Disbursement

Disbursement is an accounts posting screen used for paying internal and external VATable and non-VATable disbursements.

For disbursement payments by cash, use Petty Cash Disbursement posting.

The posting code shown for this type of posting depends on whether you are paying an internal or an external disbursement:

DIB (Disbursement to Bank) for an external disbursement
DIN ( to Nominal) for an internal disbursement

You can create an unpaid, billed disbursement from Bill Posting, as part of the process of creating a bill. The disbursement will have posting code DIN.

A DIB posting affects the Office ledger, Office bank, Disbursement ledger.

A DIN posting affects the Office ledger, Office bank, Disbursement ledger, Nominal ledger.

Examples

For DIB:

Conveyancing search fees need to be paid — this would be a debit posting
Search fees are returned by Land Registry — this would be a credit posting

For DIN:

TT fees need to be paid internally to nominal — this would be a debit posting
Part of TT fees overpaid needs to be refunded — this would be a credit posting

Creating the posting:

Open Accounts.
Select a batch, if required.
On the Postings menu, click then Disbursement.
Enter the details as required.
Click Save & Exit to save the posting and close the screen, or Save to save the posting but leave the screen open for another posting.
When you save the posting, if the matter has any unpaid, billed disbursements that have the same VAT status as the disbursement you have defined, those unpaid disbursements are displayed on Unpaid Billed Disbursements.

If the disbursements you have defined does not relate to unpaid disbursements, it is a reminder that unpaid disbursements exist.

For details of how to use the feature to pay unpaid disbursements, see Paying unpaid, billed disbursements.

Field	Description
Disbursement tab
Ref	Client and matter reference. If screen is opened from Accounts Enquiry with a matter displayed, Ref: is pre-populated. Alternatively, click to use client or matter searches, to view the client's other matters, if any, or for recent and favourite matters.
Desc	Description of the matter, hyperlinked to the matter record. If screen is opened via Accounts Enquiry with a matter displayed, Desc: is pre-populated.
Client	Client associated with the matter, hyperlinked to the client record. If screen is opened via Accounts Enquiry with a matter displayed, Client: is pre-populated.
Date	The date for the posting.
Disb Type	Select the type of disbursement to be paid.
Description	Automatically populated with a description of the disbursement type you selected at Disb Type. You can edit this. The description will appear on ledger and bank transaction screens.
Reference	Type a reference for the payment. This will be displayed on ledger and bank transaction screens.
Bank	The office bank to use for the payment. If you need to change this from the default office bank for the matter, click to select.
Debit/Credit	Defaults to Debit, for debiting the office bank. For a credit related to a disbursement, type C to change to Credit.
Amount	Type the gross amount to be paid.
VAT Y/N	Defaults to No. If the disbursement is VATable, type Y to change it to Yes.
Rate	VAT rate that applies to the disbursement. Select the rate as necessary. Rate field only appears when you select Yes for VAT Y/N and press Tab.
VAT Amount	Amount of VAT that applies to the disbursement and is included in the gross figure in Amount. VAT Amount field only shows when you select Yes for VAT Y/N and press Tab.
Tran Nominal Y/N	Defaults to No, which is correct for an external disbursement. If the disbursement is internal, type Y to change to Yes so that the amount will be transferred to a nominal. Four additional fields will show— Tran Nominal, Tran Department, Tran Branch, Tran Bank. If you have selected Yes for VAT Y/N, Tran Nominal Y/N is disabled.
Tran Nominal	The nominal to use for the transfer. For some Disb Types, the nominal is fixed. If not, click to select the nominal for the transfer.
Tran Department	The department that the transfer applies to.
Tran Branch	The branch that the transfer applies to.
Tran Bank	The office bank to transfer to. If you need to change this from the default office bank for the matter, click to select.
Matter Balance	Displays the current office balance for the matter, taking into account the transaction you have defined. This will update when you type the Amount and press the tab button.
Narrative tab
Narrative	If you want to record notes about the transaction, use the Narrative tab. You can read the notes by double-clicking the transaction on Accounts Enquiry and, on the resulting screen, viewing the Narrative tab.