Set up posting groups

With posting groups, an invoice takes its accounts from groups instead of one fixed set:

• the customer posting group on the customer gives the receivables account
• the general posting setup (business posting group × product posting group) gives the sales revenue, cost of goods sold and purchase accounts
• the inventory posting setup gives the inventory account for stock lines
• the VAT posting setup gives the tax and its accounts

All these screens are under Settings › Posting Settings. Work through them in the order below.

Steps

1. Create the default groups

   Go to Settings › Posting Settings › Posting Groups Switch-over. Under Default posting groups, select Create missing defaults, then Create defaults.

   This creates the default groups, builds every cell of the general posting setup and VAT posting setup, and gives the default groups to customers, vendors and assets that have none. It doesn't switch anything over: documents keep their current accounts until you switch.

   

   1. Posting Groups Switch-over under Settings › Posting Settings.
   2. Where documents take their accounts from right now.
   3. Create missing defaults.
   4. Check again re-runs the configuration check (step 8).
   5. Switch to posting groups (step 8).
2. Add product posting groups (what you sell)

   Go to General Product Posting Groups and select New Product Posting Group. Enter a Posting Code in capitals (for example INVENTORY or SERVICE) and an optional Description. Keep Active ticked and select Create Posting Group.

   You give each item its product posting group when you add products and services.

   

   1. The General Product Posting Groups tab.
   2. New Product Posting Group.

   Business posting groups (next step) are added the same way, from the General Business Posting Groups tab.

3. Add business posting groups (who you trade with)

   Go to General Business Posting Groups and select New Business Posting Group. Enter a Posting Code (for example DOMESTIC or EXPORT) and an optional Description, then select Create Business Posting Group.

4. Fill in the general posting setup

   Go to General Posting Setup. Each row is one business group × product group combination. Select New Posting Setup for a missing combination, or edit an existing row, and fill in:

   Field	Used for
   General Business Posting Group and General Product Posting Group	The combination this row covers. Each combination can appear only once.
   Sales/Revenue Account	Credited on an invoice. Required.
   Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) Account	Debited when a stock item is sold. Required.
   Purchase Account	Used for non-inventory and service items you buy. Required.
   Inventory Adjustment Account	Stock gains and losses. Required.
   Consumption Expense Account	Stock issued for your own use. Optional.
   GRNI Account	Goods received but not yet billed. Optional.
   Purchase Variance Account	Price differences between the order and the bill. Optional.

   Select Create Posting Setup.

   

   1. The business group and product group this row covers.
   2. Sales/Revenue Account.
   3. Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) Account.
   4. Purchase Account.
   5. Inventory Adjustment Account.
5. Add customer posting groups

   Go to Customer Posting Groups and select New Customer Posting Group. Enter a Posting Code and choose the Receivable Account. Service Charge Account and Interest Account are optional. Select Create Posting Group.

   Then choose the group on each customer when you add a customer. Vendor Posting Groups work the same way, with a payable account, for vendors. See Set up vendor posting groups.

   

   1. Posting Code and Description.
   2. Receivable Account (required).
   3. Service Charge Account and Interest Account (optional), and Active.
6. Set up stock accounts

   1. Go to Inventory Posting Groups and select New Inventory Posting Group. Enter a Posting Code (for example RESALE) and a Description.
   2. Go to Inventory Posting Setup and select New Posting Setup. Choose a Location and an inventory posting group, then the Inventory Account. The Inventory Interim Account and the adjustment account are optional. See set up inventory posting for more on stock accounts.

   For Location you can also choose All locations, which is used for any location that has no row of its own.

   

   1. Location.
   2. Inventory Posting Group.
   3. Inventory Account (required).
   4. Inventory Interim Account and Adjustment Account.
   5. Create Posting Setup.
7. Check the VAT posting setup

   Go to VAT Posting Setup. Rows are VAT business groups, columns are VAT product groups. Select a cell to choose:

   • the tax, or No tax (nothing is charged)
   • Calculation: Normal (VAT at the tax's rate), Reverse charge (the buyer accounts for the VAT) or Full VAT (the whole line is VAT)
   • the Sales VAT account and Purchase VAT account (and the Reverse charge VAT account for reverse charge)

   Select Save. A cell can be saved without its accounts, but documents that use it are refused until they're set.

   

   1. A row: a VAT business group, for example Domestic.
   2. A column: a VAT product group, for example VAT.
   3. A cell. A warning shows when it still needs an account.

   

   1. Tax.
   2. Calculation.
   3. Sales VAT account, Purchase VAT account and Reverse charge VAT account.
   4. Deductible %: the share of purchase VAT you can reclaim.
   5. The warning when a needed account is missing.
8. Check, then switch over

   Back on Posting Groups Switch-over:

   1. Check the configuration lists every gap, such as a posting group with no account. Fix each gap in the screen it names, then select Check again.
   2. Make sure every item has a product posting group, and every stock item an inventory posting group. The page lists items that don't, and you can set their groups there.
   3. Optionally, under Preview against recent documents, select Run preview to see which accounts recent invoices and bills would have used. Nothing is saved.
   4. Select Switch to posting groups, then Switch.

   Documents saved from then on take their accounts from posting groups. Documents already saved keep their accounts. You can switch back at any time with Switch back to account settings.

The other posting screens

Screen	Guide
Vendor Posting Groups	Set up vendor posting groups
Inventory Posting Groups and Inventory Posting Setup	Set up inventory posting
Project Posting Groups	Set up project posting groups
Fixed asset posting groups	Set up fixed assets

All settings screens, in the order to do them: settings overview.

If something goes wrong

Message	What to do
Code can only contain uppercase letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores	Type the code in capitals, for example DOMESTIC.
Code must not exceed 20 characters	Use a shorter code.
This combination already exists	Edit the existing row in General Posting Setup instead.
Receivable account is required	Choose a Receivable Account for the customer posting group.
Sales account is required / COGS account is required / Purchase account is required / Inventory adjustment account is required	Fill in all four required accounts in the general posting setup row.
… has no Receivable account yet (on a customer)	Finish the customer posting group by choosing its Receivable Account.