Ledgr/Documentation/Common problems
Common problems
When Ledgr refuses something it says why, in a sentence. This page lists the
ones people meet most, word for word, so you can search for the message on your screen and
land on what it means and what to do next. Words in italics change from case to
case — your own dates, amounts and document numbers.
Searching.
Type a few words of the message into the search box in the sidebar — "due date",
"voided", "on hand", "allowance" — and pick the result for this page.
Invoices, quotes and credit notes
The due date is before the issue date
The due date (2026-08-01) cannot be before the issue date (2026-09-01) — a document issued on 2026-09-01 and due on 2026-08-01 ages straight into 90+ days the moment it is raised, which is the bucket a collections run works from.
What it means. A document cannot fall due before it exists. Usually one of the two
dates was picked in the wrong month or year.
What to do. Correct the due date, or choose payment terms and let Ledgr work the due
date out from the issue date.
Guide: Invoicing & quotes
The due date is years after the issue date
The due date (2036-09-01) is more than 10 years after the issue date (2026-09-01) — check the year. A receivable dated that far out never becomes overdue.
What it means. The year was almost certainly mistyped. A document due that far away
would never appear on an overdue list or in a reminder run.
What to do. Fix the year on the due date and save again.
Guide: Invoicing & quotes
A date more than a year from now
The issue date (2027-10-01) is more than a year from now — check the year.
A document dated that far ahead posts a journal into a period no period close will ever reach.
What it means. Ledgr refuses a document dated more than twelve months ahead, because
its journal would land in a period nobody is working in.
What to do. Check the year. If you want to bill in the future, set up a recurring
schedule instead of dating a document ahead.
Guide: Invoicing & quotes
A paid invoice cannot be voided or deleted
Document INV-0042 has R3 450.00 recorded against it, so it cannot be voided or deleted — the receipt would stay on the books with nothing to settle, leaving debtors R3 450.00 short.
Raise a credit note against it instead, which reverses the sale and leaves the payment on the customer's account.
What it means. Money has been received against this invoice. Voiding it would leave
that receipt with nothing to settle, so your debtors and your bank would disagree.
What to do. If the payment was captured by mistake, remove it from the invoice's
payment history first. Otherwise raise a credit note, which reverses the sale and keeps
the payment on the customer's account.
Guide: Invoicing & quotes
A paid invoice's total cannot be reduced below what was paid
Document INV-0042 already has R3 450.00 recorded against it, so its total cannot be reduced to R3 000.00 — that would leave the customer R450.00 in credit with nothing to record it against.
Raise a credit note for R450.00 instead.
What it means. The new total is less than the money already received, and the
difference would sit on the customer's account with no document to explain it.
What to do. Raise a credit note for the difference, or remove and re-enter the
payment if it was keyed wrongly.
Guide: Invoicing & quotes
A payment is more than the invoice still owes
A payment of R 5 000.00 is more than the R 3 450.00 still owed on INV-2026-014, so it was not recorded. Record what is owed on this document and the rest against the next one.
What it means. The amount you entered is more than what is left to pay on this
invoice.
What to do. Record the amount that settles this invoice, and record the rest against
the customer's other open invoices.
Guide: Banking
A payment on a voided document
INV-2026-014 has been voided, so it owes nothing and a payment cannot be recorded against it.
What it means. The document was voided, so there is nothing left on it to pay.
What to do. Record the payment against the invoice that replaced it, or leave it on
the customer's account.
Guide: Invoicing & quotes
Editing a voided document
Cannot edit a voided document
What it means. A voided document is kept exactly as it was, as the record of what
was cancelled.
What to do. Raise a new document with the right details.
Guide: Invoicing & quotes
A quote that was already converted
This quote has already been converted or is voided
What it means. This quote or pro-forma already became an invoice, or it was
voided, so converting it again would bill the same work twice.
What to do. Find the invoice it became in the invoice list, or raise a new quote.
Guide: Invoicing & quotes
The Free plan's monthly document limit
The Free plan includes 5 documents per month — invoices, quotes and every other kind count.
The upgrade is in Settings → Billing & Plan.
What it means. The Free plan includes 5 documents a month, and this month's are used — every kind of document counts toward it. The message starts with the document's number and
"was NOT created": nothing was created, so nothing needs undoing.
What to do. Wait for next month, or move to a paid plan in
Settings → Billing & Plan for unlimited invoicing.
Guide: Billing & your plan
A promised payment date in the past
An expected payment date is a promise about the future, so it cannot be 2026-09-01 — today is 2026-09-26. Clear it instead, and the invoice goes back to the overdue amount the forecast reports separately.
What it means. The date a customer promised to pay has passed, so it no longer
tells the cash forecast anything.
What to do. Clear the date, or record the new date the customer has promised.
Guide: Your dashboard
Bills and expenses
A paid bill's amount cannot be changed
BILL-0107 is already marked paid, so what it cost cannot be changed — the payment in the ledger is derived from this amount, so editing it would restate the cash that left the bank and nothing would record the difference.
What it means. The payment Ledgr booked came from this amount. Changing it would
rewrite money that has already left the bank.
What to do. Undo the payment first — the rest of the message names the button:
Set it back to Due on a bill, Reopen on a paid expense claim. Both reverse the
payment in the ledger. Then correct the amount and pay it again.
Guide: Expenses & bills
A paid bill cannot be voided or deleted
BILL-0107 is already marked paid, so it cannot be voided or deleted — the payment in the ledger is derived from it, so removing it would put the money back in the bank account without anything recording that it had.
What it means. Deleting a paid bill would quietly put the money back in your bank
balance, and the cash book would be wrong with nothing on screen to show it.
What to do. Undo the payment first, as the rest of the message says — Set it back
to Due on a bill, Reopen on an expense claim — and then delete it.
Guide: Expenses & bills
Bank statements and reconciliation
A statement with no account number
This statement does not print an account number, so Ledgr cannot tell which of your accounts it belongs to. Choose one to import it.
What it means. Some banks leave the account number off an export. Ledgr will not
guess which of your accounts the lines belong to.
What to do. Choose the bank account in the import dialog and import again.
Guide: Banking
A statement with no closing balance
This statement states no closing balance, so Ledgr cannot prove it read the whole file. Check the last few rows against the statement, then import.
What it means. Without a closing balance there is nothing to check the imported
lines against, so a cut-off file would look complete.
What to do. Compare the last few rows with your bank's own statement. If they
agree, import.
Guide: Banking
Bank fees that were not imported twice
This file has a fee column, but the running balance shows the fees are already inside the transaction amounts, so they were not imported twice.
What it means. This is a notice, not an error. Your bank printed the fees in their
own column and also inside each amount; the balance column proved which.
What to do. Nothing. Your bank charges are already in the imported lines.
Guide: Banking
The uploaded file is empty
The uploaded file is empty
What it means. The file reached Ledgr with nothing in it — usually a download that
did not finish.
What to do. Download the statement from your bank again and upload that copy.
Guide: Banking
Unmatching a line in a finalised reconciliation
This line is reconciled in a finalised reconciliation, so it cannot be unmatched where it stands — the session it belongs to was signed off against a statement balance that counted it.
What it means. The reconciliation this line is part of was signed off, and its
balance depends on the line staying matched.
What to do. Reopen that reconciliation first. Its lines go back to matched, and
Unmatch is then available.
Guide: Banking
A bank line of zero
A line of zero moves no money, so it cannot change the reconciliation difference you are trying to close.
What it means. A manual bank line needs an amount.
What to do. Enter the amount as it appears on the statement. A negative amount is
read as money out.
Guide: Banking
Stock
An adjustment that would take stock below zero
Adjustment of -12 would take on-hand stock to -4. On-hand cannot go below zero (current is 8).
What it means. Ledgr never lets a shelf hold less than nothing, because the value
of your stock would then disagree with your books.
What to do. Check the quantity. If you really are short, count the item first and
post a stock take, then make the adjustment.
Guide: Inventory
A transfer of more than the location holds
Only 8 on hand at the source location — transferring 12 would take it to -4. Move what is there, or correct the stock with an adjustment first.
What it means. The location you are moving stock from does not hold that many.
What to do. Transfer what is there, or correct the source location's stock first.
Guide: Inventory
A negative stock quantity on a product
Stock on hand cannot be negative. Type the quantity you actually hold, and use Adjust Stock to write stock off.
What it means. The quantity on a product is what you hold, so it cannot be below
zero.
What to do. Enter what is on the shelf, and write off anything missing with
Adjust Stock.
Guide: Inventory
Your plan, users and companies
A part of Ledgr that is not on your plan
That part of Ledgr is not on your current plan. Settings → Billing & Plan shows which plan includes it.
What it means. The screen or link you followed belongs to a module your plan does
not include — often a bookmark from a trial or an older plan.
What to do. Open Settings → Billing & Plan to see which plan, or which
add-on, includes it.
Guide: Billing & your plan
Your plan has expired
Your Ledgr plan has expired, so changes cannot be saved. Everything is still here to read and export — Settings → Billing & Plan has the renewal link.
What it means. Your term and its grace period have ended. Nothing has been deleted;
you can still read and export everything.
What to do. Renew from Settings → Billing & Plan, and saving works again
straight away.
Guide: Billing & your plan
The user allowance is full
Your plan's user allowance is full. Settings → Billing & Plan can add a seat pack, or you can remove a user who no longer needs access.
What it means. Every seat your plan includes is taken.
What to do. Remove someone who has left under Roles & Users, add a seat
pack, or move to a plan with more seats.
Guide: Roles & users
The company allowance is full
Your plan's company allowance is full. Settings → Billing & Plan can add another company.
What it means. Your plan includes a set number of companies and they are all in
use. The companies you already have are untouched.
What to do. Add an extra company from Settings → Billing & Plan.
Guide: Multi-company
Changing the currency the books are kept in
This company keeps its books in ZAR and has already posted to the general ledger, so ZAR is the unit of account for every figure in it.
What it means. Changing the base currency now would relabel every figure without
converting a cent, and your trial balance and VAT201 would be wrong.
What to do. If the business really trades in another currency, add a company for
it and keep this one's history as it is. To bill a customer in another currency, choose
the currency on the invoice instead.
Guide: Settings
Signing in
The email or password was not accepted
Invalid email or password
What it means. Ledgr does not say which of the two was wrong, so nobody can use the
sign-in page to find out who has an account.
What to do. Check the address, then use Forgot password. After several
wrong attempts the account is locked for a while, so do not keep guessing.
Guide: Getting started
The password reset link has expired
This reset link has expired. Please request a new one.
What it means. Reset links only work for a short time, and only once.
What to do. Ask for a new link from the sign-in page and use the newest email.
Guide: Getting started
An email address that already has an account
That email address already has a Ledgr account.
What it means. An email address belongs to one Ledgr account.
What to do. Sign in instead, or use a different address for the new person.
Guide: Roles & users
Your session has ended
Your session has ended. Sign in again to continue.
What it means. You were signed out — after a long time idle, or because somebody
ended your sessions from Roles & Users.
What to do. Sign in again. Anything you captured offline is still queued on this
device and sends once you are back in.
Guide: Offline & load shedding
Accountants, assets and job cards
A practice cannot be another practice's client
This invitation is from a practice, and a practice cannot be another practice's client. Nothing has been connected.
What it means. An accounting practice keeps its own books; it cannot be placed in
another firm's client book. Nothing was changed.
What to do. If people at the other firm need to work in your books, give them their
own login under Roles & Users.
Guide: Running a practice
An asset's cost cannot be changed
An asset's cost and acquisition date cannot be changed once depreciation has been charged against them.
What it means. Every month's depreciation was worked out from that cost, and some of
those months may already be signed off.
What to do. If it is the useful life, residual value or method that is wrong,
change those instead — they apply to future months. If nothing has been depreciated yet,
remove the asset and add it again with the right figures.
Guide: Fixed assets
Moving a finished job card
A cancelled job card cannot be moved to in progress
What it means. An invoiced or cancelled job is finished. Moving it back would
separate it from the invoice or the cancellation that closed it.
What to do. Raise a new job card for the extra work.
Guide: Job cards
Not listed here?
Every refusal in Ledgr names what it refused and why. If the message on your screen is
not on this page, contact support with the exact words and we will
explain it — and add it here.
