Main Details Tab

This topic deals with the Main Details Tab of the Purchase Ledger account record. A clear understanding of the information in it is essential to all users.

A detailed knowledge of the fields that make up your Purchase Ledger accounts is indispensable to getting the most from your system. The best way to understand the information coming out of any business system is to have a clear idea of the information that has gone in.

The Main-details tab contains the essential information (such as fields) for identifying your accounts.

Account code: The account code is the pivotal field of the Purchase Ledger. At set-up, each supplier record is assigned an account code. This account code is the account code/number of the supplier on the Purchase Ledger.

This field is pre-set to accept only account codes corresponding to the account code layout you have chosen in conjunction with your Autoline consultant. This layout is held as a mask within the system parameters. The system rejects all other account codes. Thus, if you have chosen a code of two letters and six numbers, the system accepts only account codes entered in this format.

The system automatically fills in blank spaces in the numeric portion of the field with zeros to the right of the last non-numeric character. The system distinguishes between upper and lower case letters in account codes, so do not be surprised if accounts B0003 and b0003 are both accepted because Autoline sees them as two distinctly separate account codes. Click the Ellipsis button to activate the search facility.

Tip: The system permits a new account record to be set up with only an account number. Subsequent entries of information to that record must be made with the Amend option.

Note: If you want to access a series of accounts in succession, this can be achieved by clicking the or buttons to move forward or backwards through the file from your chosen start point.

Name: This field holds the name of the supplier.

Short name: The Short name field is a vital one. It may contain up to eight alphabetic or numeric characters. You can find a supplier account with an alphabetic search. Even when unaware of the account number, you may locate the account quickly from short name information.

To do this however, you must adopt a consistent policy on short names when setting up Purchase Ledger accounts. It is no good being able to search alphabetically if J. Smith and Sons has a short name of JSS, or J. Smith Ltd. has a Short Name of JSmithLt.

All short names must be keyed in capital letters for total ease of identification by you and other users in other modules.

An alphabetic search system needs organisation to be effective. Standards may be difficult to maintain in a busy multi-user situation. If a consistent standard is not followed, an extremely useful facility will quickly become useless. You should pick simple rules for the construction of short names and stick to it.

Tip: Why not use the telephone directory rules?

When an account is created, this field should have a default value of NEW. This allows you to find new accounts quickly and easily, and to distinguish them from all others. Until an account is fully set up, it is best not to overwrite this field.

Tip: The Short Name search is case sensitive. A search for new will find nothing. A search for NEW will find all Purchase Ledger accounts with a short name of NEW.

Note: If you want to access a series of accounts in succession by short name, this can be achieved by clicking the or buttons to move forward or backwards through the file from your chosen start point.

Address: These fields hold the address of the supplier.

Note: If you click the Local button, a Local address form is opened which displays any alternative local address that may be held on the record.

Postcode: This field holds the postcode of the address above.

Preferred address: This field holds an indicator as to which of the addresses is preferred for this account.

Telephone number: The Telephone number field, although important in its own right, is also important as a search field. Accounts can be found by telephone number, not simply in a conventional word search to find an unknown accounts, but in report printing. The telephone area codes in the number can provide a useful search filter.

Telex number: This field holds the supplier's telex number.

Fax number: This field holds the supplier's fax number.For information only.

VAT number: This field holds the supplier's VAT registration number, and is used for VAT intrastat purposes on exports to that supplier.

Contact name: This field contains the name of the person whom you mainly deal with in the supplier's offices. It is for information only.

E-mail: The e-mail address of the supplier account/contact. This is for information only.

EC code: This field contains the supplier's European Community code. For example, IRE for Ireland.

Accounting division: This field is used for divisional accounting purposes enabling divisionalised accounts (for example, inter branch) to be run from within one total company. Click the Ellipsis button to activate the search facility.

VAT group: The VAT group is used in conjunction with multi currency options allowing VAT recalculation in other than base currency. This field defaults, on creation of the account, to the code held on the Default Purchase Ledger Account record which can be set up/amended via the PL SYSTEM MAINTENANCE menu. It should be set to the VAT Group relative to the currency in which the account is run. The VAT groups are created within the NL VAT MENU in the Nominal Ledger. Click the Ellipsis button to activate the search facility.

Currency code: This field defaults, on creation of the account, to the code held on the Default Purchase Ledger Account record which can be set up/amended via the PL SYSTEM MAINTENANCE menu. It should be set to the currency code in which you want to run the account. Click the Ellipsis button to activate the search facility.

Account type: The account type is a major parameter field. A parameter field gives very broad instructions to the system on how a particular record is controlled and used within Autoline. Autoline has a number of standard account types already created. If you want to add to these, it can be done via the PL SYSTEM MAINTENANCE menu.

There are currently a number of standard account types which are:

Credit Purchase: (blank). A credit purchase account is a normal account to which invoices, credit notes and cash are posted.

VSB Credit Purchase: V. This is used to separate vehicle credit purchase from other credit purchase.

Address only: A An address only account is an account which is held on Autoline for other facilities to access to obtain an address. No transactions can be posted to this type of account.

Bank for cash transactions: B. A bank cash purchase account is an account where all of its transactions are of a cash nature.

Sundry Cheque account: B. An account type for use with Purchase Ledger accounts that will be paid using Sundry cheques, as opposed to the standard Remittance and Cheque run.

Internal charges: I. An internal transactions account deals with transactions where goods are issued for internal use.

Journal-post/NL only: J. Similar to an I type account except that details of the transactions do not remain on the account. This type of account is generally used by the system.

Warning: The account type cannot be changed while there are transactions on the account.

Note: Depending on the account type selected, a wide variety of checks and warnings are made on transactions and also when setting up the account.

Default VAT code: The default VAT code associates a user-defined VAT code with transactions on this account as a default. This default can be overwritten for any particular transaction.

Note: In this case, the word 'default' refers not to the record you are currently filling, but to future transaction records that will use this information as a default for transactions being posted to this account.

Click the Ellipsis button to activate the search facility.

Category code: The category code associates a user-defined purchase category code with the account, for example C for Cash Purchase. You may define a default value for the category code. This information is chiefly used in the After Sales modules of Autoline.

Account categories can be added, removed or updated via the Categories option on the PL MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS menu. At least one category must exist for the system to function.

Click the Ellipsis button to activate the search facility.

Credit terms: The credit terms code associates a user-defined credit term with the account, for example '28th of Month following'. You may define a default value for the credit terms. Credit terms are set up and amended via the Terms of business option on the Nominal Ledger MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS menu.

Click the Ellipsis button to activate the search facility.

Settlement terms: The settlement terms code associates a user-defined set of settlement terms with the account, for example '10% in ten days'. You may define a default value for the settlement terms. Settlement terms are set up and amended via the Settlement terms option on the Nominal Ledger Miscellaneous menu.

Click the Ellipsis button to activate the search facility.

Invoice account code: The invoice account gives an indication of where the goods are to be invoiced, for example an account may be used for delivery of goods, but also have an invoice account populated in the Main details tab. It is rarely used, hence it is solely a guide.

Remittance a/c code: The Remittance a/c code field contains an account code, and through it specifies the name and address to which remittances are to be sent if they are not to go to the address for the account code being set up. When filled, this field instructs the Cash Postings and Remittance routines to collate together all transactions on accounts pointing to this account, in the sense that the remittances are printed out for separate accounts that use the remittance account, but the address displayed on the top of each remittance is that of the remittance account. Leave this field empty unless it is needed. Click the Ellipsis button to activate the search facility.

Area code: The area code is a user-defined code that allows purchase accounts to be analysed on the basis of geographical region or administrative area. It may contain up to four characters as defined in a verification mask for the area code set in the system parameters. The area codes can also be set up in a lookup file which is done by using the Area codes option on the PL MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS menu.

Click the Ellipsis button to activate the search facility.

NL control account: The Nominal Ledger account code shows the nominal code to which the transactions are posted and to which the balances are controlled in the Nominal Ledger.

Click the Ellipsis button to activate the search facility.

The nominal account code is divided into two parts. The cost centre indicates the department, whether organisational, geographical or both, and the expense code reflects the code within that cost centre.

Warning: The Nominal Ledger code cannot be changed while there is an outstanding balance on the account.

NL GIS account: This code shows the Nominal account code to which the transactions are posted as far as Goods in Suspense are concerned. The Nominal account code is divided into two parts. The cost centre indicates the department, whether organisational, geographical or both, and the expense code reflects the code within that cost centre. Click the Ellipsis button to activate the search facility.

Credit limit: The available credit remaining on an account is checked against this limit at transaction creation point. A warning is issued to the user that the supplier's credit limit has or is going to be exceeded and, if the user's priority is not at a sufficient level that they can override, the user must resolve this situation before they can continue.

Stop flag: When this check box is ticked, it does not prevent the batching/registering of invoices onto the Purchase ledger, and does not give the user any warnings that the account is on stop, unlike the Sales Ledger functionality where transactions are not allowed to be entered onto the ledger. However, it does prevent a user from paying any transactions unless they have been deliberately freed using Edit document status option.If a transaction is created using Invoice Register, when the user views the transaction, it has a "s" next to it in the Status field. If using batch input, the transaction has an "S" next to it.