Linked Transactions - Getting started

1What linking does #

A linked transaction is a document drawn from an earlier one: a sales order from a quotation, a delivery note from an order, an invoice from a delivery note, a purchase bill from a purchase order. The later document pulls in the earlier one's pending lines, and what it takes is subtracted from what is still due. The earlier document is the link source; the later one sets it off.

The module has three parts: the set-up in Voucher Manager (which voucher type may load which, and how much may change), the loading on the voucher screen, and Manage Linked Transactions - one page listing everything still pending, from which you set sources off, create the next vouchers in bulk, trace what a source became, reserve stock and close what will never come.

Licence: Linked Transactions is a module of its own (until October 2026 it was sold as a feature of Inventory). Auto Set-Off is a feature of it, bought on its own; Set Off, Short Close and Reopen do not need it.

2Where to find help #

• On every screen: the Help panel on its right - what the screen is for, step by step, every field, the keys, who may do what, and If something does not work with every message the screen can show.
• The manual: at the foot of this page, the full help of Manage Linked Transactions, Short-Close Reasons, Voucher Manager and the voucher screen, gathered in one place.
• Search help...: the box at the top of every page searches every screen's help at once.

3Where things are - the Linked Transactions menu #

4First-day setup (administrator) #

1. Licence. The company's licence must include Linked Transactions. Existing licences were granted it when the module was introduced; a newly allotted serial gets it only when it is ticked.
2. Voucher types. In Masters > Voucher Manager, on each voucher type that loads from another (the purchase bill, the delivery note, the invoice): switch Enable Linked Transaction ? on and set its Linked Transaction properties (see the next section). The switch is on the ERP edition only.
3. Reasons. Open Linked Transactions > Short-Close Reasons and review the seven reasons provided - change them to your own words.
4. Rights. In Admin > User Manager: Execute on Manage Linked Transactions (Tools) for everyone who uses the page; Can Close Link Src. (Vouchers tab) on each source voucher type for those who may close balances; Allow Stock Reserve for those who reserve stock; Create / Alter / Delete on Linked Transaction Close Reasons (Masters tab) for whoever keeps the reason list. Tick the menu rows on their Menu Definition tab.
5. Optional settings. Linked Transaction Mgr. Auto Refresh In Seconds (Inventory Settings) makes the page refresh itself; Show Linked Tran (Stk Afftd) Pending In Financials (Account Settings) counts pending orders in the financials and the credit check (see Settings).

5Keys #

On Manage Linked Transactions:

On the voucher screen: Ctrl+F12 is Load Vch. (copying lines without linking); F5 saves. In Linked Transaction Properties (Voucher Manager): Save (F5), Close (Esc). On Short-Close Reasons: Find (F2), Add (F3), Modify (F4), Save (F5), Esc.

6Set up which documents may load which #

Open Masters > Voucher Manager, find the voucher type that does the loading (the invoice, the purchase bill), press Modify (F4), switch Enable Linked Transaction ? on, save, and press Linked Transaction under Properties & Settings. The Linked Transaction Properties window has three boxes.

Sources & Selection

Edit Rules & Status

Carry From Source & Auto Set-Off

• Add Bill Sundries From Source ?, Add Contacts From Source ?, Load Currency / Employee / Profit-Centre / Lead ID / Custom Fields From Source ? - what else comes across with the lines.
• Auto Set-Off Transaction Class and Auto Set-Off Ledger Account - what Auto Set-Off uses for the vouchers it creates. Leave the class blank (or pick a Manual Select or party-based option) and Auto Set-Off asks for it per voucher.
• Manufacturing and job-order loading options, for production vouchers.

Save (F5) stores the properties and closes the window.

7Loading on the voucher #

On a voucher type that links, the header carries a box named after the source - Linked Purchase Order No(s), say, or Linked Transaction No(s) - with Select Linked Transaction(s) and View Linked Source Voucher buttons.

1. Pick the party first when the box sits after the Party (otherwise: Select a Party before choosing linked transactions.).
2. Press Select Linked Transaction(s). The list shows the sources with something pending: party, voucher type, number, date, amount, status, user and balance. Tick one - or several, when allowed - and confirm. __Not Applicable__ means no source.
3. With Allow Selecting Items Before Loading ? on, Select Items to Load opens: tick the lines to bring. Cancelling loads nothing.
4. The lines arrive: Loaded N item(s) from M linked transaction(s). Adjust quantities and rates as far as the edit rules allow.
5. Or press Link Src. ID on the item toolbar and type or scan the source numbers, comma-separated. A number is accepted only if the picker would offer it.
6. Save. The source's balance drops by what was taken, in the same save.

When a change is refused

• Total Qty for this item can only be REDUCED from the linked-source value (...) - the Qty Option is Can Reduce (or INCREASED for Can Increase; locked for Disable Edit).
• Rate for this item is locked at the linked-source value - Rate Option is Disable Edit.
• Linked-transaction policy locks the item set - Item Option is Disable Edit; Item '...' was not part of the linked source - Only Items From Source.
• Link Source selection is compulsory. Please select a valid link source id. - linking is compulsory and no source is picked.

Seeing how a source was used

On a saved voucher, Set-Off Details on the right-hand rail lists the source's lines: the voucher type that used each part, quantity, used quantity and balance. View Linked Source Voucher opens the source itself.

8Manage Linked Transactions #

Linked Transactions > Manage Linked Transactions lists every source that a later voucher can still set off - once for each voucher type it can be set off into. Nothing is read until you press Apply.

The filters

The list

Columns: Voucher Type, Vh. No (the internal number), Ref No (the number printed on the document), Date, Location, Particulars (the party), Amount, Profit Centre, Link To, Employee, Owner, Status, Status Date, Status By, Status Text, Branch (ERP), Row ID, Entry Date Time and Is Closed. Rows are coloured by status: Approved green, Cancelled red and struck through, Rejected red, Altered blue, On Hold magenta. Each column's menu filters, sorts and groups; drag a header to the bar above to group by it. The footer counts the rows and totals the amount.

Acting on a row

Click a row to pick it; the bar above the grid shows its actions. Double-click opens the voucher. Tick rows for Set Off, Close voucher and Price comparison - with nothing ticked, the picked row is used.

Why is the list empty?

• The filters: clear the party and dates, untick the voucher types, and Apply.
• Remove after a single set-off is on and the source has been partly set off - switch it off to see it.
• Only posted, not-cancelled vouchers appear, and only those of voucher types some other type takes as a link source.
• On the ERP edition the list shows your branch, plus sources whose link settings share them across branches.

9Set Off - make the next voucher from the list #

1. Tick the sources to bill or receive against - all of one voucher type and one party - or just pick one row.
2. Press Set Off (F5). When the rows' Link To agree, that voucher type is used; when a source can go into several types, Set off into which voucher type? asks you to pick one (accounting types are marked).
3. The target voucher opens in a new tab with those sources already loaded: ... opened with N ... - check the lines and save it there. Refresh this list afterwards.
4. Check the lines, finish the voucher and save it there. Back on the list, press Refresh.

• Tick sources of one voucher type to set off together / Tick sources of one party to set off together - the new voucher is for one party and one source type.
• An accounting target takes one source at a time: You can't set-off multiple selection for this type of voucher. Please select single item then try again !
• Linked transaction not enabled ! - no voucher type takes this source type as a link source.
• The voucher that opens applies its own rights, status filter and rules; if nothing comes across it says the orders may not be at the status the voucher type accepts, or may already be fully billed.

10Auto Set-Off - create the vouchers in bulk #

Auto Set-Off (F4) creates the next vouchers for you: one voucher per party, each linking only that party's sources, dated with your working date (the preview shows it), and saved through the same checks as a voucher saved by hand - numbering, stock, credit limit and your Create right on the target type.

1. Tick the sources (one source voucher type; several parties are fine) and press Auto Set-Off (F4).
2. If the source type can go into several voucher types, pick the one to create.
3. The preview shows one card per party: the source references, the net total, and the lines (item, unit, quantity, rate, discount, tax, amount) with gross, tax and sundries. Nothing is saved yet.
4. Answer what it asks: the Transaction class when the link settings leave it open (the party's default class is picked when it is offered), and the Voucher no. when the target is numbered by hand. Untick any party to leave it out.
5. Changed an answer? Press Update preview to see the new totals.
6. Press Create (F5). The result lists every voucher - Saved or Failed, with its number, amount and message. Click a saved one to open it.

What it will not do

Each party's voucher saves on its own: one that fails (credit limit, stock, a missing class) is reported and the rest still save. Sources that cannot be used are listed under source(s) left out with the reason - cancelled, not posted, closed, outside your branches, or a status the link setting does not take. Some voucher types are refused up front and must be set off by hand with Set Off (F5):

• an accounting voucher type;
• a type that loads its lines with a custom query;
• a type that asks for cash / card collection, job-order lines, an instalment plan, AMC agreement details or a member on every save;
• a note or return (it needs the original document's details);
• a type that splits vouchers by each line's supplier account;
• a target whose own module is not licensed.

At most 500 sources go in one run. None of the ticked sources can be set off - see the list below. means every one was left out.

11Short-close, close and reopen #

When a balance will never be delivered or received - the customer cancelled, the supplier cannot supply - close it with a reason instead of leaving it pending for ever.

Short-close some lines

1. Pick the row and press Short-close.... The item-wise window opens with every pending line ticked.
2. Untick the lines that should stay pending.
3. Pick a Reason * (reasons marked (remarks required) need remarks) and type Remarks - up to 400 characters, shown with the reason on the order reports and on the desktop screen.
4. The summary says Closing N of M line(s) - X given up. Press Short-close (F5).

Close whole vouchers

Tick the vouchers (or pick one) and press Close voucher.... Everything still pending on them is given up; what was delivered is untouched. Pick the reason, add remarks, Close vouchers (F5). A voucher pending only by its amount (no item lines) cannot be short-closed line by line - close it whole, and it then shows in Closed as one row.

What a close changes - and what it does not

• The balance leaves this list, the link picker on bill and challan entry, the sales-order credit check, the Pending Linked Transactions report and the order reports' pending figures (the line shows as Short-closed there, with its reason).
• Nothing already delivered changes: bills, stock and the books are untouched.
• The balance is re-read as you close: a line set off, closed or cancelled since the list was read refuses the whole close - ... no longer pending ... Refresh and tick again. A close is all or nothing.
• Every close is logged - line, reason, remarks, balance and value given up, who and when. The log cannot be edited or erased.

Reopen

Set Show to Closed and Apply. Tick the lines and press Reopen ticked (N)..., type why the balance is live again (required), Reopen (F5). The balance becomes pending again: the next voucher can link it, it counts in the party's credit check, and the order reports show it open. The close stays in the log, with the reopen beside it.

12Short-Close Reasons #

Linked Transactions > Short-Close Reasons keeps the reasons offered when a balance is closed. The page is a master like any other: Find (F2), Add (F3), Modify (F4), Save (F5), Esc.

Seven reasons are provided: Customer cancelled the balance, Supplier cannot supply the balance, Item discontinued or unavailable, Rate or terms not agreed, Substitute item supplied, Required-by date passed, and Other - which requires remarks.

• A reason any close has used cannot be deleted: This reason has been used by N close(s), which keep it on record. Switch it off (untick Active) instead.
• Renaming a reason renames it on the reports for old closes too - they refer to it rather than copying it. The remarks text written on the line at close time keeps the old wording.
• Adding, changing and deleting reasons needs Create / Alter / Delete on Linked Transaction Close Reasons (User Manager, Masters tab); everybody may view.

13Waiting for the warehouse #

With Warehouse Management, a voucher made from another can be told to take only what the warehouse has done: Voucher Manager > Linked Transaction properties > Warehouse Condition of the voucher type being made.

• None - as before.
• Put away / picked quantity only - a source line offers only what is put away (a GRN, an Inward Supply) or picked (a Delivery Note, a Sales Order picked ahead). A GRN with 6 of 10 put away offers 6.
• Put away / picked in full - a source voucher is offered only once it is done in full.

The database keeps to it for the web and the desktop alike: the source is not listed, its pending quantity is cut, and a save taking more is refused with the quantity that is done. A short-closed order line asks the warehouse for nothing more; a GRN or Delivery Note line closed short is still put away / picked, because its stock did move.

14Reserving stock against an order #

Reserve stock (F3) on Manage Linked Transactions - or Stock Reserve on the order's own voucher screen - sets stock aside for an order's lines so it is not sold to somebody else.

1. Pick the order's row and press Reserve stock (F3).
2. Stock Reservation lists each line: item, requested quantity, stock, reserved by others, used, and the Reserve Qty to type. Reserve All (F3) fills every line that has stock.
3. Save (F5).

• It works only on voucher types with Allow Stock Reservation ? on that do not themselves move stock (orders, quotations): otherwise Your voucher settings restrict this option... or Reservation is not allowed for stock affecting voucher Types !
• A reservation is never negative, never more than requested, and never more than the available stock unless the voucher type allows reserving against zero or negative stock.
• With Auto Create Stock Reservation Entry ? on, the quantities fill in by themselves - also after every new save of the order.
• Reservations release by themselves as the linked stock-affecting voucher (the delivery, the invoice) consumes the lines.
• It needs the Allow Stock Reserve right on the voucher type.

15Who may do what #

Administrators hold every right through the permission function. On the ERP edition the list and the reports show your branch (per your report option), plus sources whose link settings share them across branches.

16Settings #

17Reports #

The Close Register holds only closes made on the web - the desktop keeps no log. Closes made on the desktop still show in Manage Linked Transactions' Closed view.

18Moving from the desktop #

• Same records. The web reads and writes the desktop's own close flags on the voucher lines, so each side sees the other's closes. The web adds a reason from a list, a log of every close and reopen, and Reopen - none of which the desktop has.
• Remarks. A web close writes "reason: remarks" into the line's remarks, so the desktop screen shows it.
• Auto Set-Off differs on purpose: each voucher links only its own party's sources (the desktop linked every ticked source to every voucher), the link setting's status filter applies, and your Create right and the credit check apply. A stock warning is a save, not a failure. The transaction class and voucher number are answered once in the preview instead of mid-run.
• Custom query. The desktop's Linked Transaction Manager Custom Query setting does not apply on the web page.
• Rights. The page needs Execute on Manage Linked Transactions, and closing needs Can Close Link Src. on every voucher type involved - a type the rights do not list is refused.
• Keys. Print is Ctrl+P; the rest follow the page's buttons.

19If something does not work #