Dealing with Prepayments Posted to the Wrong Period

Issues with prepayments can be experienced if the relevant accounting periods either don't exist, or have an access level of 9. Prepayments can only be made to an accounting period with an access level of 8 or less.

If an accounting period within a prepayment range is set to access level 9, the prepayment will be ignored for that period and allocated to the next future accounting period with an access level of 8 or less. If no future periods exist with an access level of 8 or less, the remainder of the prepayment will be posted into the Register period (REG.REG).

Prepayments with Correct Accounting Periods

The prepayment example used in this topic is for a purchase invoice for a 12 month insurance policy. The invoice is for £12,000 and is being prepaid across the financial year as shown in the following table. If all the accounting periods exist and are set to access level 8 or less, the prepayment postings would appear as follows:

Period Example Access
Level		 Prepayment
Posting
Period 1 (Current) 2020/21.01 3 £1,000
Period 2 2020/21.02 8 £1,000
Period 3 2020/21.03 8 £1,000
Period 4 2020/21.04 8 £1,000
Period 5 2020/21.05 8 £1,000
Period 6 2020/21.06 8 £1,000
Period 7 2020/21.07 8 £1,000
Period 8 2020/21.08 8 £1,000
Period 9 2020/21.09 8 £1,000
Period 10 2020/21.10 8 £1,000
Period 11 2020/21.11 8 £1,000
Period 12 2020/21.12 8 £1,000
TOTAL £12,000

Prepayments where Accounting Periods have Access Level 9, but Future Periods Exist

If one or more accounting periods has an access level of 9, the system will look to post whatever prepayment portion could not be posted (in the following example, £2000), to the next future period with an access level of 8 or less. In the following example, periods 11 and 12 cannot be accessed, therefore, the prepayment amount of £2000 is posted into Period 1 of the new financial year.

Period Example Access
Level		 Prepayment
Posting
Period 1 (Current) 2020/21.01 3 £1,000
Period 2 2020/21.02 8 £1,000
Period 3 2020/21.03 8 £1,000
Period 4 2020/21.04 8 £1,000
Period 5 2020/21.05 9 £1,000
Period 6 2020/21.06 8 £1,000
Period 7 2020/21.07 8 £1,000
Period 8 2020/21.08 8 £1,000
Period 9 2020/21.09 8 £1,000
Period 10 2020/21.10 8 £1,000
Period 11 2020/21.11 9 £0
Period 12 2020/21.12 9 £0
Period 1 Next FY 2021/22.01 8 £2,000
Period 2 Next FY 2021/22.02 8 £0
TOTAL £12,000

If this occurs, you will need to post a change document into the level 9 accounting period(s) as a CUSTADMIN user (in the previous example, Period 11 and Period 12). Alternatively, reduce the access levels on the two accounting periods to a maximum of 8 then post a change document as the current user, assuming their access level matches the accounting periods. For more information, please see Posting Prepayments Using a Change Document .

Prepayments where Accounting Periods have Access Level 9, but no Future Periods Exist

If there are no future periods with an access level of 8 or less, the portion that cannot be posted into a future accounting period is posted to the Register period (REG.REG) as separate documents (one document per period that could not be posted). In the following example, two PM – Prepayment Movement documents would be posted to the REG.REG period, each for £1000.

Period Example Access
Level		 Prepayment
Posting
Period 1 (Current) 2020/21.01 3 £1,000
Period 2 2020/21.02 8 £1,000
Period 3 2020/21.03 8 £1,000
Period 4 2020/21.04 8 £1,000
Period 5 2020/21.05 8 £1,000
Period 6 2020/21.06 8 £1,000
Period 7 2020/21.07 8 £1,000
Period 8 2020/21.08 8 £1,000
Period 9 2020/21.09 8 £1,000
Period 10 2020/21.10 8 £1,000
Period 11 2020/21.11 9 £0
Period 12 2020/21.12 9 £0
REG.REG £2,000
TOTAL £12,000

If this occurs, you will need to reduce the access levels on the two accounting periods to a maximum of 8 then post a change document as the current user, assuming their access level matches the accounting periods. For more information, please see Moving a Prepayment from the Register Period .