About Order Invoicing and Shipments (Japan)

After a company in Japan ships orders to the customer, the company normally does not invoice the order until they receive approval from the customer to confirm that the customer is satisfied with the quality of the delivered goods. The invoicing process has two parts:

  • The company immediately recognizes the sales transaction by booking this journal entry to ensure that the sales on the accounting books are current:
    Dr   Sales
      Cr Unbilled Accounts Receivable
  • On the cutoff date, which is the monthly invoicing date as agreed with by the customer, the company issues an invoice with invoicing details to the customer and creates these journal entries:

    To reverse the accrual entry from Shipment Post:

    Dr   Sales
      Cr Unbilled Accounts Receivable

    To create the Invoice Journal entry:

    Dr   Accounts Receivable
      Cr Unbilled Accounts Receivable

All shipments made on or before the cutoff date are included in the invoice for that month. Set the invoice date to match the cutoff date. The invoice due date is calculated from the cutoff date.

There are some restrictions on invoicing in the Country Pack for Japan:

  • Invoices cannot be voided.
  • Invoice numbers cannot be reset or reused in subsequent fiscal years.
  • Progressive invoicing, RMA credit memos, and price adjustment invoicing have not been modified to support the features in this country pack.