Referencing
In each example of an accounting model that may reference another transaction and thus liquidate prior accounting activity, data is not shown for that liquidation. Only the current transaction's activity is displayed.
Referencing is an integral part of many accounting models. Those business areas where accounting is recorded at various stages so that what was recorded earlier is reversed by accounting that is recorded later. The action of reversing what was recorded earlier is called a liquidation. Many areas in the application have referencing capability, but accounting is only liquidated when one accounting line references another with a Reference Type of Partial, Final, or Inverse. The reference type of Memo only serves to link two accounting lines together for reporting and online inquiry.
Liquidations occur when a Reference Type of Partial or Final is chosen on a transaction referencing another. A liquidation is when one or more standard posting lines are pulled forward from the referenced transaction to the referencing transaction. Once pulled forward, the debit and credit are reversed and the Posting Amount becomes the amount that will be closed on that referenced posting line. All other information on that posting line, called a Liquidation posting line, remains as it was recorded originally on the referenced transaction except for certain date information.
As mentioned earlier in the Event Category topic, when a Partial, Final, or Inverse reference occurs, only the posting lines with a Line Function of Standard are liquidated. Those that have a Line Function of Non-Standard are not brought forward to the referencing transaction.
Reverse liquidations can occur in a number of situations where the liquidation line will have a debit and credit similar to when the referenced transaction was originally recorded. This type of liquidation will 're-open' the referenced line by reducing the Closed Amount. Examples include:
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Modifications to the referencing transaction where the line amount is reduced and the Reference Type is Partial
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Modification where the Reference Type is changed from Final to Partial
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When the Reference Type is set to Inverse*
*Not every instance of an Inverse reference will 're-open' a referenced line. References can result in one of four situations on the accounting line of the referenced transaction (sample amounts used).
Situation |
Line Amount |
Closed Amount |
Referenced Amount |
Referencing Transaction |
Partial Reference |
$100 |
$20 |
$20 |
Partial reference of $20 |
Exact Reference |
$100 |
$100 |
$100 |
Final reference of $100 |
Over Reference |
$100 |
$100 |
$120 |
Final reference of $120 |
Short Reference |
$100 |
$100 |
$80 |
Final reference of $80 |
When an Inverse reference is done, the amount 're-opened' depends on the relationship between the Line Amount and Referenced Amount of the referenced line and the Line Amount of the referencing line. The following shows the various situations that can occur. The Line Amounts of the referencing transaction are shown as negatives.
Referenced Before |
|
Referenced After |
|||
Line Amount |
Closed Amount |
Referenced Amount |
Referencing Transaction Line Amount |
Closed Amount |
Referenced Amount |
Partially Closed |
|||||
$100 |
$20 |
$20 |
($25)A |
$20 |
$20 |
$100 |
$20 |
$20 |
($20) |
$0 |
$0 |
$100 |
$20 |
$20 |
($5) |
$15 |
$15 |
$100 |
$20 |
$20 |
$0 |
$20 |
$20 |
Fully Closed |
|||||
$100 |
$100 |
$100 |
($100) |
$0 |
$0 |
$100 |
$100 |
$100 |
($80) |
$20 |
$20 |
$100 |
$100 |
$100 |
$0 |
$100 |
$100 |
Over Referenced |
|||||
$100 |
$100 |
$120 |
($120) |
$0 |
$0 |
$100 |
$100 |
$120 |
($110) |
$10 |
$10 |
$100 |
$100 |
$120 |
($100) |
$20 |
$20 |
$100 |
$100 |
$120 |
($80) |
$40 |
$40 |
$100 |
$100 |
$120 |
$0 |
$100 |
$100 |
Short ReferencedB |
|||||
$100 |
$100 |
$80 |
($100) |
$0 |
$0 |
$100 |
$100 |
$80 |
($80) |
$0 |
$0 |
$100 |
$100 |
$80 |
($20) |
$60 |
$60 |
$100 |
$100 |
$80 |
$0 |
$80 |
$80 |
A Reference fails as attempting to re-open more than was closed
B Notice that even a zero-dollar inverse reference updates the Closed Amount. This is because when a line has been short referenced, the first thing an inverse reference will do is re-open the 'shorted' amount. Then if the line amount on the inverse reference is greater than zero, the inverse reference will re-open that amount.
Of particular note regarding Inverse references, when a correction is performed to restore some or all of the closed amount on an accounting line, if the transaction that originally closed out some or all of that accounting line is modified; postings from that modification will not reflect the correction. This is because the correction is on an entirely different transaction. For example, an accounting line for $500 is partially referenced for $400, then corrected for that $400 so that the $500 line is completely open. If the transaction that did the $400 reference is modified up to $450, then it will only liquidate $50 of the $500 line. To get the $500 line to have $450 liquidated against it, the correction has to be cancelled.
Referencing logic and controlling pages are common to all business areas, with the only exception being in Accounts Receivable when Cash Receipts are referencing Receivables. This business area has concepts of a short payment and over payment that will create slightly different liquidation and standard postings. The "Understand the Cash Receipt Transaction" topic in the CGI Advantage - Accounts Receivable User Guide should be consulted for more information on how these concepts work.
The presentation of a transaction is the first, and ultimate, control of referencing. Those transactions that should allow referencing display fields for entering reference information. Those that should not reference do not display the fields. On certain transactions, the Reference Type field is protected with a default value that cannot be changed by a user. In some cases, only one type of reference is allowed (the Journal Voucher for example). In other cases, the application will determine the type of reference (the Cash Receipt for example.)
In all cases, when reference information is entered, that information must be valid. When a partial or final reference is done, there must be an open amount on the referenced line. When an Inverse reference is done, the referenced line must have a Closed Amount that is not zero. In the case of a partial reference being made where the Line Amount of the referencing transaction exceeds or equals the Open Amount on the referenced transaction, the application will set the Reference Type from Partial to Final.
If a reference can be made and is made to a valid accounting line of a valid transaction, meeting any rules about Open Amount and Closed Amount, then several specific referencing edits are made:
Can a reference be done according to Transaction Control (DCTRL) and Event Type Requirements (ERQ)?
Can the referencing transaction code reference the referenced transaction code according to the Transaction Allowable References (DARF)?
Is a reference allowed on Budget Fiscal Year Staging?
If a Final reference, will the relationship between the referencing line amount and the referenced line amount pass any tolerances established on System Tolerance (STOL), Fund Tolerance (FTOL), and Transaction Tolerance (DTOL)?
When a reference is made that is not Memo, the Transaction Control (DCTRL) page has several other fields besides the Reference Rule that are used. These fields include controls for whether Chart-of-Account (COA) values from the referenced line should be inferred to the referencing line and which of those COA values can differ between the referenced and referencing lines. Much more information on these controls is given in the "Transaction Code (Transaction Control)" topic in this user guide.