I have a fee payble to a quasi-governmental body which issues a invoice-like document.
I can set it up as a supplier and then add new purchase invoice, but that is not the best way to do it as I don’t like the ammount to show in ‘accounts payable’.
Is it possible to set-up a separate account similar to accounts-payable where I could track this and related payments?
You should use a Control Account made up of suppliers
I’m not sure I see a reason for a control account. Nor do I see any need to treat this quasi-governmental body as a supplier or enter purchase invoices. Here is my reasoning:
You receive the invoice-like document. This is much like receiving a monthly electricity bill. You pay the amount due when you receive the document; you do not pay at some future date. So you are not purchasing on credit, which is what purchase invoices are meant to record. So why not just Spend money and post the transaction to an ordinary expense account such as Regulatory fees (or whatever makes sense)? You might already have an expense account that is appropriate.
Do you have a situation that demands a purchase invoice? Is there a use case explaining why my simple method will not work?
By the way, you asked some while ago for advice about your chart of accounts. The two new Guides on this subject are now complete:
https://www.manager.io/guides/best-practices/chart-of-accounts
https://www.manager.io/guides/how-to/build-a-chart-of-accounts
The second Guide includes a table showing which accounts are activated automatically in connection with built-in control accounts.
I have a situation where I need to keep track of the amount as a liability prior to spending money and posting it as an expense. And it is actually paid at a future date. I don’t know why; it is just the way it is done.
I saw the guides. Thanks for the great work @Tut.
Because not all such payments are instantaneous - payable immediately.
It’s agreed that you are not purchasing on credit but you are paying on “credit” terms.
The expense is incurred this month but the due date is not until next month or later.
Electricity/telephone bills which arrive quarterly but paid via monthly instalments.
Annual tax assessment is received but paid via quarterly instalments.
Annual property rates received but paid via monthly/quarterly instalments.
Annual insurance premiums received but paid in monthly instalments.
It could be argued that some of these instalments only need to be taken up when they are actually paid, but that means there is off Balance Sheet liabilities, the accounts would not be of full disclosure.
By placing (highlighting) them in a separate Accounts Payable control account provides an additional management tool to the user in that the Balance Sheet talks to them about payments which are outside the normal suppliers payment cycle.