# Basic accounting settings ## Fiscal year A fiscal year encompasses all of a company's economic and commercial transactions over a given period. Accounting periods are grouped together in **Accounting > Master files > Fiscal year.** Here are the important points regarding fiscal years in SIMAX: * **Period:** This represents a given period during which all of a company's financial transactions are recorded (visible in modification) * **Company of the group:** Each fiscal year can be linked to a specific group company. If no company is specified, the fiscal year can be used by all companies in the group in multi-company mode. * **Closed?**: A box that is automatically checked when the fiscal year is closed. * **Accounting periods:** Accounting periods are available once the fiscal year has been created. The number of periods created automatically is defined in the accounting settings (**Settings > Plug-ins and option > \[\[Accounting]]).** * **Period closing:** Periods are only marked as closed once the period closing process has been completed. * **Closing the fiscal year:** This is a specific process that has implications in SIMAX. * **Exceptional reopening**: It is possible to reopen a fiscal year on an exceptional basis by unchecking the “Closed?” box in **Accounting > Basic files > Fiscal years.** * **Creation**: To create a new fiscal year, click on **\[\[New]]** and fill in the name, start date, and end date.
{% hint style="success" %} In summary, a fiscal year in SIMAX is an essential temporal structure for organizing and monitoring a company's financial activities, with clearly defined start and end dates and a closing status that affects the possibility of modifying data. {% endhint %} ## Journals and types of journals ## The journal The journal is a mandatory accounting document that lists all of the company's transactions. Generally, the journal is divided into several journals that record transactions according to their nature (purchase journal, sales journal, etc.). Journals are used to organize and track all of the company's financial transactions. To access the journals, go to **Accounting > Basic files > Journals** To create a new journal, simply click on **\[\[New]]**.
In multi-company mode, journals can belong to a **specific group company** or, if none is specified, be used by all companies. In the accounting settings via **Settings > Plug-ins and options \[\[Accounting]]**, it is possible to specify default journals for certain operations, such as the Expense Report Journal and the New Journal. The monthly journal **edition** is generated via **Accounting > Editions > Journal edition per month.** Journals are involved in the process of t**ransferring various documents** such as sales invoices, purchase invoices, credit notes, etc. **to accounting.** When creating **asset entries** and **asset disposal entries**, the **relevant journal** must be selected. It is also possible to check the box **“A nouveau**?” if it is a journal concerning the A nouveau. {% hint style="success" %} To enhance security, you can enable the “**direct validation of entries”** option on a journal. Entries generated in this journal will then be automatically **renumbered in orde**r, **signed**, and **validated**. This feature is particularly suitable for **cash entries**, which are created automatically following a transaction, **without human intervention**, and **cannot be modifie**d afterwards. In **multi-company** environments, it will be necessary to **configure separate numbering for each company**. {% endhint %}
### The type of journal A journal type is a category of accounting journal used to record a certain type of transaction. This allows entries to be classified according to their nature and accounts to be organized in a clear and structured manner. * **Purchase journal** (involved in transferring purchases to accounting). * **Sales journal** (involved in transferring sales to accounting). * **Credit journal and Purchase credit journal** (involved in transferring to accounting) * **Expense report journal** * **New entries journal** * **Cash journals** (mentioned in the context of SEPA direct debits and SEPA transfers). * **Journal for fixed asset entries** and **depreciation entries.** To access the logs, go to **Accounting > Basic files > Journal types.**
It is important to note that the organization and creation of journals must correspond to the specific needs of the company and its chart of accounts. ### VAT VAT is a tax applied to various accounting documents such as invoices, credit notes, and purchase invoices. It is also taken into account when calculating the total including tax for a contract line. VAT can be viewed in **Accounting > Basic Files > VAT list** The important elements concerning VAT in SIMAX are: * **VAT rate (%)**: This is the percentage of VAT applied, such as 20%, 10%, or 5.5%.... Different rates may apply depending on the items. * **Tax nature**: This allows VAT to be used consistently, facilitating accounting for companies dealing with multiple types of VAT, particularly for imports and transactions outside the European Union (EU). A tax type can be associated with one or more VAT rates. Tax types are used in several records, such as item families, items, customers, suppliers, and establishments. The list of sales tax types can be accessed via **Files > Sales > Tax category Types,** and for purchases, it can be found in **Files > Supplier > Tax category Types**. The activity area is specified in the tax nature. * **Tax families**: It is used to associate a category of items or a specific item with its VAT rates using the appropriate tax rules. These can be found in Accounting > Basic Files > Tax Families. During the transaction, the VAT applied is the one specified in the tax family. For sales, the VAT is initialized by default with the tax nature. * **VAT accounts:** When creating a VAT account, we can specify the VAT collected account and the VAT deductible account if necessary, depending on your tax status. Other VAT-related accounts exist, such as VAT credit to be carried forward and VAT to be paid, which can be defined in the accounting settings. You can also set up a VAT collection suspense account for VAT collections and a VAT advance payment account for VAT on advance payments. Specific accounts exist for deductible VAT on fixed assets, intra-community collected and deductible VAT, and collected and deductible VAT on imports. Gain and loss accounts for VAT rounding are also used in VAT returns. * **Debit or collection**: we can choose whether VAT is a debit or collection VAT. A collection suspense account can be specified for collection VAT. * **VAT reverse charge:** Certain tax types may involve VAT reverse charge, although this option is not currently available for sales types. VAT reverse charge is visible in accounting entries when a purchase invoice is entered into the accounts, particularly for imports. * **VAT declarations:** SIMAX allows you to generate VAT declarations. VAT declaration lines are generated automatically once the dates have been validated. The VAT credit to be carried forward can be checked in the VAT section. The VAT return can be simulated. When validating the VAT return, SIMAX creates one entry per line if an amount is present and if the VAT account has been entered in the VAT section. The information in the VAT section (code, description, group, direction, calculation basis excluding VAT, accounts) is included in the lines of the VAT return. * **Synchronization with e-commerce platforms:** VAT rates defined in SIMAX can be synchronized with e-commerce sites such as Prestashop. When synchronizing with Prestashop, it is mandatory to add, modify, or delete VAT rates only in SIMAX. An e-commerce ID can be associated with each VAT rate. * **Settings**: VAT settings are configured in **Settings > Plug-ins and options > \[\[Accounting]]**. In multi-company mode, VAT can be associated with a specific company within the group. * **Impact on transactions:** VAT is applied to purchase and sale transactions, affecting the total price. The tax type, tax category, and customer or supplier information determine the applicable VAT. The customer's or supplier's intra-community VAT number can be entered. VAT on shipping costs can be specified and defaults to the tax type. * **Invoice and credit note management:** VAT is an essential element in the creation and management of sales invoices, purchase invoices, and credit notes.
{% hint style="success" %} In summary, VAT is a value-added tax that is managed in detail in SIMAX through specific rates, tax types, tax families, and accounting accounts. It is crucial for tax compliance, invoicing, and purchase and sale transactions, and can be synchronized with e-commerce platforms. {% endhint %} ### Tax nature and tax zone #### The tax zone The **tax zone** is a concept related to tax **location** and is also used to automatically determine the applicable tax type in certain situations. When creating a tax type, the Location field allows you to choose from three **main areas**: **Same country**, **European Union**, and **Import/Export.** **Accounting > Basic files > Tax zones or Files > Sales > Tax jurisdiction or Files > supplier > Tax jurisdiction.**
A **supplier's** **tax zone** is calculated automatically based on the supplier's address and the country defined in SIMAX's general settings. {% hint style="success" %} In summary, tax types are essential categories for VAT management in SIMAX, defined by their type, location, and association with VAT rates. Tax zones are geographical criteria used to classify transactions and automatically determine the appropriate tax types for third parties such as suppliers and customers. {% endhint %} ### ​​Tax natures **Tax natures** are used to s**implify VAT managemen**t. They are used in several SIMAX files, including: Item family, Item, Customer, Supplier, Establishment, Quote, Order, Delivery note, Sales document (invoice and credit note), Purchase document (purchase invoice and purchase credit note). The list of default tax natures can be accessed via: **Accounting > Basic files > Tax natures,**
**Files > Sales > Tax category**
**Files > Supplier > Tax category**
It is possible to **filter** tax types by **type (Sale or supplier)**, depending on whether they concern the same country or not, whether they are within the European Union (EU) or not, or whether they are imports or exports (via the **Tax Zone**). ### Accounting settings For the accounting settings, go to **Settings > Plug-ins and option and \[\[Accounting]].** You can configure several essential elements: In **\[Accounting]:** * **The start and end dates of the fiscal year.** * The **default customer and supplier accounts**, as well as their association with the **General Ledger (GL) or Balance sheet export.**
In **\[Default Accounts],** We can specify VAT revenue and expense accounts, Balance and General Ledger (GL) customer accounts, European Declaration Services (EDS) accounts, eco-participation accounts, VAT credit carryforward accounts, VAT payable accounts, and Balance and General Ledger (GL) supplier accounts. * How SIMAX will **handle accounts with the same name**. * The **collection suspense account** if your VAT is on collections. * The **deposit account** for VAT amounts on deposits. * The maximum number of characters for account numbers (**number of characters in the account number)**. * The default value for the number of characters to be moved when creating auxiliary accounts (**No. of characters to be moved).**
In **\[EDS]**, used on exchange service declaration lines (EDS).
{% hint style="info" %} These elements form the basis of the accounting configuration in SIMAX, enabling the accounting module to be fed from other modules and the company's essential financial information to be configured. {% endhint %} --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://doc.simax.fr/documentation-simax-anglais/accounting/initial-configuration/basic-accounting-settings.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.