---
title: "Creating and Configuring External Accounting Documents"
description: "External accounting documents represent expected account movements that you record in addition to the planned cash forecasts. They are included in the liquidity calculation and the automatic reconciliation."
source_url: https://support.lucanet.com/en/documentation/banking-and-cash-management/cash-management/cash-forecasts/accounting-documents
language: en
last_updated: 2026-08-27
---
# Creating and Configuring External Accounting Documents
## Overview
External accounting documents represent expected account movements that you want to record in addition to the cash forecasts planned in Lucanet Banking & Cash Management (BCM). External accounting documents supplement the current balances and advice transactions with planned inflows and outflows and are thus included in the liquidity calculation and in the automatic [reconciliation](#reconciling-external-accounting-documents).
Each external accounting document carries a unique **Document number** and references a one-time due date. BCM does not support intervals for external accounting documents — for regularly recurring expected account movements, use [cash forecasts](https://support.lucanet.com/en/documentation/banking-and-cash-management/cash-management/cash-forecasts/accounting-documents/...md).
## Navigation
The **External accounting documents** workspace can be found under **Banking & Cash Management | Cash management | Cash forecasts | External accounting documents**:
'External accounting documents' workspace in the menu navigation
## Creating External Accounting Documents
To create an external accounting document:
1. Navigate to **Cash management | Cash forecasts | External accounting documents**.
2. Click the **Plus** icon in the upper left corner. The configuration of an external accounting document is displayed as follows:
Configuring an external accounting document
3. Configure the external accounting document according to your requirements. For more information, see [Configuring External Accounting Documents](#configuring-external-accounting-documents).
## Configuring External Accounting Documents
The configuration options of an external accounting document are divided into two areas: **Basic data** and **Open item reconciliation**. At the end of the configuration area, you also assign a [permission class](#permission-class) to the external accounting document.
### Basic Data
The **Basic data** area contains the following options:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| **Caption** | Unique name or description that identifies the external accounting document |
| **Document number** | Unique document number, for example, an invoice or order number, that identifies the external accounting document in BCM |
| **Account** | Bank account on which the expected account movement will take place. Used to calculate the liquidity development. |
| **Amount** | Expected amount of the account movement |
| **Currency** | Currency of the expected payment. Taken over automatically from the selected account and cannot be changed manually. |
| **Due time** | Date on which the payment is expected. The default value is today's date. The due date serves as the basis for time-based liquidity calculations and for the [reconciliation](#reconciling-external-accounting-documents). |
| **Create forecast transactions** | If activated, BCM automatically creates [forecast transactions](#displaying-forecast-transactions) from the external accounting document, which are visible in the transaction overviews. The check box is deactivated by default. Under **System \| Configuration \| Cash** on the **Forecasts** tab, you can add external accounting documents as a type and activate the **Create forecast transactions** option — the check box is then activated automatically for all new external accounting documents. |
| **Company** | Reference to a company stored in BCM. Enables precise assignment and automatic completion of payment information for internal payments.
You create new companies via the **Plus** icon or under **Master data \| Companies and contacts \| Companies**. |
| **Transaction property** | Categorization of the transaction for reporting and analysis. You can assign transaction properties manually or automatically. Via the **Plus** icon, you create new properties with the following details:
- **Caption**: name of the property
- **Default**: check box for automatic assignment
- **Filter**: logical operators — and, or, not and, not or — based on criteria such as IBAN, amount, or remittance information |
| **Differing company name** | Free text that records a differing name for the company of this payment, for example, for third-party payments or payments via collective accounts. Serves solely as display and search information and does not overwrite the stored company. BCM does not consider this field when reconciling with accounting transactions — for name-based reconciliation, use the **Additional filter**. For more information, see [Open Item Reconciliation](#open-item-reconciliation). |
| **Scenario** | Optional assignment to planning scenarios for scenario analyses and strategic liquidity planning. Via the **Plus** icon, you can create new scenarios with the following fields:
- **Caption**: name of the scenario
- **Description**: explanation of the scenario
- **Include in account balances**: controls whether the scenario is included in the balance calculation |
### Open Item Reconciliation
The **Open item reconciliation** area contains the following options:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| **Reconciliation type** | Determines the type of reconciliation. Options:
- **Reconcile accounting transaction:** reconciliation against actual postings on the account
- **Mark due time as done at due day:** automatic closing on the due date without checking transactions
- **Mark due time as done at day after due day:** automatic closing one day after the due date
- **No reconciliation:** manual management without automatic reconciliation |
| **Amount reconciliation method** | Defines the precision of the amount reconciliation. Options:
- **Exact amount:** only for a 100% match
- **Percental tolerance:** deviations in percent are permitted
- **Amount range:** deviations within absolute amounts are permitted |
| **Date reconciliation method** | Defines the period for the date reconciliation. Only available if **Reconciliation type = Reconcile accounting transaction**. Options:
- **Exact date** (default value): only for an identical date.
- **Date range**: with a configurable tolerance via the **Days to subtract** and **Days to add** fields. Example: **0/3** means that the reconciliation can take place on the due date and up to 3 calendar days afterwards. |
| **Additional filter** | Logical filter for additional reconciliation criteria, for example, to prevent incorrect assignments when there are several similar payments. BCM evaluates the filter criteria against the fields of an imported accounting transaction — typical fields are **IBAN**, **Bank reference**, **End-to-end reference**, **Customer reference**, and **Remittance information**.
Via the **Advanced Mode** check box, you switch to an advanced mode in which you can enter more complex filter expressions directly. |
### Permission Class
With a **Permission class**, you control the visibility of the external accounting document. You can select an existing permission class from the drop-down list or create a new one via the **Plus** icon — the external accounting document is then displayed only to users to whom this permission class is assigned. Users without the corresponding permission class do not see the record, even if their permissions otherwise grant access. When you create a permission class, you enter a **Caption**, a **Description**, and the assigned **Users**.
## Displaying Forecast Transactions
If the **Create forecast transactions** check box is activated in the [basic data](#basic-data) of the external accounting document, BCM displays all created external accounting documents in two additional workspaces:
- **Forecast transactions**: List view of all individual forecast transactions with detailed information
- **Forecast transactions (pivot)**: Pivot view of the same data for flexible grouping, filtering, and analysis
Workspaces for forecast transactions
Both workspaces display the same data — the information entered during creation, such as account, company, amount, and due date — in different forms of presentation.
## Reconciling External Accounting Documents
BCM automatically reconciles open external accounting documents with the actual account movements. Alternatively, you mark external accounting documents as done manually.
### Automatic Reconciliation
After each successful retrieval of advice transactions or account information, BCM compares the retrieved advice transactions and accounting transactions with the open external accounting documents. How BCM compares them is determined by the options that you have configured for each external accounting document in the [Open item reconciliation](#open-item-reconciliation) area — the reconciliation type, the methods for amount and date reconciliation, and the additional filter.
If there is a successful match, BCM automatically marks the external accounting document as done and removes it from the list.
### Manual Reconciliation
To perform a manual reconciliation:
1. Navigate to **Cash management | Cash forecasts | External accounting documents**.
2. Select the records to be reconciled.
3. In the toolbar, click **Mark Due Time as Done**. BCM deletes the external accounting document.
Marking the due date as done
> **Warning:** BCM permanently deletes reconciled external accounting documents — they cannot be restored. If a **Forecast transaction** exists for the external accounting document, BCM deletes it as well.