Understanding Ledger Import

Ledger Import allows you to validate and post journals that have been created by another function rather than entered manually using Ledger Entry (LEN). These journals are held as import files and stored in the Ledger Import tables. You can use Ledger Import to post actual and budget transactions.

Note: If you are using budget checking, you should note that although the ledger is updated, the transactions are not held for the budgets.

The journals to be imported can be generated by a number of different sources including:

SunSystems Financials Corporate Allocations.
SunSystems Order Fulfilment.
Other software packages.

The transactions must be created as balanced journals, in the required journal transaction format.

One or more journals can be combined into a single import file, or batch, for processing. However, all of the journals in a file must use the same journal type.

Ledger Import uses a control desk to allow you to select the journals you want to import.

Ledger Import Processing Modes

Ledger Import can be run in two different processing modes: real-time or manual.

When Ledger Import is used to import and post journals in real-time, the journals are passed to Ledger Import automatically as they are generated by the source system. Ledger Import then validates the journals and, providing they are correct, posts them. Alternatively, it can place the journals on hold to enable them to be corrected and posted using Ledger Entry.

When Ledger Import is used to manually import and post journals, the journals are held on the Ledger Import SQL tables within Financials until you choose to import them. You then manually select the journals you want to import, and these are passed to Ledger Import for validation and posting.

The journals generated by SunSystems Order Fulfilment and Financials Corporate Allocations can be posted either in real-time or posted manually.

Ledger Import Validation and Posting

Ledger Import applies the same validation and balancing rules as Ledger Entry to each journal it processes to ensure that only valid journals are posted.

Each journal type referenced in the import file must have a Status of either Open or Hidden in Journal Type (JNT).

You can choose to only validate the journals, or to validate and post the journals. When you are posting the journals, if an error is found in a journal you can choose to either reject the journal or post the error to a suspense account.

Imported journals can be posted to the actual ledger or to a budget ledger. To post a journal to a budget ledger, you must select the budget ledger you require on the ledger import run-time parameters.

Using Business Rules for Additional Validations

Business rules can be used to apply any special validation requirements to selected journal fields. For example, you may want to make certain fields that are optional in Financials, mandatory on the import. You might also need to apply, for example, the same analysis code validations in both Ledger Import and Ledger Entry.

There are some special circumstances for setting up business rules for Ledger Import. To automatically set any of the journal fields during the import process, only certain Call Points can be used in the Event Profile. To validate the target ledger for the import, one specific Call Point must be used in the Event Profile.

Whilst validating details on each transaction line being imported, it is also possible to reference the previous line imported, for example to ensure a certain field is consistent on all the lines of each journal imported. However, if you do this it is essential to differentiate between Ledger Imports from Order Fulfilment and other Ledger Imports (for example, from an external file exported using Transfer Desk). Ledger lines generated by the Ledger Interface definition within Order Fulfilment are sequenced prior to Ledger Import by sorting on Transaction Reference / Account Code, so if you reference the previous line, you need to consider this resequencing. Therefore, to differentiate between the ledger import types, you should use the Journal Header Creation Type data item in an event profile or rule, which identifies whether the Ledger Import is from Order Fulfilment or from another source.

Viewing and Selecting Journals for Import

You use a control desk to initiate, control and monitor the Ledger Import processing. The control desk displays all of the journals on the ledger import tables.

This means that you can use the Ledger Import Control Desk to view journals in any of the following states:

those awaiting ledger import processing
those rejected by ledger import with validation errors.

Journal Type Controls

The settings on the journal type also determine how the journals are processed by Ledger Import.

If the transaction being imported refers to a journal type which has the Next Period Reversal field set to Yes, a reversal for the amount of the transaction is posted to the relevant account in the next period.

If the transactions being imported refer to a journal type which requires authorization, the journal is automatically placed on hold.

Importing Journals with Unique References

If the transactions being imported are for a journal type whose definition has the Unique References field set to Yes, and the account to which the transaction is imported is a debtor, creditor, or client type account, the reference number entered is validated against the ledger. An error is reported if the reference is not unique for that account.