Add Default descriptions to General Ledger postings

A common complaint from AX2012 Users is that the description of the transaction, transferred through to the General Ledger, is often limited. This means that any nominal analysis is difficult, as you consistently need to refer back to AX to determine the original source of the transactions. For example, if I post Supplier Invoices relating to Advertising expenses and then run some General Ledger reports, the description only shows as Supplier Invoice :  

• Ledger Transaction report:

• Dimension Statement report:

• Transaction description in Management Reporter:

The origin of the description can be seen on the Voucher:

The good news is that AX does have the ability to add more relevant descriptions to the accounting entries which are automatically posted to the General Ledger (such as SO/PO Receipts and Invoices).

• Go to Organisation administration -> Setup -> Default descriptions. By default, only one entry is normally setup for Expense report transaction types:

• Create a New record and select from the list of available transaction types. In my example, I have added Purchase Order - Invoice (Ledger and Supplier):

• Next, in the Language field, select the language that this description will apply to. I have selected EN-GB.
   
• Finally, in the Text field, type the description which you want to appear automatically on the transaction (this can be a mixture of free text and fixed variables). Note that the fixed variables relate to AX fields relevant to the different transaction types, for example, the variables for a Purchase Invoice would be:
  • %1: Adds the posting date
  • %2: Adds the Supplier Invoice number
  • %3: Adds the transaction Voucher number
  • %4: Adds the Purchase Order Number
  • %5: Adds the Supplier account Number
  • %6: Adds the Supplier group
• As an example only, I have entered Sup Invoice %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6. However, in reality this would be overkill and it would be more realistic to just capture the PO number (%4), Supplier number (%5), and Supplier Invoice number (% 2):  

• To test this new setup, I create a new Purchase Order for Advertising expenses:

• I then post a Purchase Invoice against this Purchase Order: 

• This time, when I view the description on the Invoice Voucher, it shows Sup Invoice 11-May-15 Inv12330 PIV-110000556 000638 US-110 40. 

Invoice Number = Inv12330, PO number = 000638, and Supplier Number = US-110

• Now when I run my General Ledger reports for Advertising Expenses, this extended description is more meaningful to the User (as the PO and Supplier number is shown):

• Management Reporter (transaction level):

(Note that Attribute Columns can also be used in MR to pull through additional information, such as Supplier and Transaction description. However, using Default Descriptions would improve the information in standard AX reports).  

There is no definitive list of recommended transaction types to create, so it would be advisable to carry out some testing in a non production AX environment. However, other logical transaction types would be: 

Customer - Invoice Ledger
Customer - Invoice Customer
Sales Order - Delivery note, Ledger
Purchase Order - Product receipt, Ledger
Stock - journal - Adjustment
Stock - Journal - Move
Stock - Journal - Counting