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Close over outstanding inventory debt

Inventory debt settled blocks the close while units shipped without costed stock behind them are still owed. The month's figures are right as far as they go, but the cost of sale on those units is still an estimate, and the correction lands in whichever month the stock finally arrives. Deciding to sign the month off anyway is a judgement finance is entitled to make, so SKU.io lets you go over the check, asks you to write down why, and keeps the answer.

Before you begin​

  • Try to clear the debt first. Going over it is the exception, not the routine. See try to clear the debt first below.
  • You need the Accounting Period Override permission (accounting.period.override) on top of the Accounting Manage Settings permission (accounting.manage_settings) you need to close a month. See permissions in the close.
  • The month must be In Review, with no other blocking check failing that can't be gone over. All entries balanced and Opening balance applied, for example, have to be fixed; no permission waves them through.
  • Clearing the debt happens on Inventory → Fulfillment Debt, so you need access there too, or somebody who has it.
  • Have your reason ready. It's recorded against the month and read later by someone who wasn't in the room.

Read the check​

On Accounting → Close, click the month's tile on the Year board to open its drawer. While the check is failing, Inventory debt settled appears in the Blocking checks card near the top of the drawer, and again in the Close checklist under 2. Sync & reconciliation.

The row tells you four things.

Whether it passes. A green tick means nothing shipped below zero is still owed for the month. Hover the check's name for what it tests:

No units shipped without stock behind them are still owed for this period. Outstanding debt means the period's cost of sale is still an estimate, with the correction landing later.

Whether it blocks. Out of the box the row carries a red Blocking chip. Hovering it says that this check can be gone over:

This check blocks the close, but it can be closed over: you will be asked for a reason, and it is recorded against the period along with the exposure at the time.

The size of the problem. The summary reads, for example, 3 still owed · 409.75 in clearing: the number of claims still outstanding and the money in the Inventory Debt Clearing account behind them. The money figure is what was posted less what has been relieved, not units multiplied by the estimate, because that's the figure that has to agree with your balance sheet. See what posts to your ledger.

What counts. Everything still owed that was incurred on or before the month's last day, including debt raised in an earlier month and never repaid. Debt incurred after the month end belongs to the month it happened in.

Try to clear the debt first​

  1. In the month's drawer, find the Inventory debt settled row in the Blocking checks card.
  2. Click the arrow at the end of the row (Open the fixing surface). It opens Inventory → Fulfillment Debt, scoped to the month, so the claims on the page are the ones the check counts.
  3. Read the tiles above the claims. Inventory Debt Clearing shows the clearing balance split into posted and relieved, across every month, so it can be larger than the figure on the row. Oldest claim gives the age of the longest-running claim. Settled this month gives the units already repaid and the variance they sent to COGS.
  4. Leave the Status filter in the Inventory Debt Claims table on Outstanding. Those are the claims the check counts.
  5. Where stock has since arrived, tick the claims and click Settle from Stock. Repayment uses the stock that landed and posts the correction on the date it arrived. See settle a claim from stock you've received.
  6. Where no receipt is ever coming, tick the claims and click Create Catch-Up Stock Take. Finalize the draft stock take it creates, and the claims repay from it. See clear debt no delivery will repay.
  7. Go back to the month's drawer and click Re-check. If the row is now green, close the month normally. You don't need to go over anything.

For the accounting behind claims, estimates and the true-up variance, see inventory and the close.

Close over the debt​

When a second person closes the month

The steps below are for a month one person may close alone. When independent review is required (two or more accounting users, with the default setting), the preparer records the override on the checklist before the close, and the reviewer accepts it by closing:

  1. On the Inventory debt settled row, click Record override.
  2. Answer Why can this month close with this check failing? and click Record override. The row then reads Override by with your name, the date and your reason, and offers Remove.
  3. Hand the month to the reviewer. Their close dialog lists your override as recorded, closing accepts it under your name, and they type no reason of their own.

While your override stands, you can't close the month yourself. See review and close a month someone else prepared.

  1. In the month's drawer, click Close period.
  2. In the Close June 2026 dialog, find the amber panel headed Inventory debt settled (3): the check's title with the number of claims still owed. It reads "This normally blocks the close. You can go over it, but the reason is recorded against June 2026 along with the exposure as it stands."
  3. Type your reason in Why is this being closed over?. Write it for the person who reads it in six months: what's outstanding, why the month can carry it, and who agreed. The field suggests the shape: "e.g. Supplier receipt lands on the 3rd — signed off by the CFO".
  4. Tick every acknowledgement below the panel. Going over the debt check covers that check only; warnings and unticked manual items still need their ticks.
  5. Add anything else worth recording in Close notes (optional). Notes are separate from the override reason and don't replace it.
  6. Click Close June 2026. The month goes to Closing…, then Closed.

Why the close button stays disabled​

The button stays disabled until you've given the reason. Hover it to see which condition is unmet:

  • Give a reason for going over "Inventory debt settled" — it's recorded against this period.
  • Resolve the blocking failures first — a period can't close with blocking checks failing. Something that can't be gone over is still failing.
  • Tick every acknowledgement above to confirm you're going ahead with these items outstanding.

A box containing only spaces counts as blank. The reason has a 2,000-character limit.

caution

A reason you type and then cancel is discarded. Closing the dialog clears the reason, the ticks and the notes, so reopening it starts empty. This is deliberate: the reason is signed-for text that goes on the record, and text typed for an attempt you abandoned must never be filed against a later one.

What gets recorded​

Recorded against the month at the moment the close commits:

  • The reason, exactly as you typed it.
  • Who recorded the override: you, when you typed the reason at the close, or the preparer, when they recorded it on the checklist for a reviewer to accept.
  • Who closed the month.
  • How many debt claims were still owed, and the clearing balance behind them.

The exposure is counted fresh as the close commits, not copied from the checklist row you were looking at, so the record says what was true when you signed. It's written inside the close itself: if the close fails and the month returns to In Review, no override is recorded for it.

Reading it back​

Open the closed month's drawer. The sign-off banner carries Closed over 1 blocking check, and beneath it the check's title, the exposure as it stood (for example 3 still owed · 409.75 in clearing at the time of the close), your reason in quotes, and who recorded it and when. The record is never recalculated, so a claim settled next week doesn't change what you appear to have signed off.

What going over the debt doesn't do​

  • It doesn't settle anything. The claims are still outstanding, the clearing balance is still there, and the true-up still posts when the stock arrives.
  • It doesn't freeze the month. Closing is a sign-off, not a lock. When the settlement true-up is dated in this month, it lands here and the month reads Closed – restated, asking for a re-sign-off. Only a month on or before your hard close date pushes the true-up to the first open day instead. See what closing does to your books.
  • It doesn't carry to next month. Debt still outstanding at the next close fails Inventory debt settled again and needs its own reason.
  • It doesn't extend to any other check. Each check you go over needs its own reason. A check that can't be gone over, such as All entries balanced, still stops the close.

Signing a restated month off over the debt​

When a closed month changes later and needs a Re-sign-off, the checks run again. If Inventory debt settled is failing then, the re-sign-off dialog shows the same amber panel and asks Why is this being signed off over?. The reason is recorded the same way, against the new sign-off. See Re-sign-off a restated month.

Without the Period Override permission​

If you don't hold the Period Override permission, the amber panel appears without a reason box and explains:

This normally blocks the close. You don't have the Accounting › Period Override permission, so it has to be resolved before June 2026 can close — or ask someone who holds it.

Hovering the disabled close button says "Inventory debt settled" blocks this, and you don't have permission to go over it. Clear the debt using the steps above, or hand the close to someone who holds the permission.

When debt is set to warn instead of block​

Whether outstanding debt blocks the close is a setting, on by default: Settings → Inventory → Inventory Debt → Block period close while debt is outstanding. See inventory debt settings.

Turned off, Inventory debt settled becomes an ordinary warning: no Blocking chip, no amber panel, no permission, no reason. It still states the exposure on the row, you still tick it in the close dialog, and it's stamped Acknowledged at close on the closed month. That's a weaker record: an acknowledgement says you saw the number, an override says why you accepted it.

The setting applies to every month until somebody turns it back on. For one awkward month, prefer going over the check: it applies to this month only, records the decision, and keeps the check doing its job next month.

Debt never blocks a shipment, whichever way the setting is. Goods go out and SKU.io records what they cost; the pressure lands at the close instead.

Next steps​

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