Introduction
Nominal codes help categorise financial transactions correctly in your accounting system, ensuring accurate reporting and financial statements. This article will look at how to configure these to ensure account exports include all financial data in the appropriate categories.
Understanding how these codes work is critical for smooth accounting and bookkeeping operations.
What is a Nominal Code?
A nominal code is a unique identifier assigned to specific accounting categories in your chart of accounts. Each code represents an account where financial transactions are recorded (such as sales revenue, vehicle expenses, or fuel costs).
These are also referred to as general ledger accounts, helping identify where financial transactions are posted in accounting systems.
Accessing Nominal Codes
Navigate to Configuration > Accounting in the main menu
Here you'll find all nominal codes available on your tenant
Nominal codes are added as part of account setup.
Please contact your account manager if updates are required.
Configuring Nominal Codes
Standard Assignment
When configuring Services, General and Fuel Surcharges, (Order Input) there is a field for adding the nominal code associated to the charge for the selected service. In some instances, there may be the option to add for both sales and purchase invoices.
Each charge will use the same nominal code, across all price lists. When a price list has all charges with assigned nominal codes, it will show with a check. If there are any charges where the nominal code is not included, it will show 'missing'.
Nominal codes can be added to the charges on price lists showing 'Missing'.
Open the desired price list
For each charge, select the appropriate nominal code from the dropdown
Save your changes
Dynamic Assignment via Mapping
When nominal codes need to be determined based on operational data:
In the charge master configuration, select the '0000' accounting code
This indicates that the nominal code will be calculated through mapping rules
Setting Up Nominal Code Mapping Rules
Mapping rules determine which nominal code to use based on specific conditions:
Go to Configuration > Accounting
Navigate to the 'Invoice Nominal Code Rules' section
Create rules with conditions that determine when specific nominal codes should be used
Give each rule a meaningful name for tracking purposes
Arrange rules in priority order - the first matching rule will be applied
Important: Rules are evaluated in sequence, and the first match is applied. Make sure to order your rules appropriately.
To prioritise conditions such as vehicle allocation for delivery, reorder the rules so that preferred conditions are evaluated first. Save the updated rule order to ensure future postings reflect the changes.
Add Subcontractor & Intermodal Operators
Add new nominal code rules including Subcontractors and Intermodal Operators
In the main menu go to Configuration → Accounting, then scroll down to the Nominal code rules section.
In the metric input you can now select for the 'Resource > Subcontractor'
All costs related to trips containing an intermodal connection, should receive a specific nominal code.
Previously the user had to select all connections, can now just select the Intermodal Operator.
Viewing Applied Nominal Codes
To see which nominal codes have been applied to charges:
View the invoice or charge details
Click 'Show detail per line' to expand the information
The nominal codes and the rule that determined them will be displayed
Troubleshooting Nominal Code Mismatches
Resolving the "No Accounting Code Defined" Error
This error signifies missing nominal (accounting) codes for the items in the invoice. Use the following resolutions:
Option 1: Assign Codes on the Price List
Add nominal codes directly to the rate card or price list.
Once set up, these codes will automatically apply to future invoices.
Option 2: Assign Codes on Individual Bills
Open the specific invoice.
Manually add nominal codes for the required invoice items.
Option 3: Configure Invoice Nominal Code Rules
To automate assigning nominal codes:
Navigate to your accounting settings.
Locate the Nominal Code Rules section.
Create rules that define conditions to assign specific codes to invoices.
Ensure rule names are descriptive.
Organize rules by priority, as the first matching rule will apply.
Implementing these steps ensures invoice items have the correct accounting codes, thus clearing the error.
Fixing "Customer Should Have a Valid Accounting Customer Code"
This error typically occurs when the customer’s accounting code in the system does not match the corresponding code in external accounting software.
Steps to Fix:
Compare the customer’s accounting code in the external accounting software with the code stored in the system.
Ensure they match exactly (case-sensitive).
Update the code in Qargo to align with the external system.
Retry posting the invoice after making corrections.
Ensuring coding alignment reduces validation issues during postings.
Review Existing Rules: Confirm the rules match the document and service criteria.
Update Rules: Edit the rules to include all relevant services and document requirements.
Reprocess the Document: Refresh the invoice or credit note by re-triggering its PDF to update posting codes before retrying.
Advanced Feature: Splitting Charges Across Multiple Accounts
You can distribute a single charge across multiple accounting lines based on revenue distribution:
Go to Configuration > Accounting
Enable the 'Split by revenue distribution' option
This feature works with the revenue distribution settings on transport services:
Available distribution types include:
Distance-based
Time-based
Percentage per leg
When splitting is enabled, each segment may receive different nominal codes depending on your mapping rules.
When Are Nominal Codes Applied?
Nominal code mapping is executed during:
Export of charges to the accounting software
Invoice regeneration
Best Practices for Managing Nominal Codes
Audit Rules Regularly: Periodically review your nominal rules to ensure they reflect current business processes.
Validate Configurations: Test that your rules are functioning as intended before processing invoices or credit notes.
Reduce Manual Overrides: Rely on automated rule configurations to maintain accuracy and consistency.