Linking Payment Terms to Journal Transactions

A journal transaction can contain a number of payment dates and details, for example payment due date, two discount dates and discount percentages, and up to four document dates. Some, or all, of these payment details can be determined by the payment terms referenced on the transaction. The payment terms code you assigned to the appropriate customer or supplier is used by default, or you can enter a payment terms code onto the transaction manually.

Payment terms are defined using Payment Terms (PYT) and identified by a payment terms code. They consist of a payment header identifying the general payment terms, and a series of payment term details. Each payment term detail determines the individual settlement terms that apply to a particular type of transaction date. For example, one payment term detail might determine the due date which is when the invoice is due for payment, and another might determine the first discount date and discount percent available the invoice is paid earlier.

The payment terms that apply to a supplier or customer are referenced on Supplier (SUS) and Customers (CUS). Each supplier is linked to a creditor/payables or client account, and each customer is linked to a debtor/receivables or client account. This means that the payment terms are linked to a ledger account indirectly, via the supplier or customer details.

So, if a journal transaction is entered for a debtor/receivables, creditor/payables or client account, the system locates the appropriate supplier or customer details and obtains the payment terms. These payment term rules are then used to calculate the default payment terms details. If payment terms have not been linked to the customer or supplier, you can enter the payment terms code manually.

A payment terms group can also include a Scheduled Payments code. If it does, then when relevant transactions are entered to debtor, creditor or client accounts, they are split into instalments with a schedule of due dates. The specific terms of the schedule are defined using Scheduled Payment Setup (SCH). After the transaction has been split into instalments, each individual instalment line generated is still subject to the payment terms associated with calculating document dates, discount dates, and interest dates.