Record a manual voucher

Demands, receipts, payouts, commissions, revenue runs, RERA sweeps and escrow withdrawals post their own vouchers. Everything else the accounts team records by hand: a vendor's bill, bank charges, a TDS challan, a correcting journal. A manual Contra between the project's collection, RERA separate and operative accounts is for corrections only (a bounce the bank recovered after a sweep, money the bank moved back into the collection account), since the daily sweeps and the certified withdrawals post their own Contra vouchers. A manual voucher is saved as a draft first; it gets its number and reaches the ledger only when it is posted.

Before you start

• The books are active and have the voucher type you need. The eight standard types (Receipt, Payment, Journal, Contra, Sales, Purchase, Credit Note, Debit Note) come with the books; add a type for a second numbering series on the books' Voucher types tab. Only active types are offered.
• The ledgers exist, including the party ledger of any vendor or contractor. See Add a ledger.
• The date falls in an open fiscal year and, for posting, in a period that isn't locked. A draft can be saved in a locked month, but it won't post until the month is unlocked.
• Permissions, in the role editor's words:
  • the View permission on Vouchers, on Books and on Chart of Accounts (to pick ledgers);
  • the Create permission on Vouchers to create a draft and the Edit permission to change it (the default Accountant, Finance Lead and Administrator roles);
  • the Post permission on Vouchers to post (Finance Lead and Administrator). Without it, the draft waits for a checker: see Post a draft voucher;
  • the View permission on Projects and on Bookings to tag a project or booking.

Steps

1. In the sidebar open Accounting and choose Vouchers. Pick the books in the Books switcher at the top right. You see the books' vouchers, newest first, and the New voucher menu. See Vouchers.
2. Open New voucher and choose the type. Each entry reads "<type name> (<kind>)", for example Payment (Payment). The page "New <type>" opens (see New voucher), described as "<kind> voucher; numbered on posting from the <code> series.", with a header card and two lines, Dr then Cr.
3. Fill the header:
   • Voucher type is preset from the menu; Date starts on today ("Must fall in an open fiscal year and an unlocked period.").
   • Reference no. (placeholder "Cheque, invoice or receipt number") and Reference date.
   • Project (placeholder "Not project-specific") and Booking ("Search by booking number or buyer") when the entry belongs to one.
   • Narration (placeholder "What this entry records").
4. On the first line pick the Side (Dr or Cr), the ledger in Ledger 1, and type the Amount. The ledger placeholder hints at what goes there for the type, for example "Party or expense ledger" on a Payment. Add a Cost centre to tag the project (or tower) and a Line narration if useful.
5. Fill the second line the same way on the other side (on a Payment, "Bank or cash ledger (money out)"). Under the lines you see "Debit <amount>", "Credit <amount>" and a green Balanced badge once they agree, or "Difference <amount> more debit" / "more credit" until they do.
6. For a third leg, such as GST input or TDS deducted, click Add line. The new line appears at the top, already on the side and for the amount that would balance the voucher. Adjust it and pick its ledger. The bin icon removes a line (not the last one).
7. When a line's ledger is bill-wise, the line shows a Bill-wise badge. Click Edit allocations ("New Ref opens a bill, Against Ref settles one, Advance and On Account carry no bill. Allocations must add up to the line.") and add allocations until they cover the line:
   • + New Ref opens a bill: Bill no. ("Defaults to the voucher number") and Due date.
   • + Against Ref settles an open bill: pick it in Bill ("Open bills of this ledger"), which lists each bill's outstanding amount and dates.
   • + Advance ("Money received or paid before any bill exists.") or + On Account ("Left unallocated; settle against bills later."). Each button pre-fills what is left. When the total falls short, Put the rest on the last allocation tops up the last one. The summary turns green: "<n> allocation(s): <amount> of <amount> allocated".
8. Click Save as draft. You see "Draft created." and the voucher page opens, titled "<type> draft". A draft may be saved unbalanced; it can't be posted until it balances. (If you hold the Post permission, Save and post does this step and the next two at once; you see "Voucher <no> posted.")
9. If you may post, click Post. The confirmation "Post this voucher?" reads "The voucher gets its number from the <code> series and becomes immutable: later corrections are reversals. Bill-wise lines open or settle their bills." If you can't post, stop here and tell the checker.
10. Click Post in the confirmation. You see "Posted as <no>." The title becomes the voucher number and the status Posted.

What happens next

• The posted voucher counts in the ledger report, trial balance, day book and statements, and New Ref / Against Ref allocations open or settle bills under Outstanding bills.
• Until it is posted, a draft can be changed: click Edit on the voucher page, correct it on Edit voucher draft (the type is fixed) and click Save draft; you see "Draft saved."
• A posted voucher can't be edited. To correct it, reverse it and enter it again: see Reverse a posted voucher or discard a draft.
• Lines take their party from the party ledger itself; there is no separate party field on a line.
• The bank's daily sweep of the collection account and the certified drawdowns from the RERA separate account are not manual vouchers: see Sweep the collection account by hand and Withdraw from the RERA separate account.

If something goes wrong

• "Draft saved, but posting failed: <reason>" after Save and post: the draft is kept and opens. Fix the reason and click Post. "Debits and credits must be equal to post" on hover, "Bill allocations must add up to the line amount (<x> of <y> allocated)", "Only bill-wise ledgers take bill allocations", "Pick the bill to settle", "Account <code> <name> is retired" and "These books have no active voucher type. Add one under Books → Voucher types." are covered in Voucher cannot be posted (trouble.accounting.cannot-post-voucher).
• "No fiscal year covers that date. Open the next fiscal year under Books first.", "Period <n> of <FY> is locked" or "That fiscal year is closed.": the date has no open period. See No open period for the date (trouble.accounting.fiscal-year-missing).
• No New voucher menu, or "These books are inactive; a draft can be saved but not posted." (in fact, no new draft can be created in inactive books either): reactivate the books. See Books inactive (trouble.accounting.books-inactive).
• "No books yet" in place of the list: see No books yet (trouble.accounting.no-books-yet).
• "You do not have permission to view voucher creation. Ask your administrator.": your role lacks the Create permission on Vouchers. See No access (trouble.admin.no-access).

Related

• Vouchers
• New voucher
• Voucher
• Edit voucher draft
• Voucher types
• Outstanding bills
• Post a draft voucher
• Reverse a posted voucher or discard a draft
• Sweep the collection account by hand
• Withdraw from the RERA separate account