Accounts Receivable - Posting
Posting Transactions
The term posting is an accounting phrase used to describe the process of updating the general ledger account balances with transaction amounts. In accounting terms, posting simply means updating. In the Accounts Receivable module, the posting process is an important part of the system because this is where the system updates the following information:
- General Ledger Account Balances
- Inventory On Hand Amounts
- Sales History Information
Setup Prior to Posting
Before posting transactions in GrowPoint, you must set up the posting flags on the A/R Setup screen.
Choose the files to update before postingPost to G/L: This flag should always be checked, even if you don’t actually update your general ledger system from GrowPoint.
Post to Inventory: This flag should be checked to update inventory during the posting process. Refer to the Updating Inventory Quantities section for additional information about posting to inventory.
Post to Sales History: The Sales History File keeps detailed Sales Order information in a separate file. The Sales History reports by Customer and Item are based on information taken from Sales Order records during posting.
General Ledger Transactions
There are four types of general ledger transactions in the Accounts Receivable module: Sales,Payments, Credits, and Interest. Each of these transactions has an effect on the customers account balance. Anytime a transaction is posted in GrowPoint, the system locates the specific general ledger account numbers and corresponding dollar amounts to create a balance entry for the general ledger.
Updating Inventory Quantities
The posting process also has an effect on inventory on hand quantities. Only sales and credit transactions contain inventory information so these are the only types of transactions that are posted to inventory.
Sales Orders
When a sales order is posted to inventory, the shipped quantity for each line item is subtracted from the on hand quantity of the inventory record. If a line item has also been allocated to a location, the allocated ship quantity is subtracted from the item location on hand quantity.
For Example, sales order and inventory information before posting:
| Order No. | Description | Ackn | Qty | Ship Qty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10002 | Abies concolor 3’ | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 10002 | Abies concolor 4’ | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| 10002 | Acer ginnala ‘Flame’ 4’ | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Description | On Hand | CommittedAvailable | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abies concolor 3’ | 450 | 135 | 315 |
| Abies concolor 4’ | 300 | 175 | 125 |
| Acer ginnala ‘Flame’ 4’ | 650 | 500 | 150 |
When a sales order is posted to inventory, the system subtracts the ship quantity from the inventory on hand quantity to reflect the item being shipped to a customer. Remember that when the order was entered, the system added the acknowledged quantity to the inventory committed quantity to reflect the quantity that was sold but not yet shipped. During inventory posting, the committed amount is reduced because the item is no longer being ‘reserved’ for the customer.
Notice the new inventory information after posting:
| Order No. | Description | Ackn | Qty | Ship Qty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10002 | Abies concolor 3’ | 3 | 3 |
| 10002 | Abies concolor 4’ | 5 | 5 |
| 10002 | Acer ginnala ‘Flame’ 4’ | 15 | 0 |
| Description | On Hand | Committed | Available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abies concolor 3’ | 447 | 132 | 315 |
| Abies concolor 4’ | 295 | 170 | 125 |
| Acer ginnala ‘Flame’ 4’ | 650 | 485 | 165 |
In the case where an item is acknowledged but not shipped, the system still reduces the committed quantity by the acknowledged quantity, however the on hand quantity is not updated because nothing is shipped. This is usually the case when an item is ordered, but not shipped. If the amount that was not shipped will become a ‘backorder’, the system still updates committed during inventory posting. During the backorder process, the item is recommitted.
In the case where the item isn’t backordered, the system has already updated inventory and does not reserve or commit the remaining amount that is never shipped.
The same process occurs when inventory locations are allocated to a line item. Each line item allocation is posted to its corresponding item location record using the exact same logic as described above.
Credit Memos
When a credit memo is posted, the same process occurs except in reverse. Instead of subtracting on hand quantities, the system adds the quantities back into on hand. This only happens if the line item on a credit memo is checked as being ‘returned to inventory’. In the event that an item is being credited but never returned to inventory, the system does not add the quantity back to inventory.If the item has been assigned locations, it will not be returned to inventory regardless of whether the box is checked or not.
Updating Sales History
In GrowPoint, Sales History is a detailed record of each line item sold to a customer. This information is saved in a special file that can be saved for historical reporting and analysis.
The Sales History file is used to report sales order totals by customer or item code. For example, how many Acer ginnala ‘Flame’ 4’ were sold last year or how much did Green Nursery purchase last month?
Select Transactions to Post
The Posting screen is where transactions are selected for posting. From the GrowPoint Main Menu, select the A/R Menu and then select Post to display the following screen:
Select the type of transactionEnter the transaction date range
List of results appears here
The system defaults the posting date and the Select Transactions Through Date with the current system date. Only transactions with transaction dates on or prior to the through date appear in the list of transactions.
Transactions to post: There are four types of transactions to post in Accounts receivable:
| Trans Type | Posting Description |
|---|---|
| Sales | Only Sales Order checked Ready to Post to G/L or Ready to Post to Inventory appear when this option is checked. |
| Payments | Only Payment records are posted when this option is selected. |
| Credits | Only Credit Memo records are posted when this option is selected. |
| Interest | Only Interest records are posted when this option is selected. |
| All | To include all transactions, select this option. |
Posting Date: This date is used to identify the date of posting, not the transaction date.
Select Transaction Dates From and Through: Enter the beginning and ending date
| Transaction Type | Transaction Date for Posting |
|---|---|
| Sales | Sales Order Ship Date |
| Payments | Payment Date |
| Credits | Credit Date |
| Interest | Interest Date |
Select FOB: To display records that have a specific FOB, select an FOB from the drop down list. This option only displays selected Sales Orders, Credits, Payment or Interest Transactions that match the selected FOB code.
Post Orders to Inventory Only: Checking this box will allow the system to post only the inventory information during the posting run.
When transitions that match the selected criteria for posting appear in the lower section of the posting screen, the next step is to check the post column to indicate the transaction should be posted. A quick way to mark all transactions is to double-click the Post column heading. This action checks each transaction to be included in the posting.
Posting Preview Report
Before committing the selected transactions for posting, you should preview the posting register to determine if the transactions are balanced. The Preview Post button gives the ability to see exactly what is to be posted without committing any changes to the general ledger or inventory.
Posting Batches
When the OK button is selected on the Posting screen, the system assigns a batch number to the selected transactions and groups the totals together to create a batch total. This information is used to create the External Posting Batch File that holds the entries for the batch.
The Posting Register report appears on the screen, but can be printed to a printer if needed. If you forget to print the Posting report, you can reprint the report through the General Ledger Report Menu.
Notice that the report shows the batch number assigned to the posting batch. This number is maintained by the system and can’t be changed.
The Posting Register Report shows each transaction in the batch. Each sales, payment, credit, or interest transaction is detailed to show the General Ledger Account Numbers to be posted. A grand total of each debit and credit amount is also printed on the report.
After the Posting Register report appears, the system produces a Posting Summary report for the current batch. This report is different from the Posting Register because it summarizes the General Ledger Account Numbers on the report.
Out of Balance Transactions
GrowPoint does not post transactions that are out of balance. When a transaction is out of balance, the system displays the transaction on the screen prior to posting the remaining balanced transactions of the batch.
Transactions don’t balance because the total debits and total credits are not the same. Another reason that transactions don’t balance is due to missing General Ledger Account Numbers.