Hi sf17
First I'll explain accrual and cash accounting methods:
Accrual accounting is based on the invoice date, so if an invoice is dated the 29 June and paid on the 2 July it is included in June reporting.
Cash accounting is based on the payment date, so the above invoice would be included in July reporting.
Applying a payment to an invoice won't affect the GST accrual report because the invoice is reported according to the invoice date. Only the GST cash report for the period in which the payment was made would be affected.
Orders will not be reported in the accrual report until they have been converted to invoices. Any payments made against those orders will be reported in the period the payment is made in the cash report only.
With regard to your first scenario, an order is a request for a product or service while an invoice means that the product or service has been provided and payment is due. This means that you should be converting orders to invoices once the product or service is provided, not when the customer pays.
I'd recommend having a chat with your accountant about whether you are reporting on an accrual or cash basis. It would also be worth checking whether you should be retaining the original order date when you convert an order to an invoice or changing the date to the actual supply date.
Please let me know if you need further help with this.
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