Why my transactions don't post through GL even when I have the flag selected?
Are you tired of asking why is it that some transactions do post through GL and why some don't? Tired of changing the posting settings to no avail? This issue outta be one of the most confusing issues for users and consultants, new or seasoned alike. If you ever struggle with one issue in GP, please tell me it's this one, because even today, I cannot claim victory over this subject. So let's walk the walk together.
What the theory says?
According to Part 3, Chapter 13, page 87 of the Microsoft Dynamics GP's System Setup guide, "If you mark the Post Through General Ledger Files option, batches posted in other modules automatically will update the module in which the transactions originated and the appropriate posting accounts in General Ledger. Your transactions will post to General Ledger and not through General Ledger when posting transaction individually (without a batch)."
Now lets break it down...
It's important to really pay close attention to the theory: batches will post through GL, individual transactions will not, even if the Post Through General Ledger flag has been marked in the Posting Setup window. What this means is that every module with the capability of batching transactions should be able to post through GL, for example, Sales Order Processing, Purchase Order Processing, Inventory, Receivables Management, and Payables Management, right? Not always...
For example, voided transactions are handled like transactions posted individually. This is, when the void occurs, there will be a batch created in GL waiting to be posted.
The curious case of Bank Rec
The Bank Reconciliation module, even though it allows to save most transactions, it does not allow for Post Through GL to take effect. This is because all transactions in the Bank Rec module are treated as individual transactions.
Then there were the third party products...
Since post through GL was conceived for the core Dynamics dictionary modules, chances are that you will find only a few ISVs following the posting rules. Most integrating products will play safe and allow a batch to be created for review and future posting in the modules they integrate with.
Computer Checks and Analytical Accounting
The reason the option to Post Through to GL is not available for Computer Checks when AA is activated is to ensure that any AA analysis information for distribution accounts linked to accounting classes can be entered before transactions are posted to the GL. Because it is not possible to enter analysis information when building a check batch, the batch must be stopped before posting through so this information can be entered and validated. There is no AA validation on the check batch during a check run, so the validation must be done in the GL before posting. This is the reason why the system does not allow computer check batches to be posted through to the GL.
"But I knew all this and my transactions are still not posting through GL"...
In this case you may want to review the all too famous (or infamous) Origin drop-down in the Posting Setup window. I have seen cases where users have set the Post Through GL flag for a few transaction types in the application series, but had the unfortunate luck to set the Origin drop-down to All and click on the Save button.
This will overwrite every individual setting for each transaction within the series and will change all posting settings! Not a good thing if you have spent a few hours customizing each transaction setting.
Hope this post help in clarifying some of the confusions.
Until next post!
MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
Maximum Global Business, LLC
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/
What the theory says?
According to Part 3, Chapter 13, page 87 of the Microsoft Dynamics GP's System Setup guide, "If you mark the Post Through General Ledger Files option, batches posted in other modules automatically will update the module in which the transactions originated and the appropriate posting accounts in General Ledger. Your transactions will post to General Ledger and not through General Ledger when posting transaction individually (without a batch)."
Now lets break it down...
It's important to really pay close attention to the theory: batches will post through GL, individual transactions will not, even if the Post Through General Ledger flag has been marked in the Posting Setup window. What this means is that every module with the capability of batching transactions should be able to post through GL, for example, Sales Order Processing, Purchase Order Processing, Inventory, Receivables Management, and Payables Management, right? Not always...
For example, voided transactions are handled like transactions posted individually. This is, when the void occurs, there will be a batch created in GL waiting to be posted.
The curious case of Bank Rec
The Bank Reconciliation module, even though it allows to save most transactions, it does not allow for Post Through GL to take effect. This is because all transactions in the Bank Rec module are treated as individual transactions.
Then there were the third party products...
Since post through GL was conceived for the core Dynamics dictionary modules, chances are that you will find only a few ISVs following the posting rules. Most integrating products will play safe and allow a batch to be created for review and future posting in the modules they integrate with.
Computer Checks and Analytical Accounting
The reason the option to Post Through to GL is not available for Computer Checks when AA is activated is to ensure that any AA analysis information for distribution accounts linked to accounting classes can be entered before transactions are posted to the GL. Because it is not possible to enter analysis information when building a check batch, the batch must be stopped before posting through so this information can be entered and validated. There is no AA validation on the check batch during a check run, so the validation must be done in the GL before posting. This is the reason why the system does not allow computer check batches to be posted through to the GL.
"But I knew all this and my transactions are still not posting through GL"...
In this case you may want to review the all too famous (or infamous) Origin drop-down in the Posting Setup window. I have seen cases where users have set the Post Through GL flag for a few transaction types in the application series, but had the unfortunate luck to set the Origin drop-down to All and click on the Save button.
This will overwrite every individual setting for each transaction within the series and will change all posting settings! Not a good thing if you have spent a few hours customizing each transaction setting.
Hope this post help in clarifying some of the confusions.
Until next post!
MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
Maximum Global Business, LLC
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com/
Updates to this article:
07/28/2009 - Added information on Computer Checks and Analytical Accounting
Comments
Something interesting I found recently: voiding a payables transaction (either open or historical) will now post through to the GL. Seems to work in both GP 9.0 SP 3 and GP 10.0 SP 3. I am fairly certain this didn't happen in prior versions. And voiding a receivables transaction does not post through to the GL in any version I have tried.
All this makes it very difficult to give users 'rules' to follow...I think the lesson is someone should always be checking in Master Posting to see what's sitting in there.
-Victoria
The other difference I see is that ALL never gets checked even though I check it, save it and then when I go back; it is unchecked.
We do have 3rd party Aps. like Credit Card A/R and E-commerce.
One other obsersation which has just come in my mind it: how about if I check and save the setting on one Worksatation; does that mean that this setting will go all aboard means on rest of the Workstations like a global change?
This behavior is by design. Settings are saved at the individual level. Just know that when you click save for All, it will do just that... similar to a rolldown.
>We do have 3rd party Aps. like Credit Card A/R and E-commerce<
Third party apps can make the posting behave differently, since they are most likely to ignore the posting settings. This will depend greatly on the ISV.
>One other obsersation which has just come in my mind it: how about if I check and save the setting on one Worksatation; does that mean that this setting will go all aboard means on rest of the Workstations like a global change?<
Posting settings are company specific, not user specific.
MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
Maximum Global Business, LLC
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com
Thanks for your inquiry. There isn't a way of doing this. After all, if you post a transaction at the transaction level, GP will always use the audit trail code assigned to that transaction in the subsidiary as the batch ID in GL. This is one of the ways to link a GL transaction to its corresponding subsidiary transaction to allow drill backs from an account number.
Best regards,
MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
Maximum Global Business, LLC.
http://www.maximumglobalbusiness.com
Thanks!
-Tom
No, this is not a bug. If you select each individual Origin, the checkmark will be unselected.
This behavior is by design and only happens when the origin is set to All within the series.
Best regards,
MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
I am trying to set the posting by transaction date in Purchasing so that I can process a voucher for one month and pay it in another period using the voucher entry screen. No matter how I set the posting (either by batch or transaction) I still have the GL crediting my cash account in one period and the bank another. I this by design in GP, or am I missing a setup for posting?
accounting hw help
Thank you! Ali M.
You can certainly determine what transactions did not make it to GL from AR and AP, by running the Reconcile to GL report
I am looking to set all inventory transactions to only post to the Inventory module, and leave the GL posting activity to our head accountant. We currently have the Post To General Ledger and Allow Transaction Posting fields checked.
From reading your article, I seem to think that I just need to uncheck Allow Transaction Posting. Would doing that solve my problem? I think that the first option is already correct; however this topic is a little confusing to me still.
Allow transaction posting has nothing to do with what you are trying to accomplish. You will want to have the "Post To General Ledger" option enable and uncheck the "Post Through General Ledger" option. This is true for transaction posting or batch posting.