Ledger postings for Sales Tax / VAT

Below are some of the typical ledger postings related to Sales Tax / VAT.
Purchase invoice posting:-
Dr Stock / Purchase consumption (invoice amount)
Dr Sales tax receivable (tax amount)
               Cr Vendor (invoice amount + tax amount)

Sales invoice posting:-
Dr Customer (invoice amount + tax amount)
               Cr Sales revenue (invoice amount)
               Cr Sales tax payable (tax amount)

Settle the Sales tax payable against Sales tax receivable using GL journal
Dr/Cr is depending on whether the Sales tax receivable is larger or Sales tax payable is larger.
(If Sales tax payable is larger)
Dr Sales tax payable
               Cr Sales tax receivable
               Cr Sales tax settlement

Make payment to tax authorities for the balance of Sales tax payable (now stored in Sales tax settlement)
Dr Sales tax settlement
               Cr Bank

Purchase invoice posting when Use Tax is activated
If GL parameters - Apply US Sales tax and use tax rules = not selected
Dr Stock / Purchase consumption (invoice amount)
Dr Use Tax expense (use tax amount)
               Cr Vendor (invoice amount)
               Cr Use Tax payable (use tax amount)

If GL parameters - Apply US Sales tax and use tax rules = selected
Dr Stock / Purchase consumption (invoice amount + use tax amount)
               Cr Vendor (invoice amount)
               Cr Use Tax payable (use tax amount)

Common account type for the sales tax-related ledger accounts:-
Sales tax payable: Balance
Sales tax receivable: Balance
Sales tax settlement: Liability (Balance)
Use Tax expense: Profit and loss
Use Tax payable: Balance

If GL parameters - Apply US Sales tax and use tax rules = selected, you will not able to specify the Sales tax receivable and Use tax expense in the Sales tax setup\Ledger posting groups.

Patching in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009

Recently I found this interesting information about patching in Dynamics AX 2009. If you want to understand more about how to install hotfixes and the Dynamics AX 2009 servicing architecture, Microsoft actually have published a white paper about it. Basically it explains the two types of standard hotfixes available in AX 2009: Binary hotfixes and Application hotfixes. It also explains the steps to perform the installation for these two types of hotfixes. Even better, the link below also included a video on step by step installing the hotfix.

https://mbs.microsoft.com/customersource/support/documentation/whitepapers/ax2009patching.htm

Note: You need Partner Source login to access this information.

Kernel version and Application version

You can check the Kernel version and Application version in the Dynamics AX client by clicking Help > About Microsoft Dynamics AX. Usually both numbers will be the same, but this might not be the case in all time.

Kernel version
This is the kernel build number for the Dynamics AX binary executable files. The About form is only showing the kernel version of the currently running instance of AX client (Ax32.exe). To view the server kernel version, you need to check the file property for the Ax32serv.exe. The kernel version will be updated when you perform an AX upgrade or install a service pack, i.e. from AX 2009 RTM to AX 2009 SP1 that affects the binary files, or when you install a hotfix that contains binary patch (patch via msp or dll files).

Application version
This is the version number for the currently installed application. The version number is stored as static text in the class ApplicationVersion::applBuildNo(). The number will be updated when you perform an AX upgrade or install a service pack, or when you install certain hotfix that contains application patch (patch via xpo import).

The post below shows a list of all kernel version and application version from Axapta 2.5 to AX 2009 SP1. You can also use this to verify whether you have installed any service packs or hotfix roll-ups.
http://blogs.msdn.com/emeadaxsupport/archive/2009/07/01/overview-ax-kernel-build-numbers.aspx

Dick has written a sample code to check the kernel version for both client and server:-
http://axstart.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!E82F2C8CB173C0A0!350.entry

Methods for refreshing form data

It is easy to confuse which method is the correct one to use for refreshing data in forms since Dynamics AX has 4 different form refresh methods:- refresh(), reread(), research() and executeQuery().

Vanya Kashperuk has posted an excellent article on explaining the usages of these methods.
http://kashperuk.blogspot.com/2010/03/tutorial-reread-refresh-research.html