credit Limit the User will not be able to override the Credit Limit Warning and proceed with the transaction unless the “Override Credit Limit Warning” option is selected on User Setup.

Apply Grants to Credit Warning: This option is only available when Credit Warnings is set to Both Warnings or Credit Limit. Selection of this option will include the amount of grant coverage in the calculation for the Agency’s credit limit overage determination.

Entering a Credit Limit on an Agency Card

1. The Credit Limit can be accessed from Agencies.

2. Select the Agency that you wish to edit from the List. Then click on Edit on Manage/Edit or click the Agency number to open the Agency Card.

3. Enter or change the credit limit as required.

Note: To change a Credit Limit on an Agency the user must have the Modify Credit Limit option selected on the User Setup page.

The parent agency credit limit represents the Sum of all the agency credit limits. The credit limit is managed at the agency level – the credit limit is not automatically transferrable between agencies of a parent.

Using Credit Management

1. Agency Credit Management can be accessed by selecting “Search” from the Dynamics 365 Business Central Banner and entering “Agency Credit Management” in “Tell me what you want to do” then selecting “Agency Credit Management” from the results in the Go to Pages and Tasks section OR by selecting the “Agency Credit Management” menu action (if present) from your Role Center home page.

2. Select the Agency that you want to work with from the List.

3. Credit Management consists of the Agency List and various sections in the FactBoxes. You can use the Expand and Collapse features to edit the views.

Agency List: Displays a List of the Agencies. You may set filters on this list to limit the number of accounts that you work with at any one time.

Credit Information: Displays a selection of information from the Agency Card. Some of these fields may be editable from this list depending on the individual permissions of the user.

Agency Comments: Displays the Agency Comments. You may be able to insert additional comments to edit existing comments.

Agency Order Status: Display a list of the open orders for the selected Agency and the status of each order. You may drill down on this list to view the entire order.

Agency Line Status: Display a list of the open Lines for the selected agency and the status of each Line. You may drill down on this list to view the entire order.

Agency Statistics: Bill to Agency:  Displays the current Agency Statistics for the selected Agency. You may drill into the various fields to see the orders that make up the statistical values.

Agency Sales History: Displays the Agency Sales History as a statistical format for the selected Agency. You may drill into the various fields to see the orders that make up the statistical values.

Note: You may not edit the credit limit or block an agency from the credit management Pages. You will need to go directly to the Agency Card to edit these fields.