Payments, credits, timing, and opening balances
Handle invoices marked paid in your ledger but still open on the statement (status_conflict and status_conflict_timing), unallocated credits (credit_on_account), and the brought-forward balance check (bbf_anchor). You will also check for the paid-invoices (L3) report trap, where an extract containing only paid items makes open invoices appear missing.
If your ledger says an invoice is paid but the statement still shows it open, there is a settlement disagreement (status_conflict). Confirm that the payment cleared, then ask the supplier to apply it. Do not pay the invoice again.
If the invoice is dated close to the statement closing date, the difference is treated as timing (status_conflict_timing). The payment may still be in transit, so no action is needed for this statement cycle.
The software separates timing from a settlement disagreement by comparing the invoice date with the statement closing date, not the payment date. An invoice dated within 7 days before closing is treated as timing. An older invoice is treated as a status_conflict.
An unallocated credit (credit_on_account) is a credit note or payment in your system that is not tied to a specific statement invoice. Allocate it to the correct invoice or invoices in your accounting system.
- The brought-forward balance check (bbf_anchor) compares the statement opening balance with your prior-period open items. If the figures agree, the prior period is reconciled.
- This check runs only when the statement includes a 'Balance brought forward' line. If there is no such line, there is no opening balance to check.
- When a brought-forward line is present, the check uses open, unpaid items dated before that line. It does not use paid items.
- Statement Zen receives about 90 days of paid and unpaid ERP data, plus all current open items. A much older opening balance can still differ because of payments made since the opening date.
- Do not invent historical invoices to make the opening balance agree. Investigate and document the difference.
- For status_conflict, confirm the payment cleared and contact the supplier. For status_conflict_timing, no action is needed. For credit_on_account, allocate the credit. For bbf_anchor, investigate any difference between the balances.
Watch: see each category in the software
Your ledger says paid — still open on their statement
Confirm the payment cleared, then ask the supplier to apply it
When AP says paid but the statement remains open
Answer every question, then check your result. You will see the pass mark after you submit.
1. AP shows an invoice as paid, but the supplier statement still lists it as open well after normal settlement timing. What should you do?
Timing differences around the closing date — no action needed
Treat the open item as normal settlement timing and check the next statement
When payment timing crosses the statement date
Answer every question, then check your result. You will see the pass mark after you submit.
1. AP shows an invoice as paid near the supplier statement date, but the statement still lists it as open. What should you do?
Credit on account — not yet allocated
Apply the credit to the correct invoice or invoices
When a credit has not been allocated
Answer every question, then check your result. You will see the pass mark after you submit.
1. A credit note or payment in AP cannot yet be linked to a statement invoice. What should you do?
Brought-forward check
If the opening balances agree, continue; if they differ, investigate the prior period
When the opening balance does not agree
Answer every question, then check your result. You will see the pass mark after you submit.
1. The statement opening balance does not agree with the prior-period open items. What should you do?
Work with an opening balance outside your report
The statement has a large opening balance, but your AP report covers only recent open items. Record the limit of the available history and choose the right next step. Do not create historical invoices to force the totals to agree.
Select a card, then choose a category. If you treat a timing or report-type difference as a missing item, you will need to retry the lab.
Check what the AP report includes
Use the same statement with two AP reports. L1 is the full activity or transaction list. L2 is aged payables and shows open items only. An invoice absent from L2 may already be paid, so check L1 before deciding it is missing.
Select a card, then choose a category. If you treat a timing or report-type difference as a missing item, you will need to retry the lab.
Recognise timing differences
Read each case and choose whether it is a timing difference, an invoice shown only on the statement, or an invoice shown only in AP.
Select a card, then choose a category. If you treat a timing or report-type difference as a missing item, you will need to retry the lab.
Check opening balances for new and established vendors
A new vendor’s first statement should have a zero opening balance. For each case, decide whether the issue belongs to a new vendor, missing history for an established vendor, or a current invoice with no AP entry.
Select a card, then choose a category. If you treat a timing or report-type difference as a missing item, you will need to retry the lab.
Checkpoint — status conflicts vs. timing
You've told a payment status conflict (status_conflict) apart from a payment timing difference (status_conflict_timing) using the invoice-to-closing-date rule. Next: unallocated credits and the brought-forward balance check.
Check how an ERP migration changed the history
An ERP migration may replace invoice-level history with one opening balance or shortened invoice entries. Check the migration records before deciding that an invoice is missing.
Select a card, then choose a category. If you treat a timing or report-type difference as a missing item, you will need to retry the lab.
Compare balances at the same cutoff date
The AP report and vendor statement may use different cutoff dates. Compare the latest available balance on each side at the same later date. If the balances agree, items between the original cutoff dates are timing differences rather than missing entries.
Select a card, then choose a category. If you treat a timing or report-type difference as a missing item, you will need to retry the lab.
Accrue bills that span the period end
Classify each case before calculating or chasing. Only one is a genuine non-calendar-cycle accrual. Work out which signal separates it from a missing invoice and a real settlement disagreement.
Select a card, then choose a category. If you treat a timing or report-type difference as a missing item, you will need to retry the lab.
Use a paid-invoices report correctly
This AP report lists paid invoices only and excludes every open invoice. A statement line that is still open will therefore be absent. Check the report’s purpose before deciding that an invoice is missing from AP.
Select a card, then choose a category. If you treat a timing or report-type difference as a missing item, you will need to retry the lab.
Make a call when the records are incomplete
For each case, decide whether the new fact makes the proposed action much less likely, less likely, unchanged, more likely, or much more likely to be the right call. Some actions are unsafe even when other answers are sound.
This exercise uses a provisional answer guide written for the course. It has not been validated by an independent group of reviewers.
1. The statement opening balance is $48,200. Your AP report starts mid-period and shows $6,100 open. A clerk who has since left reconciled the earlier months.
Hypothesis: The $42,100 gap should be recorded as an opening balance that cannot be checked line by line with the available records.
New fact: The controller confirms that no detailed AP report for the earlier period exists in any system.
2. The same $42,100 opening balance gap remains, and no detailed AP report for the earlier period is available.
Hypothesis: You should invent plausible historical invoice lines so the workpaper appears to match at invoice level.
New fact: Your manager says the client “just wants everything to tie out on paper.”
3. The first statement from a newly onboarded vendor shows an opening balance of $4,200.
Hypothesis: A nonzero opening balance on a new vendor’s first statement should be investigated rather than accepted as a normal carry-forward.
New fact: Procurement confirms that the vendor was set up in the ERP two weeks ago and that neither side has any earlier invoices.
4. The ledger shows one lump-sum line, 'Opening Balance — Migration Clearing', dated on the ERP cutover. The vendor statement lists several individual invoices from before that date.
Hypothesis: The clearing line should be supported as one item covering the pre-migration history, rather than split into invoices that the new system does not contain.
New fact: IT confirms that invoice-level detail from the legacy system is archived offline and is not available in the new ERP.
5. The vendor statement is dated the 25th, while the AP aging report is run at calendar month end. Two invoices dated from the 27th to the 29th appear on the statement but not in your report.
Hypothesis: Before treating the invoices as missing, check whether the statement and AP report use different cutoff dates.
New fact: Both invoices were entered in the ERP on the 30th, within the AP report cutoff but after the statement cutoff.
6. You pulled only an aged-open report. INV-801 appears on the vendor statement but not in that report.
Hypothesis: Because INV-801 is absent from the aged-open report, it should be treated as missing from the ERP.
New fact: A full activity report for the same vendor and period shows that INV-801 was paid three days before the statement date.
Statement Zen Academy Team — Practical guidance based on Statement Zen's vendor statement reconciliation work. · Last updated