Using payment terms to control documents

Each transaction contains four optional document dates. They are used to record the date on which a document should be printed for a transaction, or subsequently to record when the document was printed.

Document dates can be used as the basis for selecting transactions so that you can print corresponding date-related documents, such as debt chasing letters. For example, you could define Document Date 1 as the date on which the first reminder letter should be produced for a customer transaction. This date would be recorded in the original ledger transaction, and could be used to select the transaction when it is due for the reminder letter. Then, once the document has been printed, the Document Date 1 field in the transaction can be updated with the actual print date.

Using these dates, you have a clear indication of when each letter was printed, for which accounts.

You can configure Payment Terms to calculate document dates based on other dates, for example, you might calculate Document Date 1 by adding thirty days to the transaction's due date. You might also define Document Date 2 as the second letter, thirty days after the first letter date. If you specify the code of your new payment terms group in a customer or supplier record, the document dates are automatically calculated and included in ledger transactions for that customer or supplier.

You can use Account Documents (ACD) to select the transactions which are due, to create a date related document, and to print the document for those transactions. To configure this you must create a control desk, a document format, and a report design for the document. The configuration of these functions is described in the following steps:

1. Create a control desk to extract transactions based on their document dates using Filter Designer (FLD). Modify the Financials Inquiry (SALQ) Print Account Documents filter. From data items in Financials Inquiry > Journal Details > Document, select the four document dates and move them to the Selection Summary. For each date, create its condition as a Range, and check the RunTime Entry and the All check boxes. Save the filter.
2. Create the text and layout of the document using Report Designer. Modify the FPAD1.srdl example report; save it as a new name .srdl file.
   Note: When modifying the example report, consider which currency value should be reported in your report format.
3. Create an appropriate document format using Document Format (DFS). Copy the AAD1 document format, and in the Registration tab, specify your new report file (.srdl) as the Executable Name. In Business Function specify SAAD. If you want to update the document date on the ledger transaction, set the Financials Processing > Update Document Details option to the appropriate document detail (1, 2, 3 or 4) and set Update Document Date to Yes. Save the document format.

In Account Documents, you can then specify a range of document dates, so that any transactions which fall within the range are extracted to the screen, and you select them for Review. This opens a Control Desk In-Tray, from which you select Print Account Documents as the Report Process, and select the appropriate Document Format code for your document.