Manually Generate Payments - Purchase Ledger

This procedure allows you to review accounts, one by one, and select transactions for payment. You choose accounts in the usual way. The procedure follows three steps:

Select the transactions to pay for this account

Complete the payment details

Update the ledger and allocate the payment to the selected transactions

Once you have confirmed the allocation (and therefore payment) date and the supplier account, you can ask the computer to make an initial selection for you, based on a payment date which you supply.If you reply N to this question, you proceed through to the next stage. If you reply Y, then you must confirm the payment date (you can choose a different date to that prompted).

SelectALL to display all transactions, both debits and credits. You may prefer to choose this option so that you can allocate any debits (payments and credit notes) as part of the payment process.

SelectDEBITS to display only debit transactions. An unlikely choice, except after choosing credits only, to check if any debits are present.

SelectCREDITS to display only credit transactions. Note that credits are invoices in the purchase ledger, as are payment adjustments.

UseSELECT-REFS to allow you to specify particular transactions using their reference numbers. For more details on this action review the equivalent section in the allocation procedures of the payment entry process above.

UseUPDATE to go to the next stage of the payment action once you have selected some invoices for payment. The payment value is given at PAY in the first window and must be positive (greater than zero) before you can choose this option.

SelectEXIT to abandon the payment generation routine for this supplier.

The first time you choose one of the actions which displays transactions, you are asked whether to show only outstanding transactions or not. Reply Yes or No as appropriate. Normally you should only need to see those which are still outstanding and would reply Yes. If, during the generate payment process, you want to reverse the allocation of a payment which you made earlier in this month, then you might reply No.

After confirming whether or not to display only outstanding transactions, the requested transactions are displayed for you to enter the amount to pay against each transaction.

The options you can use to generate the amount to pay on each transaction are:

Enter an amount to pay. The value cannot be more than the outstanding amount on the transaction in question. This amount is added to the debit (DB) or credit (CR) values at the top of the screen, and the PAY value is adjusted accordingly. If you allocate an incorrect amount, you may return and re-enter the correct amount. Leaving the amount zero or blank means that nothing is paid from this transaction (and if you had entered a value during this procedure, it will be reversed).

Enter the letter A to allocate the full amount outstanding on the transaction.This saves you having to key the amount.Again the values at the top of the screen are adjusted accordingly.

Enter the word AUTO <Enter> to start the automatic allocation process. This marks the outstanding amount on every transaction to pay, and adds this to the PAY value in the first window.

If an invoice (credit) has settlement discount details recorded against it then the allocation window at the bottom of the screen displays these details.

The allocation window shows the settlement discount available, the net allocation value if settlement is taken and the due date up to which the discount was/is available. If you choose to apply the settlement discount entering N for Net updates the net amount as the allocation value, and prompts to write off the balance as discount.

Once you have marked all the transactions you wish to pay, and provided the PAY value is positive, you can choose the UPDATE action to proceed to the next stage.

You are shown the total value of transactions you have selected, and can key <Enter> to proceed to the next stage. If you want to abandon this payment, then key <Escape> here to return to the account code prompt for another account.

Completing Payment Details

Now you are given the standard payment screen used when posting a payment (see Enter Payments above). The date is already supplied, and you are asked to complete the reference and description fields. If you wish to print a cheque for the payment, either as part of the remittance at the end of this process or separately later, then you should leave the reference blank.

In the lower half of the screen, as shown above, you are now asked to complete the bank analysis code (the nominal ledger bank code, or general code if no nominal ledger is linked to the purchase ledger).

Finally the amount received and discount given fields are given. If any settlement discount is due, then this is already reflected in the discount field. You may, however, override the calculated discount and substitute your own value by altering the two fields accordingly. The sum of the two fields must come to the correct payment total, and you are warned if this is not so.

Update Ledger and Print Remittance

Finally you are asked if you wish to update the ledger files. If so reply ‘Yes’, if you reply ‘No’ you are returned to the reference prompt in the screen above, so that you may amend the final payment details.

If you want to abandon the payment completely, <Escape> from the update question, and you are returned to the account code prompt at the start of the process.

If you elect to update the ledger, then you have a final option to decide whether or not to print a remittance advice for this supplier. If you reply ‘No’ then you are returned to the account code prompt so that you may initiate a manual payment for another supplier. If you reply ‘Yes’ then a remittance advice is printed before returning you to the account code prompt.