---
title: "Academy S1. Specialist: Sales and Receivables"
description: "Specialist lesson 1: quotes, orders and invoices in depth, sales tax, payments, refunds and credits, recurring invoices and collections, and sales reporting."
url: "https://theasst.com/docs/academy-s1-specialist-sales-and-receivables/"
updated: "2026-10-30"
category: Academy
---

# Academy S1. Specialist: Sales and Receivables

*TBA Specialist: Sales and Receivables · about 6 hours*

## After this lesson you can

- Trace a sale from quote to cash and say what each document does to the books.
- Work out which sales tax code applies from how the goods are delivered.
- Record a payment, a deposit, an NSF, a refund and a credit, and say what each one changes.
- Set up and manage recurring invoices, and chase what is overdue.
- Pick the right sales report for a question.

## Why it matters

Sales is where most of a company's money starts. A specialist knows not just which button to press, but what that button posts to the ledger, so a problem can be found quickly and explained to a client.

## Read

- [Quotes](https://theasst.com/docs/quotes/)
- [Sales/Service Orders](https://theasst.com/docs/sales-service-orders/)
- [Invoices](https://theasst.com/docs/invoices/)
- [Client Payments](https://theasst.com/docs/client-payments/)
- [Deposits](https://theasst.com/docs/deposits/)
- [Credit Memos](https://theasst.com/docs/credit-memos/)
- [Recurring Invoices](https://theasst.com/docs/recurring-invoices/)
- [Payment Processing](https://theasst.com/docs/payment-processing/)
- [Client Statements](https://theasst.com/docs/client-statements/)
- [AR Aging](https://theasst.com/docs/ar-aging/)
- [Sales Summary](https://theasst.com/docs/sales-summary/), [Sales by Salesperson](https://theasst.com/docs/sales-by-salesperson/), [Sales by State](https://theasst.com/docs/sales-by-state-report/) and [Sales Tax Liability](https://theasst.com/docs/sales-tax-liability/)

## Orders and invoices

A **quote** posts nothing. It is a proposal, and the books change only when its invoice is saved. When you pick in-stock items on a **sales/service order**, TBA allocates units from specific inventory lots, so the stock and its cost are tracked from the order onward. Unit details on a quote or order let you pick from the lots actually in stock.

Saving an **invoice** posts a receivable and revenue (and any sales tax owed as a liability). If the invoice includes stocked items it also posts cost of goods sold and reduces inventory by the cost of the lots used. If an item is a **special order** that was never in stock, its cost goes straight to cost of goods sold when the vendor's bill arrives, and the item is recorded against the client's order and not as stock.

A deposit taken on a service order is converted and applied to the invoice made from it. Invoice Cost Analysis uses the cost stored on each invoice line, so margin stays accurate even after costs change later. A posted invoice is **voided, not deleted**: the void leaves a reversing record so the history stays complete. Notes about calls and emails go in the comms dialog on the document.

## Sales tax

The tax code follows the delivery. Delivered to the client's address uses the client's code; picked up at your counter uses your own site's code; shipped to another state collects no sales tax. The tax code on the client record is only a **default**; staff can change it on each order or invoice, and an invoice made from an order keeps the order's code. A company can map ZIP codes to tax codes so the right one is suggested from the delivery address.

Tax you collect is a **liability** you owe the tax authority until you remit it. It is not revenue. The Sales Tax Liability report shows what you owe each agency, by tax code.

## Payments, refunds and credits

A payment you receive sits in **Undeposited Funds** until you make a deposit, which moves it to the bank account. If a client pays more than the invoice, the extra stays as **unapplied credit** that you can apply to another invoice from the invoice's unapplied payments dialog.

A bounced check is recorded by voiding the payment as **NSF**, which makes the invoice owing again. **Refunds** can be full or partial and can go back to the card (through your own Stripe account), stay as account credit, or be paid out by check, cash or ACH. A refund needs the same permission as voiding a payment. A card refund is refused for a payment that is already in a bank deposit, a closed period or a reconciled statement. Refunding an applied payment reopens the invoice it settled.

## Recurring invoices and collections

A recurring series repeats daily, weekly, monthly or yearly. A **nightly job** creates the invoices that are due, so nobody has to be signed in. Prices are looked up again from the items each time. If the series is set to **auto-charge**, the saved card is charged and the client is emailed either way, even if the charge fails. Manage Recurring lets staff pause or cancel a series or change its payment method.

To collect, use **AR Aging**: clicking a client shows the open invoices behind the figure. **Client statements** can be sent for one client or in a batch, for a period or as of a past date; an as-of statement shows the account as it stood on that date.

## Sales reporting

Sales Summary shows what you sold by item type or department. Sales by Salesperson uses the salesperson credit set on each client. Sales by State groups sales by state. Every report can be exported as PDF or a spreadsheet. On the **cash basis** a sale shows when the payment is received; on the **accrual basis** it shows when it is invoiced, which is the usual reason two reports differ for the same month.

## Try it

1. On a test company, create a quote with a stocked item, turn it into an order, pick the lots, and invoice it.
2. Look at the invoice's ledger entry, and find where the cost of goods sold went.
3. Record a payment, leave part of it unapplied, then apply the credit to a second invoice.
4. Void a payment as NSF and watch the invoice reopen.
5. Create a monthly recurring invoice and pause it from Manage Recurring.

## Check yourself

Explain to a colleague, in your own words, what a quote, an invoice, a payment and a deposit each post to the books, and why sales tax is not revenue. A Specialist exam is planned for a later release; the areas it will cover are the five sections above.