Dynamics 365 Business Central

Question

Why Project Material Request posting date unable to preset to an earlier date, only after every line created than we are able to update the posting date?

Answer 1

Hello @Francis Lim Yong Heng,

Thank you for your question.

Based on the information provided, this behavior is considered expected behavior in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. The Posting Date is validated by the system only when sufficient document details (such as lines, posting groups, and project or inventory context) are available. For Project- and inventory‑related documents, Business Central often applies posting‑date validation at a later stage in the document flow rather than when the header is initially created. Because of this design, the posting date may only become editable after all lines have been added.

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Thank you for your understanding.

Kind regards,

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Answer 2

In Business Central, the posting date that is actually used when posting is always validated against the allowed posting period setup, and in some processes it is derived or adjusted only at posting time rather than at line-creation time.

For inventory- and project-related postings, Business Central follows these principles:

1. The initial posting date on new entries is normally taken from the document or source entry being adjusted or created.
2. When posting, the system validates that date against:
   • Inventory Periods
   • General Ledger Setup (Allow Posting From / Allow Posting To)
   • User Setup (user-specific allowed posting dates)
3. If the initial date is outside the allowed posting range, the system automatically replaces it with the earliest allowed posting date from Inventory Periods or General Ledger Setup (whichever is later). If user-level restrictions are tighter, they can also block posting.

Because of this validation logic, the posting date that will actually be used can only be finalized when all lines exist and the system can validate the full posting against the allowed posting periods. That is why the posting date cannot be reliably preset to an earlier date at the moment each line is created; instead, the date is effectively confirmed or adjusted after all lines are in place and the posting routine runs.

If the goal is to use earlier posting dates (for example, to keep adjustments or project material usage in a prior period), the allowed posting ranges must be configured to include those earlier dates:

• In General Ledger Setup, set Allow Posting From and Allow Posting To (or use date formulas) so the earlier date is within the allowed range.
• In User Setup, ensure the user’s Allow Posting From/To range is not narrower than what is needed.
• Make sure the relevant Inventory Periods are not closed if inventory-related entries are involved.

If the earlier date is outside these allowed ranges, Business Central will not let the posting date be preset to that date and will either adjust it to the allowed range or block posting with an error such as “Posting date is not within your range of allowed posting dates.”

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References:

• Design details: Posting date on adjustment value entry
• Error message: "Posting Date is not within your range of allowed posting dates…"
• Use date formulas to control allowed posting periods
• Specify posting periods
• Posting date on adjustment value entry compared to the source entry