[IMP] accounting: Deferred revenues and expenses

Update Deferred Revenues and Expenses documentation
following the changes in https://github.com/odoo/enterprise/pull/40902

task-id 3478356

closes odoo/documentation#7142

Signed-off-by: Audrey Vandromme (auva) <auva@odoo.com>
Signed-off-by: Ricardo Gomes Rodrigues (rigr) <rigr@odoo.com>

content/applications/finance/accounting/vendor_bills/deferred_expenses.rst

@@ -1,195 +1,176 @@
-=================================
-Deferred expenses and prepayments
-=================================
+=================
+Deferred expenses
+=================
 
-**Deferred expenses** and **prepayments** (also known as **prepaid expense**), are both costs that
-have already occurred for unconsumed products or services yet to receive.
+**Deferred expenses** and **prepayments** (also known as **prepaid expenses**) are both costs that
+have already occurred for products or services yet to be received.
 
 Such costs are **assets** for the company that pays them since it already paid for products and
-services still to receive or that are yet to be used. The company cannot report them on the current
-**Profit and Loss statement**, or *Income Statement*, since the payments will be effectively
-expensed in the future.
+services but has either not yet received them or not yet used them. The company cannot report them
+on the current **profit and loss statement**, or *income statement*, since the payments will be
+effectively expensed in the future.
 
 These future expenses must be deferred on the company's balance sheet until the moment in time they
-can be **recognized**, at once or over a defined period, on the Profit and Loss statement.
+can be **recognized**, at once or over a defined period, on the profit and loss statement.
 
-For example, let's say we pay $ 1200 at once for one year of insurance. We already pay the cost now
+For example, let's say we pay $1200 at once for one year of insurance. We already pay the cost now
 but haven't used the service yet. Therefore, we post this new expense in a *prepayment account* and
-decide to recognize it on a monthly basis. Each month, for the next 12 months, $ 100 will be
+decide to recognize it on a monthly basis. Each month, for the next 12 months, $100 will be
 recognized as an expense.
 
-Odoo Accounting handles deferred expenses and prepayments by spreading them in multiple entries that
-are automatically created in *draft mode* and then posted periodically.
+Odoo Accounting handles deferred expenses by spreading them across multiple entries that are
+posted periodically.
 
 .. note::
    The server checks once a day if an entry must be posted. It might then take up to 24 hours before
-   you see a change from *draft* to *posted*.
+   you see a change from :guilabel:`Draft` to :guilabel:`Posted`.
 
-Prerequisites
+Configuration
 =============
 
-Such transactions must be posted on a **Deferred Expense Account** rather than on the default
-expense account.
+Make sure the default settings are correctly configured for your business. To do so, go to
+:menuselection:`Accounting --> Configuration --> Settings`. The following options are available:
 
-Configure a Deferred Expense Account
-------------------------------------
+Journal
+  The deferral entries are posted in this journal.
+Deferred Expense Account
+  Expenses are deferred on this Current Asset account until they are recognized.
+Deferred Revenue Account
+  Revenues are deferred on this Current Liability account until they are recognized.
+Generate Entries
+  By default, Odoo :ref:`automatically generates <vendor_bills/deferred/generate_on_validation>`
+  the deferral entries when you post a vendor bill. However, you can also choose to
+  :ref:`generate them manually <vendor_bills/deferred/generate_manually>` by selecting the
+  :guilabel:`Manually & Grouped` option instead.
+Amount Computation
+  Suppose a bill of $1200 must be deferred over 12 months. The :guilabel:`Equal per month`
+  computation recognizes $100 each month, while the :guilabel:`Based on days` computation recognizes
+  different amounts depending on the number of days in each month.
 
-To configure your account in the **Chart of Accounts**, go to :menuselection:`Accounting -->
-Configuration --> Chart of Accounts`, click on *Create*, and fill out the form.
+.. _vendor_bills/deferred/generate_on_validation:
 
-.. image:: deferred_expenses/deferred_expenses01.png
-   :align: center
-   :alt: Configuration of a Deferred Expense Account in Odoo Accounting
+Generate deferral entries on validation
+=======================================
+
+.. tip::
+   Make sure the :guilabel:`Start Date` and :guilabel:`End Date` fields are visible in the
+   :guilabel:`Invoice Lines` tab. In most cases, the :guilabel:`Start Date` should be in the same
+   month as the :guilabel:`Bill Date`.
+
+For each line of the bill that should be deferred, specify the start and end dates of the deferral
+period.
+
+If the :guilabel:`Generate Entries` field is set to :guilabel:`On invoice/bill validation`, Odoo
+automatically generates the deferral entries when the bill is validated. Click on the
+:guilabel:`Deferred Entries` smart button to see them.
+
+One entry, dated on the same day as the bill, moves the bill amounts from the expense account to
+the deferred account. The other entries are deferral entries which will, month after month, move the
+bill amounts from the deferred account to the expense account to recognize the expense.
+
+.. example::
+   You can defer a January bill of $1200 over 12 months by specifying a start date of 01/01/2023
+   and an end date of 12/31/2023. At the end of August, $800 is recognized as an expense,
+   whereas $400 remains on the deferred account.
+
+Reporting
+=========
+
+The deferred expense report computes an overview of the necessary deferral entries for each account.
+To access it, go to :menuselection:`Accounting --> Reporting --> Deferred Expense`.
+
+To view the journal items of each account, click on the account name and then :guilabel:`Journal
+Items`.
+
+.. image:: deferred_expenses/deferred_expense_report.png
+   :alt: Deferred expense report
 
 .. note::
-   This account's type must be either *Current Assets* or *Prepayments*
+    Only bills whose accounting date is before the end of the period of the report
+    are taken into account.
 
-Post an expense to the right account
-------------------------------------
+.. _vendor_bills/deferred/generate_manually:
 
-Select the account on a draft bill
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+Generate grouped deferral entries manually
+==========================================
 
-On a draft bill, select the right account for all the products of which the expenses must be
-deferred.
+If you have a lot of deferred revenues and wish to reduce the number of journal entries created, you
+can generate deferral entries manually. To do so, set the :guilabel:`Generate Entries` field in the
+**Settings** to :guilabel:`Manually & Grouped`. Odoo then aggregates the deferred amounts in a
+single entry.
 
-.. image:: deferred_expenses/deferred_expenses02.png
-   :align: center
-   :alt: Selection of a Deferred Expense Account on a draft bill in Odoo Accounting
+At the end of each month, go to the Deferred Expenses report and click the
+:guilabel:`Generate Entries` button. This generates two deferral entries:
 
-Choose a different Expense Account for specific products
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+- One dated at the end of the month which aggregates, for each account, all the deferred amounts
+  of that month. This means that at the end of that period, a part of the deferred expense is
+  recognized.
+- The reversal of this created entry, dated on the following day (i.e., the first day of the
+  next month) to cancel the previous entry.
 
-Start editing the product, go to the *Accounting* tab, select the right **Expense Account**, and
-save.
+.. example::
 
-.. image:: deferred_expenses/deferred_expenses03.png
-   :align: center
-   :alt: Change of the Expense Account for a product in Odoo
+   There are two bills:
 
-.. tip::
-   It is possible to automate the creation of expense entries for these products (see:
-   `Automate the Deferred Expenses`_).
+   - Bill A: $1200 to be deferred from 01/01/2023 to 12/31/2023
+   - Bill B: $600 to be deferred from 01/01/2023 to 12/31/2023
 
-Change the account of a posted journal item
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+   In January
+      At the end of January, after clicking the :guilabel:`Generate Entries` button,
+      there are the following entries:
 
-To do so, open your Purchases Journal by going to :menuselection:`Accounting --> Accounting -->
-Purchases`, select the journal item you want to modify, click on the account, and select the right
-one.
+      - Entry 1 dated on the 31st January:
 
-.. image:: deferred_expenses/deferred_expenses04.png
-   :align: center
-   :alt: Modification of a posted journal item's account in Odoo Accounting
+        - Line 1: Expense account -1200 -600 = **-1800** (cancelling the total of both bills)
+        - Line 2: Expense account 100 + 50 = **150** (recognizing 1/12 of bill A and bill B)
+        - Line 3: Deferred account 1800 - 150 = **1650** (amount that has yet to be deferred later
+          on)
 
-Deferred Expenses entries
-=========================
+      - Entry 2 dated on the 1st February, the reversal of the previous entry:
 
-Create a new entry
-------------------
+        - Line 1: Expense account **1800**
+        - Line 2: Deferred account **-150**
+        - Line 3: Expense account **-1650**
 
-A **Deferred Expense entry** automatically generates all journal entries in *draft mode*. They are
-then posted one by one at the right time until the full amount of the expense is recognized.
+   In February
+      At the end of February, after clicking the :guilabel:`Generate Entries` button,
+      there are the following entries:
 
-To create a new entry, go to :menuselection:`Accounting --> Accounting --> Deferred Expense`, click
-on *Create*, and fill out the form.
+      - Entry 1 dated on the 28th February:
 
-Click on **select related purchases** to link an existing journal item to this new entry. Some
-fields are then automatically filled out, and the journal item is now listed under the **Related
-Expenses** tab.
+        - Line 1: Expense account -1200 -600 = **-1800** (cancelling the total of both bills)
+        - Line 2: Expense account 200 + 100 = **300** (recognizing 2/12 of bill A and bill B)
+        - Line 3: Deferred account 1800 - 300 = **1500** (amount that has yet to be deferred later
+          on)
 
-.. image:: deferred_expenses/deferred_expenses05.png
-   :align: center
-   :alt: Deferred Expense entry in Odoo Accounting
+      - Entry 2 dated on the 1st March, the reversal of the previous entry.
 
-Once done, you can click on *Compute Deferral* (next to the *Confirm* button) to generate all the
-values of the **Expense Board**. This board shows you all the entries that Odoo will post to
-recognize your expense, and at which date.
+   From March to October
+      The same computation is done for each month until October.
 
-.. image:: deferred_expenses/deferred_expenses06.png
-   :align: center
-   :alt: Expense Board in Odoo Accounting
+   In November
+      At the end of November, after clicking the :guilabel:`Generate Entries` button,
+      there are the following entries:
 
-What does "Prorata Temporis" mean?
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+      - Entry 1 dated on the 30th November:
 
-The **Prorata Temporis** feature is useful to recognize your expense the most accurately possible.
+        - Line 1: Expense account -1200 -600 = **-1800** (cancelling the total of both bills)
+        - Line 2: Expense account 1100 + 550 = **1650** (recognizing 11/12 of bill A and bill B)
+        - Line 3: Deferred account 1800 - 1650 = **150** (amount that has yet to be deferred later
+          on)
 
-With this feature, the first entry on the Expense Board is computed based on the time left between
-the *Prorata Date* and the *First Recognition Date* rather than the default amount of time between
-recognitions.
+      - Entry 2 dated on the 1st December, the reversal of the previous entry.
 
-For example, the Expense Board above has its first expense with an amount of $ 70.97 rather than
-$ 100.00. Consequently, the last entry is also lower and has an amount of $ 29.03.
+   In December
+      There is no need to generate entries in December. Indeed, if we do the computation for
+      December, we will have an amount of 0 to be deferred.
 
-Deferred Entry from the Purchases Journal
------------------------------------------
+   In total
+      If we aggregate everything, we would have:
 
-You can create a deferred entry from a specific journal item in your **Purchases Journal**.
+      - bill A and bill B
+      - two entries (one for the deferral and one for the reversal) for each month from January to
+        November
 
-To do so, open your Purchases Journal by going to :menuselection:`Accounting --> Accounting -->
-Purchases`, and select the journal item you want to defer. Make sure that it is posted in the right
-account (see: `Change the account of a posted journal item`_).
-
-Then, click on *Action*, select **Create Deferred Entry**, and fill out the form the same way you
-would do to `create a new entry`_.
-
-.. image:: deferred_expenses/deferred_expenses07.png
-   :align: center
-   :alt: Create Deferred Entry from a journal item in Odoo Accounting
-
-Deferred Expense Models
-=======================
-
-You can create **Deferred Expense Models** to create your Deferred Expense entries faster.
-
-To create a model, go to :menuselection:`Accounting --> Configuration --> Deferred Expense Models`,
-click on *Create*, and fill out the form the same way you would do to create a new entry.
-
-.. tip::
-   You can also convert a *confirmed Deferred Expense entry* into a model by opening it from
-   :menuselection:`Accounting --> Accounting --> Deferred Expenses` and then, by clicking on the
-   button *Save Model*.
-
-Apply a Deferred Expense Model to a new entry
----------------------------------------------
-
-When you create a new Deferred Expense entry,  fill out the **Deferred Expense Account** with the
-right recognition account.
-
-New buttons with all the models linked to that account appear at the top of the form. Clicking on a
-model button fills out the form according to that model.
-
-.. image:: deferred_expenses/deferred_expenses08.png
-   :align: center
-   :alt: Deferred Expense model button in Odoo Accounting
-
-.. _deferred-expenses-automation:
-
-Automate the Deferred Expenses
-==============================
-
-When you create or edit an account of which the type is either *Current Assets* or *Prepayments*,
-you can configure it to defer the expenses that are credited on it automatically.
-
-You have three choices for the **Automate Deferred Expense** field:
-
-#. **No:** this is the default value. Nothing happens.
-#. **Create in draft:** whenever a transaction is posted on the account, a draft *Deferred Expenses
-   entry* is created, but not validated. You must first fill out the form in
-   :menuselection:`Accounting --> Accounting --> Deferred Expenses`.
-#. **Create and validate:** you must also select a Deferred Expense Model (see: `Deferred Expense
-   Models`_). Whenever a transaction is posted on the account, a *Deferred Expenses entry* is
-   created and immediately validated.
-
-.. image:: deferred_expenses/deferred_expenses09.png
-   :align: center
-   :alt: Automate Deferred Expense on an account in Odoo Accounting
-
-.. tip::
-   You can, for example, select this account as the default **Expense Account** of a product to
-   fully automate its purchase. (see: `Choose a different Expense Account for specific
-   products`_).
-
-.. seealso::
-   * :doc:`../get_started/chart_of_accounts`
+      Therefore, at the end of December, bills A and B are fully recognized as expense only once in
+      spite of all the created entries thanks to the reversal mechanism.