Overview

NorthScope allows users to enter basic accounts payable invoices that integrate as payable transactions within the host system. These transactions are used to record invoices that you will need to pay. Because these are basic accounts payable invoices and not purchase orders they do not use Inventory Items or integrate with the Inventory module.

Software Version

This guide is applicable for NorthScope version 2.8.3 and newer.

Prerequisites

Required Prerequisites

Before entering a credit memo transaction, users must complete the following:

• Vendor Setup
• Financial Account setup

Optional Prerequisites

The following prerequisites are not required, but users are encouraged to set them up:

• Projects. Set up projects if you are licensed for Project Accounting and if you have any projects that you need to track expenses against.
• Set the purchasing preference for “Default Account – Settlement Accrual”. This will ensure that transactions will still post if the settlement account has not been manually configured for each fisherman or tender.
• Set the purchasing preference for “Enable Real Time Integration” to “Yes”. This user guide assumes the preference is set to “Yes”. If the preference is set to “No”, then the integration components described in Steps 3 and 4 will not occur.

Step 1: Entering the Transaction in NorthScope

Begin the Transaction

From NorthScope, expand the Purchasing Module on the navigation menu and select "Transactions". This will open the Purchasing Transaction List View which displays all purchasing transactions with a status of New, Approved, or Ready to Post.

Click the "New" icon in the header toolbar and select "Invoice" to open a blank record view.

Complete the Header Fields

Date: Enter the invoice date. This date will also be used as the general ledger date. The date defaults to the current date but can be edited. This field is required.

Vendor: Select the vendor for the transaction. This list contains all active vendors. This field is required.

Doc No: Enter the vendors invoice number. This field is required and must be unique by vendor.

PO: Enter the purchase order used to place the order. This field is not required.

Status: Select the status

New – this is the default  

Approved – used if you have a two-step process for finalizing transactions. Setting the status to “Approve” disables all editable fields except status.

Ready to Post – used when you are ready to post the transaction. Setting the status to “Ready to Post” disables all editable fields including status.

Payment Terms: Select the Payment Terms or skip this step to use the vendors default payment terms.

Amount: This is a calculated field that is updated on save. This is not editable.

Add Line Items

By default, new Invoices open with 5 blank rows for data entry. Complete the data entry for each line item you wish to add.  Note, a line item must contain both a “Description” and a “Purchase Account” to be saved.

Required Line Item Fields

The required fields are included in the "System View".

Description: The description you want for the line item (e.g. Office Supplies or Rent). This field defaults to blank but is required in order to save the line item. 

Price: The price for the line item. Prices must be greater than or equal to 0.

Purchase Account: The expense account that will be used for the debit side of the journal entry. The lookup contains all the active financial accounts that are marked as “Use in Purchasing”. This field is blank by default but is required in order to save the line item.

Optional Line Item Fields

The optional fields can be displayed by adding the column to a custom view or changing to the “Detail View” in the Saved Grid Layouts.

Distributed To: If the line item is being distributed use this lookup to select the project, fisherman, or tender.  If the line is being distributed to a fisherman or tender it will be included in the “Charges Pending” column of the Settlement Balances inquiry. This field is not required.  

Quantity: This field is only necessary if you want to identify the quantity of a line item.  It defaults to 1.00 and must be greater than or equal to 0.

UOM: This field is only necessary if you want to identify the unit of measure for the line item.  It defaults to the purchasing preference for “Unit UOM”.

Extended: This field is the calculated value of (Quantity * Price) and is not editable.

Step 2: Finalizing the Transaction in NorthScope

Changes can be made to a transaction until it is finalized. To finalize a transaction, you will need to change the status to “Ready to Post”.  In some companies, posting is a two-step process where transaction(s) are “Approved” by one person and Posted by another.  

Change the Status to “Approved”

This step is optional and is used for companies that require a two-step process where there the person who approves the transaction cannot be the same person that posts the transaction.

To approve a transaction open it from the list view, change the status to “Approved”, and click the “Save” icon on the header toolbar. In addition to the validations performed each time the “Save” icon is clicked, there are additional validations that are performed:

• Ensure there is at least one valid line item on the transaction
• Ensure all of the default GL Accounts can be assigned
  • The “Accounts Payable” account for the transaction vendor.
  • The ”Settlement Accrual” account for each fisherman and tender with a distribution assigned.

If any of the GL Accounts cannot be assigned, a message will appear. 

Once the status has been successfully updated to “Approved”, all the editable fields, with the exception of status, will be disabled.

Setting the Status to “Ready to Post”

When the transaction is ready to be finalized, you must open it and change the status to “Ready to Post” and save the transaction. Setting the invoice to “Ready to Post” validates the same conditions as the approval status and locks down all editable fields, including status, and creates an un-posted AP Invoice in the Host System.

Step 3: Posting in the Host System

If the purchasing preference for “Enable Real Time Integration” is set to “Yes”, every invoice where the status is successfully changed to “Ready to Post” will be created in the Host System. 

AP Invoice Journal Entry Distributions

To Record the Purchase from the Vendor

Every Invoice integrated to the host system will contain the following journal entry:

Debit

One debit line showing the summarized total for each “Purchase Account” identified on the NorthScope transaction. The Distribution Type will be “PURCH”.

Credit

One credit line for the total of the entire Invoice. The credit account will be the vendor’s “Accounts Payable” account. The Distribution Type will be “PAY”.

To Record the Accrued Liability for Line Items That Were Distributed to Fishermen and Tenders

Every NorthScope invoice that contained at least on line item distributed to a fisherman or tender will also make a journal entry to record the accrued fisherman liability. If the NorthScope Invoice did not contain any distributions to a fisherman or tender, this step is skipped. The following journal entry will be included:

Debit

One Debit line showing the summarized total for each unique fisherman or tender “Settlement Accrual” account.  The GL Account comes from the vendor’s ‘Settlement Accrual’ account or, if missing, defaults from the purchasing preference for “Default Account – Settlement Accrual” account.  The Distribution Type will be "OTHER".

Credit

One Credit line showing the summarized amounts for each unique “Purchase Account” on the invoice transaction that was distributed to a fisherman or tender. The Distribution Type will be "OTHER".

Step 4: Reviewing in NorthScope

Once Step 3 is complete and the transactions have been posted in the Host System, the following events will happen in NorthScope:

For Invoices that Did Not Contain Any Line Items with Distributions

The invoices that were posted will have their status automatically updated from “Ready to Post” to “Posted” and will no longer be visible in the Purchasing Transaction List View.

For Invoices that Contained At Least One Line Item Distributed to a Project

The Invoices that were posted will have their status automatically updated form “Ready to Post” to “Posted” and will no longer be visible in the Purchasing Transaction List View.

The project module will be updated with the details of each project that was distributed to. The “Actual Expense” value for each applicable project will be updated.

For Invoices that Contained At Least One Item Distributed to a Fisherman or Tender

The invoices that were posted will have their status automatically updated from “Ready to Post” to “Posted” and will no longer be visible in the Purchasing Transaction List View.

Settlement Transactions will be added for each fisherman and tender that was distributed to.