The accounting control rules
The ERP watches journal entries and warns you when one may distort the books. This guide explains why each rule exists, with examples of what to do and what to avoid.
Where: Finance › Accounting › Controls (the list) and Finance › Accounting › Settings › Control rules (the settings). Rights: Finance read to look, Accounting settings to change the rules.
The people, suppliers and amounts in the examples are made up. The accounts quoted (401, 411, 467, 512…) are those of the club's chart of accounts.
The idea in one sentence
An expense does not leave the bank directly: it first goes through the supplier's invoice. That is what lets you know at any time what the club still owes, to whom, and which year the expense belongs to.
Entries always look like this:
| Step | Debit | Credit | What it says |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. The invoice arrives | 606 Supplies | 401 Supplier | "The club used 100 € and owes it to Aéro-Pièces." |
| 2. The club pays | 401 Supplier | 512 Bank | "The debt is paid, the bank drops by 100 €." |
If you skip step 1 and write 606 / 512 directly, the expense is recorded, but the debt never existed: the supplier balance is wrong, the invoice is not attached to its supplier, and you can no longer tell which year it belongs to.
Three levels for each rule
In Settings › Control rules, each rule has two switches:
| Setting | Effect |
|---|---|
| Off | The rule flags nothing. |
| On (default) | A yellow warning appears when you save a draft, and the entry shows on the Controls page. Nothing is refused. |
| On + Block posting | In addition, the entry cannot be posted until it is fixed. The draft can still be saved. |
Advice to the treasurer. Start with warnings, fix the flagged drafts, then tick Block posting rule by rule. Blocking too early would stop you posting old drafts that already break the rule.
Only entries typed by hand (and those created from the bank reconciliation) are checked. Entries produced by the ERP itself (flight billing, registrations, pack discounts…) and those imported from the old software are not, except for missing tiers.
Rule 1: expense paid straight from the bank or cash
What the rule spots: an expense (class 6 account) whose counterpart is the bank (512) or cash (530/531), without going through a supplier.
Example to avoid. The club pays 100 € of paint by transfer:
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| 606 Supplies | 100.00 | |
| 512 Bank | 100.00 |
What to enter instead, in two entries:
| Entry | Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invoice received | 606 Supplies | 100.00 | |
| 401 Supplier (Peintures du Sud) | 100.00 | ||
| Payment | 401 Supplier (Peintures du Sud) | 100.00 | |
| 512 Bank | 100.00 |
In the ERP, use Purchases › Purchase invoice, then the payment: both entries are created for you.
Allowed exceptions. Some expenses have no supplier invoice and are paid directly: insurance, bank charges, taxes, salaries. These accounts carry the Direct payment box in the chart of accounts (Settings › Chart of accounts). An expense on one of them is not flagged.
Paying before the invoice: the advance (account 4091)
You sometimes pay a quote or a pro-forma invoice before the real invoice arrives. That payment is not yet an expense: it is an advance made to the supplier.
| When | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Paying the 500 € quote | 4091 Supplier advances (tiers = supplier) | 512 Bank |
| The 500 € invoice arrives | 606 Supplies | 401 Supplier |
| Applying the advance | 401 Supplier | 4091 Supplier advances |
After the third entry, that supplier's 4091 is at zero. If it is not, the invoice has not come: the Controls page lists these pending advances (supplier, balance, age), and the closing checklist warns if one is left at year end.
Why not simply debit 401? A supplier whose 401 is in debit looks as if they owe us money, and it has to be reclassified at closing. Account 4091 avoids that.
Rule 2: expense charged to a member account
What the rule spots: an expense whose counterpart is a member account (411).
Account 411 only holds what the member owes the club (flights, fees, sales) or what the club owes them as a credit. It does not receive the club's expenses.
Typical case: a member advances money. Paul Bernard buys 40 € of paint with their own money and the club pays them back.
| Avoid | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| 606 Supplies | 411 Paul Bernard |
| Enter | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Expense advance | 606 Supplies | 467 Paul Bernard |
| Repayment | 467 Paul Bernard | 512 Bank |
Account 467 is a pass-through account: it records that the club owes Paul 40 € without touching their flight account.
If you really want to credit the member's account (they would rather use the 40 € for future flights): first the advance as above, then a transfer from 467 to 411.
Exceptions: pack discounts (account 6066, REM journal), irrecoverable debts (654) and cancelled prior-year income (673) may legitimately touch a member account.
Rule 3: member account debited against an expense
What the rule spots: the opposite of rule 2, a member account in debit with an expense in credit.
Example to avoid. The club wants a member to bear 30 € of breakage:
| Avoid | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| 411 Paul Bernard | 606 Supplies |
That cancels a club expense instead of re-invoicing a service. To re-invoice, record income:
| Enter | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Re-invoicing the breakage | 411 Paul Bernard | 70x Income (or 791 Transfer of charges) |
Rule 4: missing tiers
What the rule spots: a line on an account that requires a tiers (member, supplier, aircraft) with none filled in. Example: a 401 line with no supplier, or 411 with no member.
Why it blocks in every case: without a tiers, the amount appears in nobody's account. The aged balance, the member statement and the reconciliation are wrong. This is the only rule that always prevents posting.
How to fix it: on the Controls page, click Edit next to the entry, pick the tiers on the line, save.
Rule 5: transfer between two member accounts
What the rule spots: an entry that debits one member's account and credits another's, with no bank movement.
Example. Léa Moreau gives 50 € of their credit to Paul Bernard:
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| 411 Paul Bernard | 50.00 | |
| 411 Léa Moreau | 50.00 |
It is not forbidden, but such a transfer must be justified. Attach the document (Léa's message, a committee decision) and write the reason in the description: "Credit transfer requested by Léa Moreau on 3/11/2026".
What is not flagged (and why)
| Situation | Why it is normal |
|---|---|
Card or ANCV settlement with commission: 512 + 627 / 411 |
The body pays the net amount and keeps its commission. The club clears the member account for the gross. |
Pack discounts 6066 / 411 (REM journal) |
It is the intended entry. It is recalculated at each billed flight and only posted at year end; the Controls page shows it as "At year end". |
| Flight, registration and voucher-sale entries | Generated by the ERP under its own rules. |
| Reversals | They cancel an entry, so they take its accounts the other way round. |
| Opening balance entries | Carry-over of last year's balances. |
Fixing a flagged entry
| The entry is… | What to do |
|---|---|
| A draft | Controls › Edit: the panel opens on the right, fix the accounts or tiers, save. The warning disappears once the entry complies. |
| Posted | It can no longer be edited. Use the reversal (it creates the opposite entry), then enter the correct one. |
| An "entry + reversal" pair | The two drafts cancel each other out: delete both together rather than posting them. |
At year end
The closing checklist (Administration › Accounting › Fiscal years › Check closing) adds three information points. They do not block the close but call for a decision:
- Pending supplier advances (account 4091): has the invoice come? If the goods are received without an invoice, record an invoice not yet received (
6xx / 408); if they are not received, the advance stays in 4091. - Supplier with a debit balance (account 401): an advance entered in the wrong place, or an overpayment to settle.
- Pass-through account 4672 not cleared: money received from a third party (works council, ANCV…) has not been fully shared out among the members concerned.
Summary
| I want to… | I enter |
|---|---|
| Record a supplier invoice | 6xx / 401, then the payment 401 / 512 |
| Pay a quote before the invoice | 4091 / 512, then at the invoice 401 / 4091 |
| Repay a member who advanced expenses | 6xx / 467, then 467 / 512 |
| Re-invoice a cost to a member | 411 / 70x |
| Pay insurance, bank charges, a tax | 6xx / 512 directly ("Direct payment" account) |
| Fix a posted entry | Reversal, then a new entry |