Accounts Payable Dates

Each Accounts Payable Register record or "voucher" represents a single Accounts Payable Invoice.  Each AP Register record contains six date fields that are associated with the invoice as well as two other system maintained date fields that indicate when each invoice record was saved (ENTERED_ON) and last modified (REV_DATE).  The date fields that are associated with each accounts payable invoice are:

Invoice Date: This is the date that the invoice was issued by the vendor company - normally printed on the vendor invoice.

Due Date: This date the invoice is due.  This due date is the date by which the vendor expects to receive payment.  The due date is normally printed on the vendor invoice or is derived from the TERMS on the invoice and the Invoice Date.  For example, an invoice dated the 12th of June with NET 30 terms would be due on the 12th of July.  During AP invoice entry the system will calculate the Due Date, based on the Invoice Date entered for the invoice and Terms record used for the invoice.  The due date calculated by the system may also be overridden by the operator.  The due date is used when generating the Accounts Payable Cash Requirements by Due Date report.  The due date field can also be used as a selection criteria for other accounts payable reports.

Discount Date:  The discount date field defines the date on which the invoice must be paid in order for you to qualify for the prompt payment discount offered by the vendor.  The information in this field is automatically loaded into the invoice based on the payment terms of the invoice being processed and the discount information that is stored in the terms record for that terms code.  The discount date can also be manually modified if necessary to deal with unusual situations (such as forcing the system to take the discount after the discount date has passed). 

Pay Date:  The Pay Date is a date field used to identify when you will be paying the invoice, and it is used by the check printing and wire transfer routines to determine which AP invoices to create checks or wire transfers for.  The check printing and wire transfer programs both allow the operator to select vouchers up to and including a specific Pay Date.  The pay date field is also used to generate the Accounts Payable Cash Requirements by Pay Date report.

The Pay Date field is defaulted during AP invoice entry to one of the following dates based on the system configuration.  If after an AP Invoice is entered you wish to change the Pay Date you may do so with the "Change Pay Date" program or the change pay date options that are available in other accounts payable programs.

Pay Date Default Logic:

There are a few different options for defaulting the pay date for accounts payable invoices.  These are.

•      Set the system default for all vendors using the APPAYDAY parameter in the System Control File (File 248).

•      Set the Vendor Pay Class field to determine the behavior for each vendor.

•      Use a combination of the above two methods.  Any information in the Vendor Pay Class field (other than blank) will override the system default in the System Control (File 248) switch

Valid entries for the System Control parameter or the Vendor Pay Class field include the following values.

Accounts Payable Paydate Options

Value in 248:APPAYDAY or in Vendor PayClass field	Paydate Calculation
Blank	Sets pay date to invoice date plus terms due days.
H	Sets pay date to 1/1/2049
M	Sets pay date to due date -2 days
W	Sets pay date to due date -7 days.
A	Sets pay date to due date + 7 days
P	Sets pay date to due date + 15 days
Y	Sets pay date to due date
D	Sets pay date to discount date if discount available, or to Due Date if no discount available.
E	Sets pay date to discount date -2 days if discount available, or to Due Date -2 days if no discount available.
F	Sets pay date to discount date -3 days if discount available, or to Due Date -3 days if no discount available.
G	Sets pay date to discount date -4 days if discount available, or to Due Date -4 days if no discount available.

Note: If the payment terms being used for the invoice are COD or credit card terms then the pay date defaults to the invoice date.

Note: The most efficient way to process AP invoices is to enter the Pay Date during AP invoice entry and do check runs as appropriate.  For example if you did a check run each Tuesday and Friday, AP invoices which had Pay Dates set for Monday would appear on the Tuesday check run and those with Pay Dates set for Wednesday and Thursday would appear on the Friday check run.  This procedure allows for minimum handling per AP invoice.

Check Date: The Check Date is the date the AP Invoice was paid. The Check Date and the Check Number fields in each accounts payable invoice are loaded when an accounts payable invoice is completely paid off.  The Check Date will NOT be loaded if an invoice has been only partially paid (only the invoice balance is adjusted if the invoice is not completely paid off).  The system does load the Last Check Number, the Last Check Date, and the Last Check Amount field in each invoice each time a payment is processed against the invoice – even if the invoice is not completely paid.

Last Check Date:  The date on which the last payment was processed against the selected invoice.  The Last Check Date, Last Check Number and Last Check Amount fields are loaded each time a payment is processed against an invoice – even if the invoice is not completely paid off after the payment.

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