Posting expenses

Expenses are posted in a similar way to disbursements. Expense Ledger periods can be opened/reopened within the Period Structure table and the following postings can be used to debit expenses from bank (ODEB), cash (ODEC) or nominal (ODEN). Anticipated expenses can also be recorded using the memo posting (ME) and expenses can be written off using the write-off posting (ONE).

To post an expense:

From the Accounts button drop-down menu, select the appropriate posting slip. The posting slip opens prompting you to enter the posting details.

To pay as cheque, select ODEB.
To pay as cash, select ODEC.
To pay as cash, with a subsequent credit being posted to a nominal account, select ODEN.
To record an anticipated expense, select ME.
To write off expenses, select ONE.
You can also open the posting slips from the Batch Posting screen, if this is your preferred method of working. In the top pane highlight the ODEB, ODEC, ODEN, ME or ONE batch (or add it if it not already open) and then click Add in the lower pane.

Enter the appropriate posting details.

To convert a memo expense to a 'real' disbursement, use the Expense lookup to browse in the appropriate entry. This displays the details of any outstanding memo expenses for the selected matter. If there are a large number, the desired entry can be found easily by sorting/filtering the list. Once located, select the entry you want to convert by either double-clicking or highlighting it and clicking OK.

Select Update Now to post the entry directly to the Accounts Ledger.

If you want to add the entry to a batch for checking, select Add to Batch.

Click OK to post the expense. The entry appears on the Expense tab of the Accounts Ledger with a date in the Paid column and the cash control or bank is updated with the debit (viewable via the Cash book). Where an ODEN is used, the nominal side of the posting appears as a credit on the Nominal Ledger.

Double-clicking an expense opens the Expense Viewer. This displays details of the expense such as; the amount, the transaction text, the date it was paid out, etc. If the entry was a converted memo expense it also shows the date the memo was posted in the Memo column.

Notes

Presets can be used for posting disbursements.
You can post a memo expense (ME) with an expense amount of zero. However, this is only permitted if a charge amount is entered. However, you cannot pay a memo expense (ODEB, ODEC, ODEN or ONE) with a zero expense amount.
If paying out a memo expense (e.g. to a photocopying company) it must be paid out before it's billed. However, if you're paying out an internal expense (i.e. to be passed on to the client) it must be billed before being paid out.
These postings operate the same as disbursement postings, including the use of presets and the ability to post through workflow. When posting, the Amount field is the expense amount, the VAT amount field is the VAT expense amount and the Charge amount field is the expense charge amount which is likely to be charged to the client when billed although this can be changed when billing.
There is no need for bank credit postings – VAT rules prevent credits being taken from clients without a bill, therefore erroneous postings should be corrected using reversals for real expenses and then re-posted whilst memo expenses should be deleted and re-posted. Therefore the only credit posting is the write-off (ONE) which should be used at the completion of a matter to deal with those expenses not billed.