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Preliminary Booking

It is possible to make a preliminary booking of a Purchase Invoice upon arrival. In some companies, Purchase Invoices are passed around within the organisation for some time, in order for the expense to be approved and classified properly.

When you use this option, you can enter the Invoice to the Purchase Invoice register as soon as you receive it. In the illustration below, a Purchase Invoice has been entered and the Prel. Book box checked.

When you save the Purchase Invoice, if so defined in the Sub Systems setting in the Nominal Ledger, FirstOffice will create a preliminary Nominal Ledger Transaction for the Invoice. This Transaction will contain normal VAT and Cost Account postings but, instead of the usual Creditor Account, a preliminary Account (defined on the 'Creditors' card of the Account Usage P/L setting) is credited.

Until you have approved the Invoice, you can still change it, even though this Transaction has been created. When you approve and save it, a new Nominal Ledger Transaction will be created, reversing the posting to the preliminary Account, replacing it with a debit to the normal Creditor Account.

After you have entered the Purchase Invoice and caused the preliminary Transaction to be created, you can change the Cost Accounts in any of the Purchase Invoice rows. These changes will be reflected in the final Nominal Ledger Transaction, created when you approve the Purchase Invoice. Shown below is such a Transaction, where the Cost Account of 742 used at first has been changed to 440.

If you credit a preliminary Purchase Invoice, you will no longer be able to change or approve it, and the preliminary Transaction will be treated as the final one. This ensures that the Nominal Ledger remains correct.