About schedules for recurring documents

Each time you need to schedule the generation of a customer ledger document, you perform these steps:

1. You create a document in the Sales invoices (AR301000) window, which will serve as a template for the future documents generated as a result of running a schedule.
2. You create a schedule in the Recurring transactions (AR203500) window and specify its settings.
3. You add a template document to the schedule, either during schedule creation or later.
   Only the documents of the following types Invoice, Debit note, and Credit note, and with the following statuses Balanced, Pending print or Pending email can be scheduled.

   Once you have added a template document to a schedule, the system changes its status to Scheduled. You can assign one document or multiple documents to a schedule.

   As an alternative to steps 1–3, if you need to schedule only one document, in the Sales invoices (AR301000) window, you click Actions - Add to schedule in the window toolbar to create a new schedule for this document.

4. Optional: You can attach to a schedule the scanned documents or electronic versions of the documents that are the basis for the schedule you have created. Also, you can attach a file or multiple files for each document in the table in the Recurring transactions (AR203500) window explaining why this document is generated periodically.

Once you have finished the scheduling, you run the schedule regularly by using the Generate recurring transactions (AR504000) window.

When these documents are generated, you process them as you do for regular documents.

To generate documents in accordance with the schedule, you can use the following windows:

• Recurring transactions (AR203500): To run the selected schedule.
• Generate recurring transactions (AR504000): To run one schedule or multiple schedules listed in the table.

When you run a schedule, the system uses the template document to generate similar documents. The documents generated by a schedule can differ from the template document as follows:

• Date: The date of each document is determined by the schedule you have configured.
• Reference number: A new reference number is generated for each document in accordance with the number series specified in the Customer ledger preferences (AR101000) window.
• VAT rate: If a VAT or taxes are applied to a document, the system calculates VAT and taxable amounts in the document by using the VAT rates effective on the date of the document creation. Thus, in documents generated according to the same schedule, the VAT amounts can differ. You can find the VAT rate used by the system in each particular document on the VAT Details tab of the Sales invoices (AR301000) window.
• Currency rate: If a currency of a document differs from the base currency set in the system, the system uses for conversion the currency exchange rate effective on the date of the document creation.

No matter how many times you run the schedule, documents will be generated only as required by the schedule. The system determines whether it should generate documents depending on the current date, the schedule's start and expiration date, the schedule type, and the date when the documents were last generated. After the required documents have been generated, the system updates the Last executed on date in the Recurring transactions (AR203500) window. Thus, no documents will be generated ahead of time, but missing documents can be generated by running the schedule once for each missed date.

For example, imagine that you schedule an invoice to be generated weekly on each Tuesday with an unlimited number of times. If you run the schedule every week on Wednesday, one invoice will be generated each time. If you run this schedule every day, the invoices will be created only on Tuesdays. If you run this schedule only on the last Wednesday of each month, run it four times to generate one invoice each time.

When you run a schedule in the Generate recurring transactions (AR504000) window, you can generate documents ahead of time. You specify the current date in the Start on field, select the On this date option button in the Stop section, and specify a future date. Thus, you define a date range within which the system will run a schedule. The system checks every date in this range and generates documents only on dates that comply with the frequency settings of the schedule.

You can view the documents generated by a schedule on the Generated documents tab of the Recurring transactions (AR203500) window. Generated documents have the Balanced status and can be released or posted, as any other documents can. If needed, you can change the amounts of the transactions. To view and edit a generated document, use the Sales invoices (AR301000) window.

When necessary corrections are made, the document can be saved only if its status remains Balanced.

You can edit the template document (that is, the document with the Scheduled status) any time you need to. On the next schedule run, the system will use the modified version of the document for generating documents.

Also, you can remove a scheduled document from the table on the Document list tab of the Recurring transactions (AR203500) window by using Delete row in the table toolbar. The system changes the status of the document to Voided and does not use the document any more for generating documents.