Accounts Payable > Invoice Processing > AP Invoice Contra

AP Invoice Contra

You use this program to accumulate and contra credit balance supplier invoices against debit balance supplier invoices.

Toolbar and menu

Field Description
Supplier Enter the code of the supplier for whom you want to contra invoices.
Post

Select this to post the contra entries to the suppliers account.

The General Ledger entries are created and posted according to the integration options you selected in the General Ledger Integration program. The payment reference for a contra adjustment is AP-Co REF: followed by the Reason for adjustment.

Refer to for examples General Ledger Entries of GL entries created.

This function is only enabled when the Undistributed amount is zero (AP Contra Information pane).
Print Select this to use the AP Contra Invoices the program to generate a register of the transactions posted.

This is only available if you have access to the AP Contra Invoices program.

Credit Invoices

This pane displays details of all credit invoices (e.g. credit notes or credit memos) currently on the supplier's account.

Some of the fields in the listview are displayed for information purposes only.

Fields that can be changed such as the Debit amount and Reason for adjustment field are only enabled once you select the invoice for contra (i.e. you place a tick in the first column of the invoice line).

Field Description
Selection
Option Description
Select All Select this to accumulate all negative balance invoices outstanding against the supplier.

A tick is placed in the first column of the listview indicating that this credit invoice is selected for contra.
Select None Select this to deselect all credit invoices. All the ticks in all the first column of the listview are removed.

This option is only available after you selected the Select All option and enables you to reverse the effects of the Select All function.
Automatic Select this to automatically distribute the total Credit amount in the Debit Invoices listview to the invoices in the Credit Invoices listview.

This option is enabled once you select at least one invoice in the Debit Invoices listview.

The invoices in the Credit Invoices listview are debited in Due date order, starting with the oldest due date. If more than one credit invoice has the same Due date, then the invoices are selected for contra in the order in which they are listed in the Credit Invoices listview.

This saves you from having to manually select and enter the Debit amount against each of the credit invoices you want to contra.

Column 1 The first column of the listview enables you to toggle between including or excluding the credit invoice for contra. A tick in this column indicates that the credit invoice will be included for contra when you select the Post option.

When you place a tick in this column, the editable fields for the invoice are enabled.
Invoice This is the credit invoice number.
Invoice balance This is the current balance of the credit invoice.
Due date This is the date on which the credit invoice becomes due.
Debit amount Indicate the amount of the credit invoice that you want to contra. This is the amount by which you want to reduce the credit Invoice balance.

This defaults to the current Invoice balance of the credit invoice.
Reason for adjustment Enter a reason or other comment for the contra adjustment you are processing against the credit invoice.
Ledger code This is the Accounts Payable control account defined against the AP branch.

This account is credited with the value of the Debit amount entered.
Branch This is the Accounts Payable branch against which the credit invoice was processed.
Exchange rate This is the exchange rate at which the credit invoice was processed.
Multiply / Divide This indicates whether the foreign amount is multiplied or divided by the exchange rate to get the equivalent local currency amount.
Total Totals are displayed at the bottom of the listview. They indicate the total value of all credit invoices currently held against the supplier and the total amount you selected to debit against these credit invoices.

Debit Invoices

This pane displays details of all debit invoices, such as invoices or debit notes, currently on the supplier's account.

Some of the fields in the listview are displayed for information purposes only.

Fields that can be changed such as the Credit amount and Reason for adjustment field are only enabled once you select the invoice for contra (i.e. you place a tick in the first column of the invoice line).

Field Description
Selection
Option Description
Select All

Select this to accumulate all positive balance invoices outstanding against the supplier.

A tick is placed in the first column of the listview indicating that this debit invoice is selected for contra.
Select None

Select this to deselect all debit invoices. All the ticks in all the first column of the listview are removed.

This option is only displayed after you selected the Select All option and enables you to reverse the effects of the Select All function.
Automatic Select this to automatically distribute the total Debit amount in the Credit Invoices listview to the invoices in the Debit Invoices listview.

This option is enabled once you select at least one invoice in the Credit Invoices listview.

The invoices in the Debit Invoices listview are credited in Due date order, starting with the oldest due date. If more than one debit invoice has the same Due date, then the invoices are selected for contra in the order in which they are listed in the Debit Invoices listview.

This saves you from having to manually select and enter the Debit amount against each of the debit invoices you want to contra.

Column 1 The first column of the listview enables you to toggle between including or excluding the credit invoice for contra. A tick in this column indicates that the credit invoice will be included for contra when you select the Post option.

When you place a tick in this column, the editable fields for the invoice are enabled.
Invoice This is the debit invoice number.
Invoice balance This is the current balance of the debit invoice.
Due date This is the date on which the debit invoice becomes due.
Credit amount Indicate the amount of the debit invoice that you want to contra. This is the amount by which you want to reduce the debit Invoice balance.

This defaults to the current Invoice balance of the debit invoice.
Reason for adjustment Enter a reason or other comment for the contra adjustment you are processing against the credit invoice.
Ledger code This is the Accounts Payable control account defined against the AP branch.

This account is credited with the value of the Credit amount entered.
Branch This is the Accounts Payable branch against which the debit invoice was processed.
Exchange rate This is the exchange rate at which the debit invoice was processed.
Multiply/Divide This indicates whether the foreign amount is multiplied or divided by the exchange rate to get the equivalent local currency amount.
Total Totals are displayed at the bottom of the listview. They indicate the total value of all debit invoices currently held against the supplier and the total amount you selected to credit against these debit invoices.

AP Contra Information

Field Description
Posting information AP invoice contra transactions can only be posted into the current period and year.
Year This is the current year of your AP module, which is displayed for information purposes and cannot be changed.
Month This is the current period of your AP module, which is displayed for information purposes and cannot be changed.
Supplier details This information is held against the supplier you are currently processing.
Supplier name The supplier's name and is displayed for identification purposes.
Currency This is the supplier's currency.
Terms These are the terms defined against the supplier.
Posting  
Register The register number created for the transactions processed during the current run of the program.
Value of credit invoices This is the total value of the credit invoices displayed in the Credit Invoices pane.
Value of debit invoices This is the total value of the debit invoices displayed in the Debit Invoices pane.
Contra invoices  
Total credits selected This is the total value of the credit invoices you selected to contra.
Total debits selected This is the total value of the debit invoices you selected to contra.
Undistributed amount This is the difference between the value of credit and debit invoices currently selected for contra.

You can only select the Post function when this value is zero.
Foreign exchange  
Exchange rate This is the current exchange rate for the supplier's currency according to the exchange rate table.

General Ledger Entries

When you use the AP Invoice Contra program to contra debit and credit invoices on a supplier's account, General Ledger journals are created.

For both local and foreign currency transactions, the AP control ledger code defined against the AP branch (AP Branch Maintenance) for the transaction is debited or credited. This is ledger code displayed against the debit or credit invoice in the listview.

For foreign currency transactions, any exchange variance is posted to the Exchange variance account defined against the Bank (Banks) assigned to the supplier (Supplier Maintenance). An exchange variance occurs when the invoices you contra have different exchange rates.

Contra Local Currency Invoices

Assume your supplier's account currently reflects the following:

Transaction Document AP Branch AP Control Ledger Code Amount
Credit Note 1 10 10-1111 100
Credit Note 2 20 20-2222 200
Invoice 11 10 10-1111 (100)
Invoice 22 10 10-1111 (200)
Note: The amounts in brackets () reflect credits on the supplier's account      

  • You contra Credit Note 1 with Invoice 11.

    These transactions are both within the same AP branch, so the following journal is created:

    Transaction Document Ledger Code Debit Credit
    Credit Note 1 10-1111   100
    Invoice 11 10-1111 100  

  • You contra Credit Note 2 with Invoice 22.

    These transactions are for different AP branches, so the following journal is created:

    Transaction Document Ledger Code Debit Credit
    Credit Note 2 20-2222   200
    Invoice 22 10-1111 200  

Contra Foreign Currency Invoices

Assume your supplier's account currently reflects the following:

Transaction Document AP Branch AP Control Ledger Code Exch Rate - Multiply Amount Foreign Amount Local equivalent
Credit Note 3 10 10-1111 2 300 600
Credit Note 4 20 20-2222 2.5 300 750
Invoice 14 10 10-1111 2 (300) (600)
[Note]

  • The foreign currency is multiplied by the exchange rate to give the local currency equivalent.

  • The Bank code defined against the supplier is FB (Supplier Maintenance)

  • The Exchange variance account defined against bank FB is 00-3333 (Banks)

  • The amounts in brackets reflect credits on the supplier's account.

  • You contra Credit Note 3 with Invoice 14.

    These transactions are both within the same AP branch. Because the exchange rate for both transactions is the same, the following journal is created:

    Transaction Document Ledger Code Debit Credit
    Credit Note 3 10-1111   600
    Invoice 14 10-1111 600  

  • You contra Credit Note 4 with Invoice 14.

    These transactions are for different AP branches. Because the exchange rates vary, the following journal is created:

    Transaction Document Ledger Code Debit Credit
    Credit Note 4 20-2222   750
    Invoice 14 10-1111 600  
    Exchange variance 00-3333 150  

Notes and warnings

Restrictions and limits

  • You are restricted to the contra of debit and credit invoices within the same branch if the option: Contra invoices by branch is selected (Accounts Payable Setup).

    When this option is not enabled and you offset a credit against invoices in different branches, then the individual Accounts Payable control accounts will not balance. To correct the imbalance you will need to generate a normal General Ledger journal entry using the GL Journal Entry program.

eSignature considerations

Electronic Signatures provide security access, transaction logging and event triggering. This enables you to increase control over your system changes.

Access to the following eSignature transactions within this program can be restricted at Operator, Group, Role or Company level. You configure this using the Electronic Signatures program.

eSignature Transaction Description
AP Contra invoices

Controls access to the AP Invoice Contra program.

Activity considerations

Operator access to the following activities within this program can be restricted. You configure this using the Operator Maintenance program.

Activity Description
AP Contra invoices Controls whether an operator can use the Contra invoices option in the AP Invoice Contra program.

Inserting Application Help

You would typically follow this procedure to display help for the current program in a customized pane that can be pinned to the program window.

Information includes step-by-step instructions for the various functions available within the program, including a brief overview of what the program does, what setup options are required and how to personalize the program.

  1. Open the program for which you want to insert application help into a customized pane.

    This functionality is only available for a program that has panes.

  2. Right-click any form field.

    You can also click the triangle menu icon that appears in the title area of a pane.

  3. Select Insert Application Help from the context-sensitive menu.

    The application help appears in a pane within your program. You can reposition the pane using the docking stickers or pin it to the program window.

Removing the Application Help pane

If you no longer want to display application help in a pane for your current program, you can simply remove it.

  1. Select the Close icon in the right-hand corner of the application help pane.

  2. Confirm that you want to delete the pane.