Manual
Posting sales
Posting a sales document writes into three ledgers at once: the customer’s (what they owe), the item ledger (what left stock, and at what cost) and the general ledger (the sale, the VAT, the receivable and the cost of goods sold).
What each posting writes
| Posting | Customer ledger | Item ledger | General ledger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ship (order) | Nothing | A Sale entry taking the items out of stock at their cost | Cost of goods sold debited, inventory credited |
| Invoice (order) | An Invoice entry for the total including VAT | The sales amount added to the shipped entries | Receivable debited; sales and VAT credited |
| Post (invoice), Ship and Invoice (order) | Both of the above in one posting | ||
| Post (credit memo), Receive and Credit (return order) | A Credit Memo entry, lowering the balance | A Sale entry bringing the items back, at the cost they left with | The invoice’s postings, the other way round |
Each posting keeps a posted document: a Posted Sales Shipment, Posted Sales Invoice, Posted Return Receipt or Posted Sales Credit Memo, numbered from its series on Sales Receivables Setup. Its lines keep each line’s Account Name (the item’s, account’s or resource’s name as it was), whatever the description said.
Which accounts
| Amount | Account | Decided by |
|---|---|---|
| The receivable (total including VAT) | Receivables Account | The bill-to customer’s Customer Posting Group |
| The sale (item and resource lines, without VAT) | Sales GL Account | General Posting Setup: the document’s Gen. Bus. Posting Group with the line’s Gen. Prod. Posting Group |
| The sale (G/L account lines) | The line’s own account | The line |
| The VAT | Sales VAT GL | VAT Posting Setup: the document’s VAT Bus. Posting Group with the line’s VAT Prod. Posting Group |
| The cost of the items sold | COGS Account | General Posting Setup, as the sale |
| The stock that left | Inventory Account | Inventory Posting Setup: the line’s location with the item’s Inventory Posting Group |
See Posting groups for the whole picture.
An example from the bakery
Aisha posts a sales invoice to Kisementi Fresh Market (customer posting group DOMESTIC) for 55 white loaves (general product posting group BREAD, VAT STANDARD at 18%) at the agreed 4,600, from the BAKERY location. The line amount is 253,000 including VAT: 214,406.78 for the bread and 38,593.22 of VAT. The loaves cost the bakery about 2,300 each to bake.
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| 110400 Trade Debtors | 253,000.00 | |
| 210100 Sales of Bread and Buns | 214,406.78 | |
| 120300 VAT Payable/Receivable | 38,593.22 | |
| 220100 Cost of Bread and Buns Sold | about 126,500 | |
| 110520 Finished Goods Inventory | about 126,500 |
Kisementi’s customer ledger entry is an Invoice of 253,000, due 30 days after the posting date, its payment terms. The item ledger has a Sale of −55 at BAKERY, whose value entry carries both the cost and the sales amount of 214,406.78. The Posted Sales Invoice opens once it is posted.
Tip
Before posting, Preview Post shows these entries without writing them. The Assistant does the same when you ask “what will happen if I post this invoice?”, and shows the G/L entries in a table.
Where to look afterwards
| Page | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Customer Ledger Entries | Each invoice, credit memo, payment and refund, with its Due Date, Original Amount, Remaining Amount and whether it is still Open. A due date in red is overdue. |
| Detailed Customer Ledger Entries | How each entry was made up and settled: its initial entry, its applications and any exchange differences. |
| General Ledger Entries | The G/L entries, each with its Source Name (the customer) and Bal. Account Name. |
| Item Ledger Entries, Value Entries | The stock that left, and its cost and sales amount. |
| Posted Sales Invoices | The invoices, their due dates and totals. |
Customer Summary Aging and Customer Detailed Aging age what customers owe by due date: not due, then 1-30, 31-60, 61-90 and over 90 days overdue. Customer Balances and Customer Statement (search for it) tell each customer’s figures.