With recurring postings you create a template for postings that repeat at fixed intervals – for example rent, subscriptions, insurance or depreciation. Sapera then creates the postings in a chosen posting journal on the dates you have selected, either automatically or when you run the template yourself. The postings are added to the journal as ordinary journal entries and are booked by the journal's normal rules.
How to find recurring postings
Open Financial from the hamburger menu in the top left corner. In the accounting menu, select Recurring postings.
If you cannot see the menu item, you probably do not have permission for it – contact support.
Access is controlled by two permissions: Access recurring postings gives access to the menu item and the list, and Manage recurring postings grants the right to create, edit, delete and run templates. Administrators have them by default. The permission Book in closed financial period or period part also decides whether you may create postings with a date in a closed period.
The list of templates
The overview shows your templates with the columns Display name, Journal, Period, Next occurrence, Last run, Total amount, Paused, Run automatically, Has errors, Start date and End date. You can choose which columns are shown.
The toolbar has Create, Edit, Delete, Run now and Refresh. Under More you find Copy, Skip next occurrence, Pause / Activate, All runs and – for administrators – Run due now. Double-click a row to open the template.
Create a template
You can create a template from scratch with Create, or create it from an existing appendix: in the posting journal, choose Create recurring postings from this appendix in the Appendix menu (or from the appendix dialog). The template lines are then pre-filled with the appendix content.
In the template you fill in:
Display name: The name of the template, shown in the list.
Journal: The posting journal the postings are created in.
Description: An optional description.
Paused: When the template is paused, no postings are created until you activate it again.
Run automatically: When left on, Sapera creates the postings itself on the occurrence dates. When off, you run the template manually.
Create days before: Shown only for automatic runs. Specifies how many days before the occurrence date (0–31) the postings are created.
Period: How often the postings repeat: Monthly, Every two months, Quarterly, Semi-annually or Annually.
Day of the month: Choose Fixed day, First day of the month or Last day of the month. For Fixed day you enter Day (1–31); if the month is shorter, the last day of the month is used.
Start date and End date: When the repetition begins and optionally ends.
Below the fields, the Next 12 expected dates panel shows the upcoming occurrences so you can confirm the setup. If there are none, it says "No upcoming dates. Check the start date, end date and day of the month."
In the line grid (up to 100 lines) you enter the posting lines with Type, Account, Actor, Contra account, Debit, Credit, Description, VAT type, Org. unit, Due after days (0–365) and Accrual. If the lines do not balance, "The lines do not balance. Difference: X" is shown, and on save you are asked "Save anyway?". Every line must have an account or actor and an amount.
Run the postings
Manually: With Run now you create the next occurrence in the journal. Only the next occurrence can be run at a time. To skip an occurrence, use Skip next occurrence. An occurrence that has already run can be run again from the list of runs.
Automatically: When Run automatically is on (and the template is not paused), a background job creates the postings up to Create days before days before the occurrence date. Up to three overdue occurrences are caught up automatically. If there are more overdue, the run is marked as failed and the template gets Has errors – then you run them manually. If creation fails, you get a notification in your inbox that links to the list.
Closed periods: If an occurrence date falls in a closed financial period, Sapera asks whether to create the postings on the date anyway or move them to the first open date. If you do not have the right to book in closed periods, you are told so instead.
Runs and status
Once a template is saved, Runs is shown below the lines with Occurrence date, Financial date, Status, Appendix no., Error, Updated on and Updated by. A run can have the status In progress, Created, Skipped, Failed or Reversed. With Show appendix you open the created appendix, and Run again reruns an occurrence. All runs shows the runs across templates.
If you clear the journal or the appendix that a recurring posting created, the matching run is rolled back to status Reversed.
Good to know
A template can have at most 100 lines. A journal cannot be deleted while a template creates postings in it – move or delete the template first. All changes to a template can be followed in the change log.
Want to know more?
Read more in these related articles:
Posting journal
Learn to work in the posting journal: create, edit and delete postings, use keyboard shortcuts, validate and post documents, settle debtor/creditor postings and understand all columns and control panels.
Posting journals
Overview of all posting journals in Sapera. Create, edit and delete journals, and navigate to journal entries.
Accounting (permissions)
Permissions that govern Accounting functions — closing/opening financial periods, booking in closed periods, reversing appendices — plus which Accounting screens are visible.