# Posting date behaviour

Choose how Cortena sets the default posting date: invoice date, reception date, service period start/end, or end only when not in the future.

Choose how Cortena sets the **default posting date** for payables: the date used for export, posting-month locks, and invoice detail, before any closed-period adjustments.

**Who this is for:** Finance admins deciding whether booking should follow the invoice date, when Cortena first received the document, or the start / end of the service period on the lines.

## 1. Where to configure

1. Open **Settings → Accounting**.
2. Find **Posting Month Behavior**.
3. Pick one option from the dropdown. The change saves immediately.

You need permission to edit tenant accounting settings to change this preference.

## 2. The options

| Option (UI label) | Posting date Cortena uses |
| --- | --- |
| **Invoice date** | The invoice's document date |
| **Invoice reception date** | The date Cortena first received the invoice (import / inbound time) |
| **Service period end date** | The **latest** service period end date across all line items; if none, the **invoice date** |
| **Service period end date (if not future)** | Same latest end date **only when it is today or in the past**; if that end is in the **future** or missing, the **invoice date** |
| **Service period start date** | The **earliest** service period start date across all line items; if none, the **invoice date** |

### Invoice date

Best when your books follow the supplier's invoice date (classic accrual-style document dating).

**Example:** Invoice dated **15 January** → default posting date **15 January**.

### Invoice reception date

Best when you book by when the bill entered Cortena (reception / cash-oriented operational date).

**Example:** Invoice dated **15 January**, first received in Cortena on **3 February** → default posting date **3 February**.

### Service period end date

Best when multi-month or dated service periods matter more than the invoice date, for example software licences or rent covering a period printed on the lines.

**Example:** Line 1 service period ends **28 February**, line 2 ends **30 April**, invoice date **10 January** → default posting date **30 April** (newest end date).

If no line has a usable service period end, Cortena falls back to the **invoice date**.

### Service period end date (if not future)

Same as **Service period end date**, but if the latest end date is **still in the future**, Cortena uses the **invoice date** instead. Today's end date still counts as usable (not future).

**Example:** Today is **15 March**. Latest service end **30 June**, invoice date **10 January** → posting date **10 January**. If the latest end were **28 February**, posting date would be **28 February**.

### Service period start date

Uses the **earliest** service period start across lines (overall coverage start).

**Example:** Line 1 starts **1 March**, line 2 starts **15 January**, invoice date **1 May** → default posting date **15 January**.

If no line has a usable service period start, Cortena falls back to the **invoice date**.

## 3. How this interacts with other rules

Order of application:

1. If someone has **manually set** a posting date on the invoice, that stored date wins.
2. Otherwise Cortena applies **Posting Month Behavior** (table above).
3. If your workspace uses **blocked / closed posting months**, Cortena may then move the date into the next open month when a period is locked.

Changing **Posting Month Behavior** does **not** rewrite invoices that already have a stored posting date. New calculations apply when no explicit posting date is stored (and after reprocessing / new imports as usual).

Blocked posting months are configured separately (**Payables → Posting months** when that feature is enabled). Twinfield can optionally keep the posting date after a provisional booking. That is a Twinfield integration setting, not this dropdown.

## 4. Editing the posting date on an invoice

On invoice detail you can still change the posting date when editing is allowed. If the chosen month is closed, Cortena may suggest the next open date. Manual edits become the stored posting date and override the default behaviour above.

## Tips and limitations

- Prefer one clear rule per legal entity: mixed expectations confuse export month and period locks.
- Service-period options look at line **service period** start/end dates only; missing values fall back to invoice date.
- Export and posting-month views use the **effective** posting date (after preference and any closed-month bump).
- This setting does not change Twinfield accrual **spread** schedules; it only chooses the invoice's posting date default.

## Quick reference

| Task | Where |
| --- | --- |
| Choose default posting date rule | **Settings → Accounting → Posting Month Behavior** |
| Invoice date | Document date on the invoice |
| Invoice reception date | First Cortena receive / import time |
| Service period end date | Latest line service period end; else invoice date |
| Service period end (if not future) | Latest end if today/past; else invoice date |
| Service period start date | Earliest line service period start; else invoice date |
| Override one invoice | Edit posting date on invoice detail |
| Closed months | Payables → Posting months (when enabled) |