Hi, I tried doing this. All well and good but how do I put the expense to the correct GL account?
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A new feature here seems unnecessary. I think what needs to happen is that the filters being applied to the item list, within the purchase invoice|receipt, should be able to be easily changed from the UI, in such a way that users can include|exclude items.
This would allow us to make the “consumables” item a group item, in which we can create new expense items, such as fuel, or phone purchase or what have you; and then pull those items into the usual field for purchase invoice|receipts.
Then this would work as any other accounts platform.
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Re-reading above I think I need to add that, yes we can easily make “consumables” a group item now, and add a new item inside this group, unchecking the “manage stock” option upon creation. But this will not update the filters within the field circled in the graphic. And it is these filters that need to be manageable from the UI.
Furthermore, this should be a priority item because this is a very simple, but very necessary function of any accounting system, that is currently ambigious, and not easily done in ERPNext.
I guarantee this problem on it’s own has prevented adoption for many businesses.
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Yes it is a big problem
The accountant who works in NGOs needs this type of input to pay the expenses and is not present in the ERPNext system.
Whereas, as accountants, we spend on NGOs systems on the expense directly on payment.
“consumable items should be available here too”
As a quick check I could not reproduce this - that is, I defined an item in a Consumable group that then appears in the Purchase Invoice Item list.
Perhaps the user community can corroborate on what you have found here, to identify and confirm what the problem is in this case?
I strongly disbelieve that the String “consumables” (and it is not more then that. A string of characters) in your item groups name would enable ERPNext to not show this in an Invoice. So, I’d assume there must be another reason for this (like the item not having the "Is Purchase Item" box checked, or such)
Strongly agreed with @Tawanda_Nyararai. This is a very standard feature especially an ERP system like ERPNext should already possess. A Journal Entry should be the last resort to pass a double entry and it should only be limited to the staff with proper accounting knowledge. A layman assigned with Journal Entries is a disaster!
Actually, ERPNext has a powerful user permissions framework where you can finetune user rights and user access down to the field value level.
That’s true but the point is that as a comprehensive ERP system, users should be able to create payable bills for expenses like electricity, water, etc and apply payments against them. I’m a QuickBooks ProAdvisor and tracking non-item payables is a very basic feature there though QB has limited functionality compared to ERPNext!
You can do this quite easily either through purchase invoice or journal entry payment, in which entries are linked to a specific mode of payment and bank account (if necessary) in ERPNext. Using User Permissions (extending the roles), to can even limit a particular user to only enter Utility Bills (if that is what your business case needs.)
We are developing a feature for this, please review and add your suggestions
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Just a quick question plz!!
when using purchase invoice for booking non-item expenses (e.g. entertainment, kitchen supplies, utilities), how do u charge these to respective ledgers? I have created items with these names but when i post a transaction they get charged to cost of goods sold. Where do i select the relevant ledger account?
To change the expense account, expand the respective item in the Purchase Invoice and scroll down to the field named “Expense Head”. Change this field to your desired expense account. Or you can change the Default cost center for the item master or the Item Group it belongs to.
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Move “expanse head” To main window after item name, it will great help for end user
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Really I need to use this. But I can’t find Expense Head on “Purchase Invoice”.
the same here, it is hard believe this function still not available.
What function is not available? This thread is from 2015. I don’t know what the situation was back then, but it is entirely possible now to create non-stock expenses/payables via purchase invoicing.
From Accountant point of view, it is better we could enter expense invoice directly and impact the cost account.
To my mind, I prefer create generic items like “Energy”, “little furniture”, each one can depend of accountancy code I need in my general ledger.
I describe in line’s description if needed, link the PDF scan of supplier invoice of just supermarket ticket.
Like that I will have an accountancy code for each kind of expense and then in future analyze them.
One of ERP goal is to records data and analyse it. Record expenses without qualify them have no use in ERP
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