A late bill for a month already reported to a funder
What a non-profit can do when a supplier bill arrives for a month already closed and reported to a funder, and how to keep both sets of figures in step.
By Achekam · · 5 min read · For Non-profit businesses in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya
The quarterly report went to the funder last week. It was on time, the figures agreed with the ledger, and the programme manager was relieved. Then the venue for the March training workshop sends its invoice, six weeks late, for a month that is closed and already in the report.
Late supplier bills are a fact of life, especially from small suppliers, government bodies and anyone who invoices in batches. For a business, a late bill is a minor timing nuisance. For a non-profit that has already told a funder what a month cost, it raises a harder question: do you change the past, or record the cost now and explain it?
This article explains how Achekam's month closing affects that choice, and a way of handling late bills that keeps your funder reports and your ledger reconcilable.
Why the closed month refuses the bill
In Achekam, a closed month refuses postings from every source. Supplier bills, manual journals, bank lines and anything else dated in that month are turned away. Supplier bills are recorded line by line with VAT, and a bill without a purchase order waits for approval before it posts; but even an approved bill cannot post into a closed month.
That is deliberate, and it protects you. The figures you sent the funder came from that closed month. If late entries could slip into it, the ledger would quietly drift away from the report, and nobody would notice until an auditor compared them. A refusal forces a decision, made by a person, about where the cost belongs.
Soft close, hard close or lock
Months can be soft-closed, hard-closed and locked. Treat the three as increasing levels of commitment, and agree in your finance procedures when each is used. A pattern that suits most non-profits:
| State | When to use it | What it says to the team |
|---|---|---|
| Soft close | Once the month's routine posting is done | Stop posting here; we are checking |
| Hard close | Once the checks are done and management figures are final | These figures are being relied on |
| Lock | Once a funder report or board pack built on the month has gone out | These figures are on record outside the organisation |
Which state the month is in decides how to think about the late bill. If it is only soft-closed and nothing has left the building, the month is still, in practice, under review. Once a funder has the figures, the month should be treated as final, whatever its technical state.
Reopening a hard close needs a second approver
Reopening a hard-closed month needs a second approver. One person cannot undo a hard close alone. That is the right level of friction: reopening a month the organisation relies on should be a considered decision by two people, not a quick fix by whoever happens to have the bill.
Even where reopening is possible, ask whether it is wise. If you reopen March and post the venue bill there, March in the ledger no longer agrees with March in the funder's report. You would then have to send a corrected report, or carry a permanent difference that someone will have to explain later. For a month already reported to a funder, reopening is usually the worse option.
Posting in the current month and explaining it
The cleaner route is usually to record the bill in the current open month and explain it.
- Record the bill in the current month, keeping the supplier's own invoice number and date on it, and note in the description which month the cost relates to.
- Charge it to the same grant expense account it would have gone to in March, so the grant still carries its own cost.
- Let it go through approval as usual.
- In the next report to the funder, show the cost in the current period with a short note: the cost relates to the March workshop, the invoice arrived late, and it is reported now.
Most funders accept this, because the money is accounted for and the explanation is clear. What they do not accept is a cost that appears with no explanation, or a previous report that quietly changes.
If you ever post something to the wrong month by mistake, remember that a posted journal is corrected only by a reversal. Reverse it and post it again properly; the history keeps both.
Keeping reported figures and the ledger reconcilable
The goal is that anyone, a funder's auditor in particular, can go from your reports to your ledger and back without a gap.
The trial balance shows each account for all time, for a period or at a date, and says whether debits equal credits. The general ledger lists every posted line. Use them to keep a short reconciliation note for each grant:
- the total reported to the funder for each period;
- any late costs posted in a later month, with their journal or bill references;
- the resulting total in the ledger for the grant's accounts.
When the note shows the reported figure plus late costs equals the ledger, the two sets of figures are reconciled, and the explanation is on paper before anyone asks.
Fewer late surprises next time
You cannot make suppliers invoice on time, but you can stop their delays reaching your reports. Before closing a month, list costs you know were incurred but have not been billed, such as a workshop held or a delivery received, and record them as accruals in that month, reversing them when the real bill arrives. AccountingTools' explanation of the accruals concept covers recording expenses in the period they are incurred, including accrued expenses and reversing entries.
Ask suppliers who regularly invoice late to send their invoices within days of delivering, and make prompt invoicing a condition when you next choose a supplier. Bills that arrive without an order are covered in bills without a purchase order, and the checks to run before closing in what to check before closing a month. For the budget side of funder reporting, see tracking grant spending against the budget.
Write your rule for late bills into your finance procedures today: which month they go into, and what the funder report will say.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
