In the following article, we will walk through the process of creating a mutual offset of receivables and payables within a single business partner in the ABRA Flexi web interface. This is the equivalent of creating a mutual offset using the wizard in the desktop version of the application.
Mutual offsets can also arise between different companies, for example in the case of insurance claims, etc. The procedure for so-called manual creation of a mutual offset is described in the article Mutual Offset - Manual Creation - WUI.
Creating a Mutual Offset
The key prerequisite for creating an offset within a single business partner is having receivables and payables recorded in the accounting records that you want to offset against each other.
Mutual offsets can be found via Other Agendas - Money - Mutual Offsets, or by using the quick search and entering an appropriate search term.
To create this type of mutual offset, you can also use the Mutual Offset option available in individual agendas via More Actions (the three-dot icon at the end of each record).
In both cases, a form for creating mutual offsets will open. Here, click the New button.
In the new window, select the business partner, currency, offset date, offset number, and the period in months within which you want to search for documents to include in the offset.
In order to link the documents being offset, it is important to assign an offset number that will be the same across all records of a specific offset. The individual offset items will differ by their internal number.
Selecting Documents for the Offset
Once you select a specific business partner, an overview of outstanding receivables and payables will be displayed. You must select at least one receivable and one payable for the mutual offset to be processed.
Select the required tax documents, and summary rows for the selected receivables and payables will appear at the bottom, including a calculated indicative difference.
Completing the Offset
After clicking the Create Offset button, ABRA Flexi will notify you of the processing result.
The processed records will be available in the Mutual Offsets agenda.
At this point, the offset documents are marked as paid, and a link is created between the document and the settling document — i.e., the offset.
If you are offsetting a payable and a receivable of different amounts, the difference between those amounts remains as the unpaid portion of the offset document. The offset is applied in equal amounts on both sides.
Posting Method
By default, the document type Offset has the bridging account 395000 configured.
The account on which the offset document is posted will be used as the contra account. In our case, these are vendor invoices (321xxx) and customer invoices (311xxx).
For open-item accounts such as 321 or 311, it is essential to physically match the document with the payment made via bank, cash, or mutual offset, so that it is removed from the balance report representing unpaid documents as of a specific date.
Printing the Mutual Offset
You can verify that the offset documents are correctly linked, for example, using the print report Agreement on Mutual Offset of Receivables. You can access it via the three-dot icon at the end of each record and by clicking the printer icon.
It is important to note that only those offset records that share the same offset number are included in the print report.
FAQ
Is it possible to offset an invoice and a credit note from the same business partner in the web interface?
Yes, this is possible. The procedure is the same as described in the guide above. A credit note for a received invoice is displayed as a receivable.
Is it possible to create an offset between different business partners?
Yes, this is possible. The offset is created using the so-called "manual creation" method. The procedure is described in the article Mutual Offset - Manual Creation - WUI.