Payment timing and open items across three periods

The date axis

Three-period example

A synthetic supplier performs work and invoices €1,000.00 in December. The business pays in January. A valid €100.00 correction arrives in February.

The December open item begins at €1,000.00. The January payment settles the current balance at that point. The February correction requires professional handling and may create a refund, credit, or other adjustment. It should not be hidden by changing the original December file.

The example does not determine the recognition or correction period. It shows the evidence history that the accountant needs.

What the reviewer should see in one case

For the €1,000 supplier case, a review surface should not collapse everything into one “transaction date”. It should show:

DeinHans can preserve the separate dates, link later settlement to the earlier item and keep the correction connected to the original case. It does not select recognition from the bank date or decide the correction period. The accountant reviews those effects in the period being closed.

Review checks

• Does the invoice identify the service or supply period?
• Was it open at the prior close?
• Does the payment reference the same legal counterparty and currency?
• Is it full, partial, or combined settlement?
• Did a later credit, refund, or dispute change the balance?
• Which approvals or exports are affected by a late correction?

Why bank date is insufficient

The bank date proves cash timing. It does not alone prove when revenue or expense belongs, whether an open item existed, or whether a movement is a loan, transfer, prepayment, or settlement.

DeinHans can keep dates and linked evidence in the same case and show which period views are affected. The owner provides service and payment facts; the accountant reviews cut-off and treatment.

Close result

At each period end, open items reconcile from starting balance through invoices, payments, credits, and corrections to the closing balance. Each cross-period item has a source and next step. That makes later payment predictable instead of surprising.

Roll forward the control balance

For receivables or payables, use a simple bridge: opening open items plus new invoices, minus allocated payments and valid credits, plus or minus approved corrections, equals closing open items. Compare the closing total with the accounting balance. A difference means at least one layer uses a different population, date or allocation.

Keep invoice status and cash status separate. “Paid” should mean the invoice is fully settled by evidenced allocations; “banked” means cash appeared. A prepayment can be banked before an invoice exists, while an invoice can be paid through a platform before its net settlement reaches the main bank.

Cut-off tests for the reviewer

Sample documents and payments immediately before and after period end. Check late supplier invoices, early customer payments, goods or services spanning the boundary, payment-provider settlements and credit notes issued later. The purpose is to find inconsistent timing, not to move every neighboring event into the closing month.

When a prior-period item changes, record whether the change affects an open balance, estimate, VAT return, management report or export already delivered. Route the correction accordingly and preserve the previous approved state. This turns cut-off into a traceable review process rather than a one-time date field.

Questions for management

Show separately overdue open items, legitimate cross-period timing, prepayments and unresolved allocations. Their totals answer different questions about collections, liquidity and close quality. A single “unmatched” number mixes operational delay with accounting uncertainty and makes it hard to assign the right owner.