Dates in Sage 100

Common Issue – Dates in Sage 100

Dates play an important role in accounting, where one date may be treated differently from other dates.  To clear some confusion as to how the different dates in Sage 100 are used, here is a recap of the types of dates in Sage 100.

There are three major types of dates in Sage 100.
Module default dates
Document dates
Transaction or posting dates

1. Module Default Dates
This is the default date that will be used when you are entering transactions in Sage.  For example, today is May 2 and you have a pile of invoices to enter, all dated April 30.  You can set the module date to April 30, and the invoice date field will automatically populate with April 30 (instead of May 2).  This will save you from having to modify the invoice date every time you enter a new invoice.  

You can also access the module date on the bottom right hand corner of the Sage status bar. Click on it and the pop-up Change Accounting Date box will appear.

2. Document Date
A document date is the date that is on a sales invoice or a payable invoice (invoice date) or the cheque date that is printed on a cheque.  It will default to the module date but can be overwritten.  This is usually not the date that will post to the General Ledger.

There are a couple of exceptions where the document date is used to post to the general ledger:  a general journal entry date and a deposit date in Cash Receipts entry.  Those dates are used to post to the general ledger.

3. Transaction Date
The transaction date is the date that WILL post to the general ledgers.  When you print and update the sales/purchases journal, you normally see this screen where it usually defaults to the module date but can be overridden to be the appropriate date.