Some topics about the Credit and collections 'Aged balances' in D365FO (or AX)

In D365FO you have the Credit and collections module to follow up open customer payment amounts. In AX 2012 a part of these options also exists, but you will not find the Credit and collections module there. This module came in D365FO, in AX 2012 these functions are part of the Accounts Receivable module.

In this article I focus om two topics of this module, based on questions that I got about it. I will write about:

1. Setup and refresh of the Aged balances (AX 2012: Collections) snapshot, including a link to another article where I describe how you can add the update date of the customer aging in the form.
2. The difference between 'Actions' and 'Tasks' in the customer transaction details form.

Setup and refresh of the Aged balances (AX 2012: Collections) snapshot.

In D365FO in the Credit and collections module you can find the 'Aged balances' form.

In this form you will find all open customer amounts, based on column dividings of how long this amount is due:

In the print screen above you see the columns from the Microsoft Contoso demo environment, but you can setup your own columns in the 'Aging period definitions'. For example you also can create columns with 1 week overdue, 2 weeks overdue, 3 weeks overdue and so on:

Be aware of the interval use 'Unlimited' at the first and last column, to be sure that you will nog miss open customer amounts and you have a difference between the total of all columns and the open amount of the customer.

The aging period definition you want to use in this form can you setup in the Credit and Collections parameters (in AX 2012 the Accounts Receivable parameters).

The Customer Aging is a snapshot. This means that the amounts are presented based on the last time that the amounts are refreshed. This update can be done with the periodic task 'Age customer balances'. I have written about this (and the option to add this snapshot date in the form) in this article .

The difference between 'Actions' and 'Tasks' in the details behind this form

When you click on a customer name in the Aged balances form, you will go to the customer details form. Here you will see each open customer transaction and you have the option to do follow up task for this customer. At the top of the form you find the option to create an 'Action', 'Appointment', 'Event' or 'Task':

In trainings or at consultancy projects I often get the question what the difference is between an Action and a Task and between an Appointment and Event. Basically the answer is very simple:

• An 'Action' is a registration for an activity you already did, a 'Task' is a registration for an activity you need to do.
• An 'Event' is a registration for time filling which already is finished, an 'Appointment' is registration for time filling in the future that you need to do.

This is also the reason why by creating an 'Action', you will see the word 'Completed' twice: