What are Payments within Parish and Town Councils

Financial transactions that involve the transfer of money from one party to another are known as payments. In the context of a parish council, these payments may include items such as staff salaries and benefits, utility bills for services such as electricity, gas, and water, materials and equipment for maintenance and construction projects, contracts or services from third-party vendors or consultants, insurance and legal fees, and travel and training expenses for council members. Payments can take many forms, including cash, cheques, electronic funds transfer, and credit card, and it is important for a parish council to keep accurate records of these transactions in order to effectively manage its finances and ensure sufficient funds are available to meet ongoing expenses and fund new projects.

Read Receipt And Payment Accounting For Parish Councils  for more details

Payments within Scribe Accounts

Scribe Accounts has a specific transaction type called Payments, which supports standard details about your transaction, along with details specific to parish and town council, such as:

• S.137
• Payment Authorisation
• Power Used for Spend

The transactions will also be conveniently fed into the Annual Governance & Accountability Return (AGAR).

Where are Payments Within Scribe Accounts?

Log into Scribe Accounts and navigate to menu Transaction → Payments alternatively click here

Watch our Scribe Bytesize video on how to add transactions

How to Add a Payment

Log into Scribe Accounts and navigate to menu Transaction → Payments.

All entries for the current year will be listed here with the most recent entry shown at the top.  You can then click the + button to add a new record or under the Edit button of top right hand corner select "Add Record'

 

The entry screen will appear showing the unique voucher number allocated to the transaction.  The voucher numbers are reset each financial year so the first entry of a new year will always be #1. 

 

The entry screen has three sections of information to complete which are dealt with below. The asterisk (*) denotes mandatory fields.  

Field	Tips
Tender*	How payment is made. Select from Online Payment (e.g. BACS), Direct Debit, Standing Order, Card, Cheque or Petty Cash.
Bank*	Select the bank account the payment is made from. If you have selected Petty Cash as the Tender the Bank field will disappear as it is not relevant in this case.
Date*	The date the payment is made (e.g. cheque written, payment made online).
Description*	A description of the payment (e.g. salary, grass cutting). Select an existing description from the drop down list or select Create New to add a new description.
Supplier*	Select an existing supplier from the drop down list or click the "+" button to add a new supplier and enter relevant details.
Payment ref	A reference relating to the payment can be recorded here if necessary (e.g. cheque number).
Minute ref	If the payment was authorised in a meeting the minute number can be recorded.
Invoice/Order No	Enter the supplier invoice number or your PO number. When converting a purchase order to a payment, Scribe will prefill this field with the purchase order no.
Cost Centre*	Select the cost centre from the dropdown list
Cost Code*	Select the cost code from the drop down list. Further rows can be added where different cost codes or VAT rates apply.
VAT Type*	Select from the pre-filled VAT types that which applies to the receipt (Outside Scope, Standard, Exempt etc).
S.137	Check the box if you wish to flag the transaction as under Section 137 (reports can be run on the transactions against which this box is ticked).
Net*	Enter the net value
VAT*	Will automatically be calculated based on VAT rate selected and net amount
Total*	Will automatically be calculated based on VAT rate selected and net amount
Notes	Can be added if you want to enter more information than you have been able to enter under description.
Attached Files	Click Upload to select files to save against the record (e.g. the customer PO).  **Not Available on Scribelite**

 

Once you have checked your entry against your invoice/paperwork click on 'Add' to save the record or 'Add & Repeat' to save the record and duplicate the entry for edit as the next record.  Add & Repeat is useful for a batch of similar transactions from the same supplier to the same code.

How to Edit a Payment 

If you realise an error has been made when a payment was entered it can be edited to correct it. Any field can be modified (except the Voucher No).  Edits can be made at any time unless they are transactions included in a VAT Return - once the return has been submitted the edit option will be locked down.  Generally speaking edits should only be made to payments that have been entered in the current month (unless simply adding notes/descriptive elements).  Editing transactions that have already been reconciled to the bank or been produced on reports may corrupt previous months figures or cause you a reconciliation difference.  

If you have a transaction that has been allocated against the incorrect code or where the VAT has calculated incorrectly in a previous month it is best to correct using a journal, see VAT/Code Corrections

If you do want to edit a payment:

1. Navigate to menu Transaction → Payments to bring up the entry screen and the list of transactions.
2. On the entry you want to edit click on the three dots and 'Edit'.
3. Make the changes required and click Save to confirm.

Payments and VAT Registered Users

It is important to note that if your council is VAT registered and you are using Making Tax Digital to submit your VAT Returns that once you have submitted a return all the transactions included in that return will be locked down and unavailable to edit.  A message in red will be displayed at the top of the screen when the entry is viewed advising of this.  

How to Bulk Edit Payments

If you want to edit more than one transaction Bulk Edit may be used, but only to amend descriptive elements (Date, Description, Supplier, Notes, Awaiting Authorisation or the Minute Ref):

1. Navigate to menu Transaction → Payments
2. Click on the Edit button and then Bulk Edit.
3. Click on the tickboxes of the transactions that you wish to edit and click Edit Selection.
4. Ensure the voucher numbers are correct for the transactions you want to edit as the changes will be made in the window without the individual transactions being shown.
5. Make the changes required and click on 'Save'

How to Delete Payments

There is no option to delete a payment as this will have an adverse effect on the audit trail.  If a payment entry needs to be removed because it is no longer required or is a duplicate then you can edit the payment (as above) and zero out the amounts. A note can also be added to explain why this has been done (e.g. duplicated entry).

If you have entered a payment as a receipt (or vice versa) you cannot amend the record.  You will need to zero out the original transaction and re-enter on the correct side.

 

How to Find Payment Record(s)

Navigate to menu Transaction → Payments and you will find the quick search and filter options.

See Searching, Sorting & Filtering Records Lists for more details.

How to Find a Payment Report

If you want to see multiple transactions running a report might be a better option, see Using Reports.