Deferred Expenses

The register of "how to spread an amount over future periods" schedules. The classic case: a subscription or insurance is paid up front with one invoice, but it must reach expenses in parts — month by month. A record here is exactly that schedule: a holding account plus a list of portions saying "in how many months/days, what share to write off".

Where to find it: Modules → Nominal Ledger → Registers → Deferred Expenses

Walkthrough

The "3-month subscription" schedule in the demo:

• Code and Comment — as in any register; the code is what you enter on a vendor invoice row.
• Prel. Acc. (the "preliminary account") — the holding account where the amount waits for its periods: here 39 "Deferred expenses". This is the account the vendor invoice posting will hit.
• The matrix holds the portions: Month and Days — the offset from the document date, Calculation, % — the share of the amount. The example has three rows: in 1, 2 and 3 months, 33.33 % each (the last one 33.34 so it adds up to 100).
• Total at the bottom is the sum of the percentages. The system does not enforce it, so watch it yourself: less than 100 — part of the amount hangs on 39 forever; more — you write off too much.

How a schedule works

1. On a vendor invoice row you fill the "N/L Accrual" column with the schedule code. The expense account of the row stays the usual one (921 in the demo).
2. When the invoice is posted, the row's whole net amount goes Dr 39 / Cr 631 — it does not reach expenses yet; account 921 does not appear in the posting at all.
3. At the same time a simulation is created — the plan of future write-offs: one "Dr 921 / Cr 39" pair per schedule row, dated "document date + offset", for the portion's amount. Each portion is its own percentage of the amount, rounded separately; the last one does not absorb the difference. In the demo 9 000 split exactly: 2 999.70 / 2 999.70 / 3 000.60. The same portions of 10.00 would give 3.33 × 3 = 9.99 — a cent would stay on 39.
4. When a portion's date arrives, the Create transactions from simulations maintenance turns it into a real transaction — the expense finally lands on 921.

All transactions of the demo example:

When	Dr	Cr	Amount
vendor invoice is posted	39 — the schedule's "Prel. Acc."	631 — vendor account	9 000.00 — the row's whole net amount
a portion's date arrives (Create transactions from simulations maintenance)	921 — the row's expense account	39	portion: 2 999.70 / 2 999.70 / 3 000.60

Worth knowing

• A duplicate offset will not save: two rows with the same "month + day" pair raise "Matrix has duplicate". An empty row (no months, no days) is rejected too.
• Offsets combine: "Month 1, Days 15" means one month and 15 days later. Portions need not be equal — a "50 / 25 / 25" schedule is perfectly fine.
• The window's matrix has no "VAT Code" column — only "Month", "Days" and "Calculation, %"; the field of that name remains only in the data and does not reach the portion postings.
• "Prel. Acc." is required: without it, or without a single row, the schedule will not save — the system refuses at once, before the schedule ever reaches a vendor invoice.
• The "Prel. Acc." account must exist in the chart of accounts, otherwise the schedule will not save either; the standard demo had no account 39 — it was added precisely for this example.

Common situations

The invoice with a period code is posted, but reports show no expense. By design: the amount sits on 39 and waits. Expenses appear once the maintenance posts the portions that have matured.

A balance accumulates on 39 and never clears. Check the schedule's "Total": if the percentages add up to less than 100, the difference stays on the account forever. If "Total" is exactly 100 and cents remain, that is rounding: the schedule has no "remainder" portion, each portion is rounded on its own. Choose portions that split the amount into whole cents (for 10.00 — 50 / 50 or 25 / 25 / 25 / 25, not 33.33 / 33.33 / 33.34), or correct the last portion in the simulation while its status is "Active".

Different contracts need different holding accounts. Create a second schedule with another "Prel. Acc." — the schedule code is chosen per invoice row.

A schedule cannot be deleted: «A record of «Deferred Expenses» is used in: Vendor Invoices!» A schedule can be deleted only while its code is on no vendor invoice row. Deleted, the schedule would leave the invoice with a code that leads nowhere, and that invoice could no longer be saved. If you no longer need a schedule, keep it in the list and don't pick it in new invoices.