Chronology of events and continuous sequence

In compliance with the DGI rules, the software should preserve the chronology of events by fiscal year, and the continuous sequence of accounting entries.

Functional translation

To preserve the chronology of events, it is recommended to apply the structure below to the document sequence numbers1 Setup > General parameters > Sequence number definition > Structures .

This recommendation is not mandatory: each company may define the sequence numbers of their choosing as long as the legal requirements on chronology and continuous sequence are observed.

Component	Length
Site	5
Fiscal year	2
Period	2
Constant	5 (=entry type code)
Sequence no.	6
Definition and RTZ level: Site and period

Although the legislation emphasizes on yearly sequence numbers, using monthly sequence numbers is permitted. A monthly structure can be more flexible when it comes to covering periods.
During an audit (accounts auditor or French DGI), one of the first checks is on the sequence and continuity of sequence numbers.

For Invoice or Credit memo entry types, the related sequence numbers must be set to Chronological control. This type of sequence number guarantees that a new document will be set to a date later than the previous document.

Sequence numbers can be structured based on a company code or site code: these codes must be of consistent length to facilitate the chronological control. For this purpose:

• The following parameters (SUP chapter, FMT group) are available (since patch 13) and their value is calculated upon the first connection:
  • CPYMINLEN - Min size of company codes
  • CPYMAXLEN - Max size of company codes
  • FCYMINLEN - Min size of site codes
  • FCYMAXLEN - Max size of site codes
• When creating companies and sites in a folder, a warning message is displayed if the minimum and maximum length are different. For the maximum length to be reached, underscore ('_') characters will be added to the company/site codes, when using chronological sequence numbers.

To ensure the chronology of events, an additional control is applied when creating or generating an invoice or a credit memo (entries from the Distribution and A-P/A-R accounting modules). This control checks that there is no entry with a date after the entry period end date. This control is subject to parameter2 Setup > General parameters > Parameters > Parameter values CTLPERINV - Invoice date control Period (TC chapter, INV group), which defaults to Yes for the French legislation and cannot be modified. This is also true for newly created companies which are subject to French legislation (FRA).

You can only modify the accounting date of a new invoice or credit memo if your date belongs to the same accounting period as the initial date for the main general ledger. This control depends on the presence of the accounting period component in the sequence number.

In the Distribution and A/P-A/R accounting modules, a control also checks that the date of the entry that generated the invoice or credit memo is not after the invoice or credit memo date.
Examples : An invoice date displayed on a credit memo cannot be after the date of this credit memo; a packing slip displayed on an invoice cannot have a shipment date after the invoice date.

For entries set to final:

• A field displays the date when the entry was set to final (entry header, which you can view from the properties - File > Properties);
• A sequence number field on the accounting entry line is loaded when setting the entry to final (CHRNUM); this sequence number guarantees the chronological continuity of line numbers.

To meet this continuous sequence requirement, parameters3 Setup > General parameters > Parameters > Parameter values SIVSUP - Delete invoice/accounting entry and POSTINVSUP - Invoice accounting cancellation (TC chapter, INV group) default to No for the French legislation and cannot be modified.
This is also true for newly created companies which are subject to French legislation.

Finally, the setup of entry types used for French companies must not authorize the simultaneous use of the Actual and Simulation modes. Simulation entries must remain available for deletion.
Setting a simulation entry to Actual leads to changing the entry type and reinitializing the document sequence number so it remains consistent with the target entry type.

From patch list 6 and higher, Sage X3 provides a new accounting entry number to facilitate the numbering of accounting entries and so, the exchanges between Sage, its partners, customers and the DGI (French taxation administration).

This new number, which completes the existing one, is assigned to an accounting entry when it is posted (when it becomes intangible). Each company, accounting ledger, fiscal year and accounting entry is assigned a sequence number. The generation of the Accounting entry file (FEC) is based on this number.