Maintain Auto Postings - Cashbook

You can define up to 128 automatic posting transactions. You would use these for bank transactions which you can predict, such as standing orders and direct debits. They can be as frequent as once a month, or as infrequent as once a year.

If the definition file required by this option is not found, you are asked to create a new one – if you reply no you are returned to the menu, reply yes and an empty definition is created.

The first sixteen entries are displayed. You can use the <Page Down>, <Page Up>, <Home> and <End> keys to display the entries in groups of sixteen, and can choose any particular entry by keying its entry number <Enter>. (You can only choose the entry number of those which are displayed on the screen.) The maximum number of automatic postings you can define is 128.

This can take the value P (or PAYM) for a payment transaction, or R (or RECT) for a receipt transaction.

To remove an entry, then clear this field to blank and press <Enter>. You are asked "ERASE THIS ENTRY?”, to which you reply ‘Yes’ to confirm that you want it deleted, or ‘No’ to return to the Type input.

Type in the heading which you want to appear in the list of automatic postings. This heading is also used as the default description when you first create this posting. The heading can be up to 21 characters in length.

Enter here the date of the first payment or receipt for this posting. When you first set up this option, it doesn’t matter that it has already been running for a while, because a later parameter records the date of the last time this transaction was posted.

The system assumes that the posting is to occur on this day of the date entered here, so it helps to get the day right.

You are allowed to give start dates of 29th, 30th or 31st of the month. If the posting month — particularly February! — has fewer days than the apparent posting date for an automatic posting, then the posting date is brought forward. So a transaction with a start date of 31st January posts on 28th February (29th in a leap year) 31st March, 30th April, and so on.

Enter here the frequency in months. You would enter "1” for monthly, "3” for quarterly, "12” for annual. This can take any value between 1 and 12.

Many standing orders and direct debits define the number of payments (or receipts) which are to occur under them, and you enter the number of times here. The maximum is 99; the minimum is one. For example, enter 36 for a monthly standing order which is to last for three years. For a quarterly standing order over four years, you would enter 16 here.

This is calculated for you from the start date, the frequency, and the number of times entered above. If this is wrong for any reason, then <Escape> to the beginning of the line and adjust the start date, frequency and times.

Some standing orders have all their payments for the same value, except for the last (or first) one. The solution is to define two standing orders; one for one time less than the number of times required, and the other for just a single payment dated to be the last (or first) payment made.

When you first set up your cash book you will have standing orders and direct debits which have been running for some while. Enter here the date of the most recent posting which has gone through your account, and which you do not want to action through the automatic posting routine.For example, if you are entering data for (say) May and want to use the automatic routines for May’s transactions, then for a monthly transaction you would give the April date here as the last date actioned.

After confirming/entering these details you are asked to confirm they are OK before proceeding to the next stage - reply ‘No’ to return to the Type prompt for this transaction, ‘Yes’ to go to the next stage or <Escape> to take you back to the Update Which Entry Number prompt without recording any of the changes you may have made.

You must proceed with the next step to define the transaction details. Should you try to <Escape> at this point, you lose the details entered so far.

You must now complete the details of the automatic posting definition. This is a procedure exactly like entering a Payment or Receipt transaction as described above, with the exception that no journal number, period or date applies to the transaction definition. These are applied when the automatic posting is actually run. Only when you complete this part of the definition process is the definition updated.See the example transaction definition screen below.

You can link automatic postings to the sales and purchase ledgers too. For example, monthly lease/rental agreements often give you a composite VAT invoice which you may decide to enter through the purchase ledger to record VAT. The automatic posting can reference the purchase ledger account to post the payment, though it cannot do the allocation automatically!

Article ID: 1075
Created On: Wed, Jun 27, 2012 at 3:57 PM
Last Updated On: Mon, Jun 19, 2023 at 6:54 PM

Online URL: https://kb.datafile.co.uk/article/maintain-auto-postings-cashbook-1075.html