You spot a typo in the description of a voucher that has already been posted. Or the voucher is missing a department, and the accountant has already locked the month. Previously you had to choose between leaving it as it was, or unlocking the period and posting the voucher again – which left a set of correction vouchers in the general ledger.
Now you can correct it directly, as long as the change doesn't touch the figures.
What you can change – and what you can't
The line isn't arbitrary: you can change anything that doesn't affect the accounts. If you change something that does, the voucher has to be posted again as before.
Can be changed on a posted voucher | Requires posting again |
Description on the voucher | Account |
Description on each line | Amount |
Department | VAT code and custom VAT |
Project | Voucher date, invoice date and due date |
Product | Currency and exchange rate |
Custom dimensions | Customer and supplier |
| Accruals |
| Attestants |
Fields that require posting again are greyed out when the period is locked. If you try anyway – for example from an integration – you get a message that the period is locked and which fields are allowed.
The same applies when the VAT term is locked: vouchers in a locked VAT term are locked the same way as in a locked accounting period, and you can change the same fields.
How to do it
Go to Accounting → Journal.
Click the voucher number to open the voucher.
Correct the description. If you want to correct the text shown in the general ledger, you must correct the description on the line – not just the one at the top. More on that below.
To set a department, project, product or custom dimension, turn on More choices on the line. The dimension field is hidden until you do.
Click Save and send changes to ledger.
If the period is locked, "Notice: Accounting period is locked" appears at the bottom of the window, with an info icon in front. If it's the VAT term that is locked, it says "Notice: VAT return is locked". Hover over the icon to see which fields you can change. If you see this, you're on the right track. The save button becomes active once you have changed something.
The screenshots show the app in Norwegian.
This is what the line looks like with More choices turned on. The dimension field appears below the line:
What happens in the accounts
Nothing happens to the figures. That's the whole point:
No correction vouchers are created. Previously, all transactions were reversed and recreated, even when you only corrected some text. Now the same lines are updated, and the general ledger gets no extra rows.
The bank reconciliation is kept. A text change no longer breaks the link between the voucher and the bank transaction.
Payments and paid status stay. Previously, registered payments were deleted and the invoice reopened. That no longer happens.
Open items keep their matching.
If you've wondered why the subledger filled up with corrections you didn't recognise, this is the explanation – and it's gone now.
Pitfalls
The description exists in two places. The voucher's description is at the top. Each line has its own. It's the line's description that ends up in the general ledger. If you only correct the one at the top, you change the voucher, but the general ledger rows keep the old text. To correct what appears in reports and in the subledger, correct the description on the line.
The dimension field is hidden. Without More choices you don't see department, project or dimensions at all. That isn't because they are locked.
Don't select attestants when you save. If you add attestants to a posted voucher, the voucher has to be posted again. In a locked period you then get the error message that the period is locked, even if you otherwise only changed text or dimensions.
Some vouchers can't be changed at all. These belong to the module that created them and must be corrected there:
Bank statements – the content is rebuilt from the payment settings every time, so there is no text to keep.
VAT return – a pure report.
Invoices created in the invoicing module, automatically posted payments, bank reconciliation and year-end closing.
A manual voucher that is matched against an open item. Changing a matching is an accounting action, so the voucher stays locked.
Vouchers posted after the period was locked. The lock marks the vouchers that were posted when it was set. If you post a voucher into a period that is already locked, it isn't marked, and you won't be offered the simple edit. If you lock the period again, it appears.
What to do if you get an error message
"This period is locked. You can only change the description, department, project, product, user and dimensions on this voucher."
You have changed something that affects the accounts – most often the amount, account, date, VAT or attestants. Change it back, or unlock the period under Administration → Accounting → Lock accounting period and post the voucher again.
"This voucher could not be updated without re-posting it, because its accounting entries have changed since it was posted."
The voucher itself is untouched, but something it depends on has changed since it was posted – typically the rate on a custom VAT code. Catacloud won't guess at new accounting entries. Unlock the period and post the voucher again, so you can see what it becomes.
Locking and unlocking an accounting period
Administration → Accounting.
Under Lock accounting period, click Edit.
Set Up to date, write a comment, and click Save changes.
If you set an earlier date than the current one, the period is unlocked again from that date.
When should you contact us?
Get in touch if you have only changed the description or dimensions, and the save button stays grey or you get the error message about a locked period. Tell us which client it concerns, the voucher number, date and amount, and the exact error message – so we can find it faster.