You can use automated posting to have transactions post to the General Ledger automatically as they are entered. Follow the steps below to prepare your system and turn on automated posting.
📌Note: Automated posting follows rules based on how your Attaché system is set up. Completing the preparation checklist below will minimise the need for manual intervention once automated posting is turned on.
Before you begin
To use automated posting, you need to be using:
Access Attaché 20.1 or later.
The Modern style menu.
Preparation checklist
Before you turn on automated posting, complete each of the following steps.
1. Complete the General Ledger Health Check
The GL Health Check ensures your GL Sets are complete and valid and will minimise the need for manual intervention when posting automatically. See the General Ledger Health Check section below for details.
2. Review the current limitations of automated posting
Ensure you are aware of the current limitations of automated posting before proceeding. The following transactions cannot be posted automatically and must be posted manually:
Consolidated transactions.
Cash Register transactions.
End-of-year postings between companies.
3. Set up Payroll Options for automated posting
To configure Payroll Options and post any outstanding Payroll GL Postings:
Choose Setups, Payroll, Options, Payroll Options.
On the Options tab, go to the General Ledger Chart Company field and ensure the correct General Ledger company is entered, then select the Post to this company checkbox.
Choose Accept (F9) to save your changes.
4. Verify General Ledger Options
To confirm your General Ledger Options are correctly configured:
Choose Setups, General Ledger, Options, General Ledger Options.
Ensure the Start of Tax Year is set to the current financial year.
Choose Accept (F9) to save — do this regardless of whether you made any changes.
5. Check period coverage
Ensure all dates within the calendar year are covered by a period. For example, if it is a leap year, ensure your February period includes the 29th.
6. Post outstanding transactions
Ensure all transactions in the auto-posting modules have been posted. If there are any outstanding transactions in a module, these will be shown on the Automated Posting screen, with the option to post or delete them.
⚠️Important: If you are unsure whether all transactions have been posted, speak to your consultant before continuing.
7. Back up your company data
Take a backup of your company data before turning on automated posting. If automated posting does not fit your organisation's needs, you can restore from the backup and continue to post manually.
Once you have completed all steps in the checklist, you are ready to turn on automated posting.
Turn on automated posting
Having completed the preparation checklist, you can now enable automated posting.
Choose General Ledger, Transactions, Automated Posting.
Check that the screen displays three green ticks. If not, complete the required step from the preparation checklist above before continuing.
Turn on the Enable Automated Posting toggle at the top of the screen.
From now on, when transactions are entered and accepted, they will automatically post to the General Ledger.
Correct posting errors using Transactions Pending
You can use the Transactions Pending utility to correct any transactions that did not automatically post to the General Ledger when they were entered.
With automated posting, transactions are posted when they are entered (accepted) based on the transaction date. If a transaction does not post automatically — for example, if it falls outside an unlocked period or a GL Set is set up incorrectly — a desktop notification is displayed and the transaction is held in Transactions Pending.
When you open Transactions Pending, you will see a list of errors preventing transactions from posting (Step 1), the related transactions (Step 2), and methods for correcting the errors (Step 3).
To use the Transactions Pending utility:
Choose General Ledger, then choose Transactions, then choose Automated Posting, then choose Transactions Pending.
Click the error type on the left-hand side of the screen.
Select the transactions you wish to fix.
Apply the appropriate correction so the transaction will post. See the error types table below for guidance.
To show more details, click the down-arrow on the right of the error row.
To open the transaction-entry screen, click on the Document Number.
Click Apply (or Import, for Cost Centre errors) to post the transaction.
Types of posting errors and how to correct them
Error | Correction |
Period Locked | After selecting the transaction you want to correct, select the period you want the transaction assigned to, then click Apply to post. If the period is locked, you will need to unlock it using the Unlock (F7) button. Go to Setups, then General Ledger, then Options, then General Ledger Options. The Unlock button becomes available when you click on the locked period in the Period Headings table. |
GL Account XXXX was not found | After selecting the transaction you want to correct, select the appropriate GL account. You can use the Search to find the correct account. Once selected, click Apply to post. If the message "Please review these GL Sets for potential error" is displayed, check your General Ledger Sets at Setups, then General Ledger, then General Ledger Sets, then Maintain. |
Cost Centre XXXX was not found | This means the cost centre entered in the transaction does not exist in the current company. Click Import to import the cost centre from another company (dataset) and post the transactions. |
Transaction Date falls outside of Financial Year | After selecting the transaction you want to correct:
|
General Ledger Health Check
The General Ledger is the backbone of your business. Use the Health Check below to verify your codes are valid and complete, your setups are optimal, and your Trial Balance and Profit & Loss/Balance Sheet are in balance — and to ensure you are ready for automated posting.
📌Note: If you are in doubt at any point during the Health Check, contact your Attaché consultant for assistance.
General Ledger Sets
Question | Yes | Not sure / No |
Have you reviewed your General Ledger Sets in the last six months? | You're good. | See Checking your General Ledger Sets Section below. |
Are all General Ledger Set codes complete (no temporary placeholder codes)? | You're good. | See Checking your General Ledger Sets Section below. |
Are all General Ledger Set codes valid (each code exists in the Chart of Accounts)? | You're good. | See Checking your General Ledger Sets Section below. |
General Ledger Options
Question | Yes | Not sure / No |
Is only the current period unlocked? (Setups, General Ledger, Options, General Ledger Options) | You're good. | |
Is the Financial Year Start date set to the current financial year? (Setups, General Ledger, Options, General Ledger Options) | You're good. | In General Ledger Options, ensure the Financial Year Start date is set to the current financial year. |
Company Bank Accounts
Question | Yes | Not sure / No |
Does each company bank account have a General Ledger code? (Setups, Company Setups, Company Bank Accounts, Bank Accounts Maintain) | You're good. | See Checking the General Ledger account for your company bank accounts section below. |
Trial Balance v Profit and Loss
Question | Yes | Not sure / No |
Does your Trial Balance and Profit & Loss/Balance Sheet balance? (General Ledger, Reports, Financial, Trial Balance and Standard Financial Reports) | You're good. |
Date checking during transaction entry
Question | Yes | Not sure / No |
Have you turned on Date Checking in User Maintenance to prevent operators from entering post-dated transactions? (File, Maintain Users, Maintain) | You're good. |
Check your General Ledger Sets
To ensure transactions post correctly from sub-modules, General Ledger Set codes must:
Not be blank, and must be numeric.
Exist in your Chart of Accounts.
Have an Account Type of 0 (Posting – Optional Printing), 1 (Posting), 2 (Control), or 3 (Bank).
To check your General Ledger Set codes are valid, numeric, and appear in your Chart of Accounts:
Choose Setups, then choose General Ledger, then choose General Ledger Sets, then choose Maintain.
Choose Find (F2), then choose Output (F11) to open the List Wizard with all your General Ledger Sets displayed.
Choose Show All Columns.
Use the List Wizard to export all the data to Excel.
With your GL Sets displayed in Excel, check that each General Ledger Set code:
Is not blank and contains only numbers. If not, go to Setups, then General Ledger, then General Ledger Sets, then Maintain and update the code so that it is numeric.
Is included in your Chart of Accounts (General Ledger, Reports, Details, Chart List). If not:
In General Ledger, Masterfiles, Accounts, Maintain, add a new General Ledger account, or
In Setups, General Ledger, General Ledger Sets, Maintain, select the GL Set code and then select the appropriate General Ledger account code.
Has an Account Type set to 0, 1, 2, or 3. If not, go to General Ledger, Masterfiles, Accounts, Maintain and update the Account Type field.
Check the General Ledger account for your company bank accounts
To check the General Ledger account assigned to each of your company bank accounts:
Choose Setups, Company Setups, Company Bank Accounts, Bank Accounts Maintain.
Enter the Company Bank Code, then ensure a valid code is entered in the GL Account Code field. A valid code is one that exists in your Chart of Accounts and has an Account Type of 3 (Bank) in General Ledger Set Maintenance (Setups, Company Setups, General Ledger Sets, Maintain).
Select the Reconcile checkbox if you wish to enable Bank Reconciliation on this account.
📌Note: The Reconcile checkbox has no impact on automated postings.
Choose Accept (F9) to save.
📌Note: Remember to check each of your company bank accounts.