The accounting date determines the period for which an entry appears on a financial statement.
To determine valid accounting dates, Ajera uses the dates in these fields:
- Beginning Balances Date field in:
How Ajera determines an accounting date depends on the task:
- Entering a transaction
- Changing a transaction
- Deleting a transaction
Entering a new transaction
When you enter transactions for tasks from the Manage menu, Ajera makes the necessary debit and credit entries for financial reporting. It uses the date of the transaction as the accounting date. For example, when you enter a vendor invoice, Ajera uses the accounting date for the debit and credit entries.
The date you enter must not be earlier than the Don't Allow Entries Prior To date in Company > Preferences. If the Don't Allow Entries Prior To date is blank, the date you enter must be later than the Beginning Balances date in Company > Preferences.
ExampleChanging a transaction
Certain changes to a transaction affect financial reporting. For example, when you change the account, department, or amount on a vendor invoice distribution, Ajera makes debit and credit entries to reverse the original entries. It also creates new entries to reflect your change.
Ajera determines the accounting date as follows:
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If the original transaction date is |
Then for the accounting date |
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|---|---|---|---|
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Not earlier than the Don’t Allow Entries Prior To date (Or if the Don’t Allow Entries Prior To date is blank) |
Ajera uses the original transaction date for both the reversing and new entries. |
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Earlier than the Don’t Allow Entries Prior To date |
Ajera uses the Don’t Allow Entries Prior To date for both the reversing and new entries.
|
Changing the date on an existing transaction
You can change the date when:
- The transaction date is not before the Don’t Allow Entries Prior To date.
- The Don’t Allow Entries Prior To date is blank.
When you change a date on an existing transaction, Ajera creates financial entries to move the transaction to the new date. It creates debit and credit entries to reverse the original entries using the original date and creates new entries using the date that you entered.
Deleting a transaction
When you delete a transaction, Ajera creates reversing debit and credit entries.
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If the original transaction date is |
Then for the accounting date |
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Not earlier than the Don’t Allow Entries Prior To date (Or if the Don’t Allow Entries Prior To date is blank) |
Ajera uses the original date for the reversing entries. |
||
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Earlier than the Don’t Allow Entries Prior To date |
Ajera uses the Don’t Allow Entries Prior To date for the reversing entries.
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Deciding the accounting date
If you want to choose the accounting date, select the Enter Accounting Dates check box in Company > Preferences. When you perform transactions that require an accounting date, Ajera then displays the earliest valid date, which you can confirm or replace with a later date if needed.
If you want Ajera to automatically use the earliest valid date, clear the Enter Accounting Dates check box in Company > Preferences. When you perform transactions that require an accounting date, Ajera uses the earliest valid date as the accounting date.
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Note: |
When performing beginning balance tasks, you must use accounting dates earlier than the Beginning Balances date in Company > Preferences. |
Other important dates
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Date |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Accounting date |
The date when Ajera makes an entry to the general ledger based on a transaction. The accounting date determines the period for which the entry appears on a financial statement. |
|
Invoice date |
The date you enter in Ajera for the invoice. |
|
Cutoff date |
The date that determines which transactions appear on a client invoice. When you enter a cutoff date on a client invoice, Ajera excludes any client invoice with a date after the cutoff date. On many reports, you also enter a cutoff date to determine what information appears. |
Test your knowledge
Quiz: Accounting - where and how it happens
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