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Sales vs Prepayment

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Posted on by rcboiler

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The 3rd invoice in this list is a prepayment invoice. you will notice it has a negative sales amount. should a prepayment invoice count against the total sales or simply not count?

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OussamaSabbouh 17,104 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hello,

A prepayment invoice shouldn’t be counted in total sales since it’s an advance payment, not actual revenue.

It’s recorded as a liability until the final invoice is posted.

Only the final invoice reflects real sales in your reports.

Regards,
Oussama

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rcboiler 1,280 on at

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So you are saying that BC should be showing a 0 rather than a negative sales value, correct?

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Sumit Singh 11,797 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi,
In BC, a prepayment invoice represents an advance payment (deposit) requested from the customer before goods or services are delivered. It is not considered revenue at the time of posting because:

The amount is posted to a liability account (Prepayment G/L account) until the final invoice is issued.

The prepayment invoice does not affect actual sales revenue; it only reduces the outstanding balance on the order.

When the final invoice is posted, the prepayment amount is applied, and only then does the revenue get recognized.

Therefore, a prepayment invoice should not count toward total sales. It is a financial liability until the goods or services are delivered and the final invoice is posted.
Official Microsoft Documentation:

Invoice prepayments - Business Central

Set up and invoicing sales prepayments

Create prepayment invoices

Key excerpt:

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rcboiler 1,280 on at

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So we are in agreement that BC should not be showing the negative sales amount as indicated in the initial post, correct?

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Valentin Castravet 32,748 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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In the Customer Ledger Entries, the prepayment invoice amount should appear as a positive value, not negative as shown in your screenshot. I tested it as well, and it shows as positive. Do you have any customizations that might be affecting this?

Valentin Castravet
Work: Zander ERP Services
Blog: Dynamics 365 Business Central Insights
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/valentin-c-0500a247/

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Rishabh Kanaskar 6,229 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi,

A prepayment invoice should normally show as a positive amount, because it represents an amount the customer owes (a receivable), not revenue.

Thanks

Rishabh

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Khushbu Rajvi. 22,551 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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I agree with Valentine. The prepayment invoice amount should appear as a positive value in the Customer Ledger Entries. Please check if there is any customization or review all the setups. You can also try setting it up from scratch in a new company and verify the results.

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