Periodic Inventory
The system automatically posts General Ledger (GL) entries for all stock transactions (such as purchase receipts, delivery notes, stock entries, etc.) if you enable Perpetual Inventory in the Company master.
However, ERPNext does not post automatic accounting entries for stock if Perpetual Inventory is Disabled. To update the stock value in your books of accounts, you would have to manually post periodic accounting entries.
Manual Method (Before v16)
To make a Periodic Accounting Entry, you had to:
- Check the stock value on a specific date (such as the end of the month) by opening the Stock Balance Report.
- Check this against your Stock Asset account’s Trial Balance.
- Find the difference between the stock reported in the GL and the stock that was recorded.
- Create a journal entry by hand to change the balance of the stock asset account.
Periodic Accounting Entry (v16)
In v16, the Journal Entry has an Entry Type called Periodic Accounting Entry that does this calculation for you:
- Create a new Journal Entry and set the Entry Type to Periodic Accounting Entry, with the Posting Date as the date you want to update stock value for.
- Keep For All Stock Asset Accounts ticked, or untick it and choose one Stock Asset Account.
- Select the Periodic Entry Difference Account (mandatory) to which the difference will be posted.
- Click Get Balance. ERPNext compares the stock value with the stock asset account balance and fills the accounting rows with the difference.
- Save and Submit the Journal Entry.
Note: This Entry Type is only allowed for companies where Perpetual Inventory is disabled.
