General Ledger Parameters – Batch transfer rules

Microsoft has recently deprecated a setting found in the Batch transfer rules tab of the General ledger parameters form found in this document. 

Synchronous is no longer a valid option to select as a transfer mode. Selecting Synchronous and saving the parameters form will result in an error message:  

“The synchronous option is deprecated. Use either Asynchronous or Scheduled Batch”

The valid options that remain are Asynchronous or Scheduled batch.

·        Asynchronous - Transfer source document subledger journal entries to the general ledger after the source document is journalized into the subledger journal. The transfer occurs whenever server resources are available to process them, which typically is immediately, but might be later.

·        Scheduled Batch - Transfer source document subledger journal entries to the general ledger by using a scheduled batch. You can then summarize the entries in the Summarize accounting entries field.

First, let's address why the deprecation for the synchronous setting was implemented. Posting a document, or a set of documents can be a lengthy operation as it first records data in the subledger: customer invoice transactions, vendor invoice transactions, expense report transactions, etc... followed by recording the accounting data to the general ledger.  It is this second activity of recording the voucher to the general ledger that provides an opportunity to break the long running process into two parts - recording data in the subledger, and then the general ledger.  Breaking this into two distinct processes at a database transaction level eliminates some of the slow performing actions including database blocking and locks that force other users to wait. 

Often there are questions and concerns on the impact of this setting change such as "how soon will my voucher appear in the general ledger?" and "What if my voucher entries never seem to transfer?" or "How does this impact my journal postings?"

Here are a few tips and answers to the questions with the change to using Asynchronous or Scheduled Batch. 

1. This setting will only affect postings for the documents listed in the 'Source document type' list of the same form such as Vendor invoice, Customer Free text invoice, Expense reports, etc... Journals are not impacted by this setting, nor are Sales order postings. 
2. You can view the pending vouchers not yet transferred in the form found at: General Ledger - Periodic tasks - Subledger journal entries not yet transferred.
   1. This form also allows you to transfer any vouchers by pressing the "transfer now" button, or transfer in batch.

You can view the accounting that is recorded in the subledger journal tables by clicking the 'view accounting' button of your posted document.

1. Can I change the transfer setting at any time and what is the default? Yes you can change the setting, and you can have different settings per document. The default with version 10.0 release and onwards will be 'Asynchronous', which should move records to the general ledger within a few minutes in most cases (or sooner). 
2. What makes the 'Asynchronous' transfer actually happen? This process will make use of the batch server processing to execute the transfer. As long as other batch jobs are running successfully, the Asynchronous process will happen directly. In case of a system error during the asynchronous processing, the records will remain in pending state, viewable I the 'Subledger journal entries not yet transferred' and will get picked up by the daily batch job mentioned below.
   1. A default daily batch job is created to transfer subledger journals for each legal entity created. Do not modify this batch job. If you want all documents to transfer in batch on a more regular basis, create a new batch job with the recurrence you desire.  You can create this from the menu: General Ledger - Periodic Tasks - Batch transfer for subledger journals.

As with any software system issues arise for one reason or another. Always be sure to check the latest version in your sandbox environment and search for issues at lcs.dynamics.com site.