Trading accuracy for flexibility?

Merrin
229 Posts
Former Staff
Former Staff

229Posts

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Having the flexibility to change the address on an order, or the terms on an invoice after you’ve recorded it is one of the strengths of AccountRight Live. However, with great flexibility comes great responsibility (said no one until now, but I reckon it’ll catch on!)

 

In an ideal world, none of us would make mistakes…

But we do. And modifying transactions, in particular modifying transaction dates, can affect your GST reporting. No one wants the situation where you’ve submitted a return, only to find in the next period you’ve reported a transaction again because its date was accidentally changed, or you entirely missed a transaction because it’s been dated back into the previous reporting period.

 

How can you balance flexibility with accuracy?

Glad you asked – let’s take a whirl through AccountRight’s security and auditing options.

Start by setting the preference Transactions can’t be changed, they must be reversed in your software preferences. 

 

preference_transactions.png

 

It’s pretty self-explanatory – if an error is made in a transaction, you’ll have to reverse it and enter a new transaction with the correct details. It’s fool-proof for security.

 

(As a side note, not selecting this option can mean it’s almost too easy to change a transaction, so I’d have it on, and then turn it off on the rare occasion I need to change a transaction. And it’s comforting to know that only Administrators can turn this option on and off, keeping you in control.)

 

Next, consider locking a period once you’ve reported for it. To avoid situations like my GST reporting example, you can always lock the period so no changes can be made at all to transactions dated in the period you’ve already reported for. This is usually highly recommended by your accountant (just FYI) and is great from a security point of view.

 

Keep an eye on who did what, and when

If you do modify transactions, you need to be sure that nothing has been changed that shouldn’t have. So, if you’re not already aware, let me introduce you to the Journal Security Audit Report (you can find it under Accounts in the Index to Reports). 

 

Journal Security Audit report.png

 

It can help you avoid reporting issues if you have modified transactions, allowing you both the flexibility you desire with the accuracy you need. Sound good? Yeah.

 

Best of all, it’s easy to get the info you need – set the Session date from the last time you lodged your return and set the transaction date as the previous reporting period (or the previous financial year if you so desire). And if anything appears, you might have an issue, but the good news is you’re well on top of it. It’ll even tell you who entered or modified the transaction, if you need to follow up.

 

report_edit.png

 

So, get the best of both worlds with AccountRight – enjoy the flexibility to modify transactions, without having to worry that you’re missing something in your reporting.

 

 

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