I would like to use one date, the invoice date, for all three of these date fields.  I understand the reason many use a different due date (because this effects the ageing report) however we don't use an ageing report.  I don't understand what the need is for a seperate invoice and post date.  Can someone explain because it is my understanding from my business law class that a debt is due once the service has been completed(good received) and notification of the debt has been received via the invoice.  So therefore it is my opinion that utilizing the invoice date for all three date fields (Invoice, Post, and in my case Due) is the simplist and most useful method.   This would also allow one to know which period a particular invoice was posted into at a glance by looking at the date on the check stub.    Also this would eliminate any reconciliation issues I have read about on this forum due to having invoice and post dates that are in different periods.

So what is the benefit of having a post date that is different from the Invoice date?

Does anyone else use the same post date and invoice date and agree it would simplify things and have some benefits...such as knowing what the post date is via the check stub and speeding up AP invoice entry, etc.?

Thanks,

 Adrian    

Hi Adrian!

In The Financial Edge we recommend to use the Invoice Date and the Post Date as the same date for reconciling purposes.  I have listed an example below where dates could prevent us from reconciling to $0.

Example: I have an Invoice that has an Invoice Date in June, however, I am not posting this until July.  June is my fiscal year end.  Due to this, the Invoice will show on the reports in Accounts Payable for June, however, it will not show on the General Ledger report until July.  

It is definitely a preference as to what dates to use within The Financial Edge, however, I did want to provide an example of how this could cause our reconciliations to go awry.  In the latest version of The Financial Edge we also have some transaction controls over what dates are being used in The Financial Edge.  If we click on General Ledger, Configuration, Business Rules, and then Transaction rules there will be various date options to better control the transactions in The Financial Edge.  

Thank you for using the Forums and for your post!  

Thanks!

Kristen Decker

Hi Adrian,

Unforutnately I disagree with the previous post. We used to use the invoice date as the post date and could NEVER reconcile to the GL as there would always be an invoice being back dated. So now we use "today" as the post date. The only exception to using today as the post date is at the beginning of the month (where we may want a specific invoice to go to the previous month) or at the end of our fiscal year and we may want an invoice to go to the previous year. Once everyone in the company is aware of the posting system, they tend to get their invoices to you quicker!!! Yes, it does show as a different date in the GL, but you can always look in A/P to find the invoice/paid date and you will be able to balance A/P.

I also stamp my PO's/invoices as I receive them and when I enter them. That way if it takes someone 2 months to get PO's/invoices to you, there is no question as to when you recevied it!

We also use the correct due date (10,30 etc). Otherwise how would you know the terms unless you looked at each invoice? I run checks every week (usually on Tuesdays). I use the post date for the checks as "today", and the invoice due date (and discount date)  I use the following Friday date. We mail our checks on Friday so this gives enough time for mailing to get to them on time.

Every company is different, but this has been our experience.

Hope this helps!

Joanne