The Ledger : General Ledger

Itty Bitty Timesavers

Jennifer Maroney — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:57:00 GMT

Hey blog readers! I found a great post on The Book Bag that I wanted to share with you. If you've liked The Ledger time savers you must check out the Itty Bitty Timesavers post. It lists some great tips and tricks to save you a few seconds here and there. Remember, a few seconds saved on each task quickly adds up to extra hours and who can't use more hours in their day ?

Talk to you soon!

Create a Cookie Cutter Journal Entry Batch

Geoff Sharbrough — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:35:00 GMT

Do you enter the same journal entry batches each month for utility bills or have a grant that receives the same percentage of funds on a regular basis? Hate having to create the same batch each month? Then recurring batches are here to save you time and the worries of an incorrectly keyed journal entry.

Recurring batches are templates that can be loaded to quickly create regular batches. There are two types of recurring batches: Recurring Amount and Recurring Percent. Recurring Percentage batches are useful if you have regularly occurring transactions that require the same percentage of debit and credit amounts. Recurring Amount batches are useful if the batches post to the same accounts each time. If they post with the same amount you can enter the amount, or if the amounts fluctuate you can omit this information in the Recurring Amount batch.

To create a Recurring batch template, select the type of Recurring batch from the batch type dropdown menu in Journal Entry. Create the batch as normal, giving it a Batch ID and description. You can then enter your transactions and any distributions that you want to include in the Recurring batch. For more information on creating a Recurring batch check out Knowledgebase BB92224.

So you've got a recurring batch template set up, now what? You can easily create a regular batch from the recurring batch template by creating a new regular batch. Once the new regular batch has been created, you can select to load the recurring batch template by selecting Batch, Use Recurring Batch from the menu bar. Select the recurring batch template with the pre-defined transactions that you want to use, then enter a post date and a transaction amount in the appropriate fields, and click OK to populate the preset information into the batch. Enter any additional transactions or edit distributions as needed. You have now created an open batch that you can save, validate, and post!

Due-to/Due-From Vs. Transfer Accounts

Wade Sexton — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:13:00 GMT

Have you ever wondered whether you should use a Due-to/Due-from account or a Transfer account? Well, that I cannot tell you. However, what I can tell you is the difference between the two account types so that you can make a decision as to which one to use.

Due-to/Due-from accounts are similar to liability accounts in that they maintain a balance at the end of the year that is carried forward to the next year. Therefore, Due-to/Due-from accounts appear on your Balance Sheet. This account type is usually used for transferring money between companies.

Transfer accounts, on the other hand, are similar to an expense account whose balance is closed into the fund balance account at the end of the year. Therefore, Transfer accounts appear on your Income Statement. This account type is usually used for balancing transactions across funds.

So, still not sure which type to use? I suggest you speak with a CPA for an answer to that question.

Journal References Are Supposed to Mean Something?

Jennifer Maroney — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:11:00 GMT

Do you ever wonder what the transaction Reference column on the General Ledger Report or Post Report means? If you do, then this post is for you! The Reference, also known as journal reference, is created when you post from subsidiary ledgers (AP, AR, FA, CR, SB, and PY) or in detail from The Raiser's Edge. The journal reference defaults are defined in Configuration, can be customized for your organization's needs, and can even be defined for each transaction type.

Journal references are displayed on:

The transaction detail on an account record
The post report
The Journal Entry batch
All General Ledger reports where Reference is an available field

There are a few things to keep in mind when you set up your journal references. First, the total number of characters in a journal reference cannot exceed 50 characters. Secondly, changes to journal references are not retroactive, so the changes will only affect items that are not yet posted. Finally, when you create the references, make sure you include necessary details for an effective audit trail.

So let's get to the process...

For FE subsidiary ledgers, go to Configuration and click Posting Information. Then highlight the transaction type and select the appropriate field names and field lengths. Remember to define the journal reference for both the debit and credit side of transactions by marking the Debit or Credit option in the dark gray bar.

To define the journal reference in RE, go to Configuration, click General Ledger, and select the field names and lengths; you will see a sample of the journal reference at the bottom of the screen.

Don't see what you want? You can add custom fields to FE or RE by clicking Fields and entering the new name. Not sure how or why you would need a custom field? Try using them to emphasize specific transaction types such as INT- for Interfund entries and APPL- for Application entries.

For more information on customizing journal references or step-by-step instructions, take a look at the Posting Information section of the RE or subledger Configuration Guides.

Purging Records

Karen Badham — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:17:00 GMT

Have you ever wanted a record, or a group of records just gone? I mean completely gone. This is something you can do in The Financial Edge. We call it purging records.

Why would you want to purge records? There are a variety of reasons. You may need to purge records to make corrections, such as needing to reprint a check using the same check number. Purging records may also improve database performance. For example, if your vendor Activity tabs take a long time to load, it may be beneficial to purge old vendor activity. Purging records to help with performance issues should be a last resort after trying the steps in How to troubleshoot performance issues.

But wait! Before you continue, understand that purging records removes them permanently from the database and they can never be recovered. We always recommend creating a backup of your database before completing a purge process. This way if you need to review the purged information, you can use the back up.

Here are the records that can be purged in The Financial Edge:

F9 for The Financial Edge Reporting Wizard

William McGuire — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:05:00 GMT

So I have been using and testing F9 for The Financial Edge (F9) for a few months now. There are several things I love about this Excel tool, but the one piece I endorse over the rest is the reporting wizard. The reporting wizard has tremendous flexibility, is easy to use, and you can turn a blank spreadsheet into a completed financial report in no time at all. Not only is the report quick and easy to set up, the cells are formatted to allow the report criteria to be changed and then recalculated simply by pressing F9 on your keyboard.

The reporting wizard also provides amazing options for reporting. For example, if you would like to run a report for 2008 and then run the report for 2009, all you need to do is change the fiscal year on the report and press F9. In a matter of seconds you have a brand new report for 2009.

What I love most about the reporting wizard is the ability to not only define the fields that appear in the rows but also the fields that appear in the column headers. For example, if I am looking for a report that shows all my Revenue accounts and how much balance they have in each project, I can create this report in about 1 minute using the report wizard. I first define what accounts I would like to appear in the rows and then define what projects I would like to appear in the columns simply following the wizard and choosing what accounts and projects to define.

I am very excited about this new offering, which will be available in quarter four of this year. If you have questions or would like additional information, please take a look at our F9 user guides or contact your account manager.

Additional Account Categories

Lisa Lookadoo — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:10:00 GMT

What are Additional Account Categories? I'm glad you asked. They are categories that are not included in traditional accounting and are not required to complete the chart of accounts. In The Financial Edge there are four additional account categories available: Transfer, Gifts, Gains and Losses.

Transfer accounts are used for interfund transfers. These accounts are treated like expense accounts and are closed into the fund balance account at the fiscal year end.

Gifts accounts are used for recording donations from constituents. These accounts are treated like revenue accounts and are closed into the fund balance account at the fiscal year end.

Losses accounts are used for recording losses such as on the disposal of assets or on the sale of marketable securities. These accounts are treated like expense accounts and are closed into the fund balance account at the fiscal year end.

Gains accounts are used for recording gains such as on the disposal of assets or on the sale of marketable securities. These accounts are treated like revenue accounts and are closed into the fund balance account at the fiscal year end.

These additional account categories are provided to allow flexibility in the chart of accounts setup. If you decide to use these additional categories, here is how your accounting equations would work:

Balance Sheet: Assets = Liabilities + Fund Balance (or Net Assets)

Income Statement: Net Surplus/Deficit = (Revenue) - (Expense) + (Gifts) - (Transfers) + (Gains) - (Losses)

I hope this helps you decide if the additional categories will be useful for your chart of accounts.

F9 for The Financial Edge and You

William McGuire — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:33:00 GMT

"I wish I could edit the appearance of this Income Statement." "My supervisor needs this Balance Sheet to appear in a specific format and I am unable to create it." "I love the flexibility of Excel and wish I could create my Financial Reports using it.” Over the years I have heard these requests and issues several times. There is a good chance that if you are reading this, you have either wished for or experienced the same. In the past, solutions to these problems were limited but now there is an option that will bring a smile to your face. It’s called F9 for The Financial Edge (F9) and it was developed in partnership with Infor.

F9 is an Excel tool that directly integrates with your General Ledger data. It gives you the ability to create reports from scratch, either using your own formulas or through the comprehensive Reporting Wizard. You have 100% control and flexibility, and it is easy to use. There is a saying that describes the ease of F9; “If you know Excel, you know F9!”

F9 also allows you to keep saved reports and recalculate the data by simply pressing one key: that’s right, F9. Anyone in your office can use F9 as long as they have F9 and The Financial Edge installed on their workstation. Therefore, you can create a report and send it to another user to review. That user then can make formatting edits to the report and easily recalculate.

An Easy Way to Open a Group of Records

Karen Badham — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:51:00 GMT

Have you ever had a situation where you need to edit a whole list of records? There are many ways you can do this, from editing each record individually, to global change, to import. But what if what you are trying to accomplish can't be done with global change or import and the task seems too daunting to hunt and peck for each record? Don't despair; there is a tool you can use. I call it Open Query as a List.

Create a query with the proper criteria that fits the list of records you want to edit. On the Results tab double click the top row to open the first record. Once the record is open, make the necessary edits and click Save and Continue. Then use the blue arrows at the top to scroll through each record in the query. This is much easier than searching for each record!

Take a look at the solution, How to scroll through records, for step-by-step instructions.

The Best Button Ever

Karen Badham — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:25:00 GMT

I am going to share with you one of my favorite tips for importing. It’s called the browse button. This button will give you examples of what the import will take for a particular field. On the Fields tab of the import parameter, highlight an import field line and then click the Browse button. It’s in white text on the dark gray bar towards the bottom right. A Browse box will pop up with examples of what can be imported for that field.

I hope this helps your import process!

VCO Template Validation Shortcut

Daniel Dalnekoff — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:17:00 GMT

We have all been in this situation before, running a report and all of a sudden the results are not coming out correctly; be it a Balance Sheet out of balance, or an Income Statement missing activity from a certain expense code. Either way, one of the most common culprits of this could be something missing from your Visual Chart Organizer (VCO) template. Of course, it seems like a journey to close the report, navigate away from reports into the VCO section, then open the template, search for the missing accounts, and then run the validation report on the template. I agree, considering the probability of success, this is a journey even Leif Ericson may have thought twice about.

There is a shortcut here. In fact, the chart template of your choice can be validated without even leaving the report setup! From the General tab of your report, there is a small button just to the right of the menu where you can select the chart template being used. The button looks like a folder with a check on top of it - the universal sign for Validate.

From here you can create a new validation or select an existing saved parameter and validate the chart template of your choice. This is a quick and easy way to validate your template right from the report parameter to see if this could be the cause of your report issue. Of course, if a change does need to be made to the template you will need to head over to the VCO section of the software to make your edits, but at least it won't be a wasted voyage.

Where Did That Transaction Come From?

Donna Moss — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:27:00 GMT

Ever been in a Journal Entry Batch and asked yourself this very question? Well never fear the Journal Entry Tool Bar is here!
While in the Journal Entry Batch, highlight a specific entry, click Batch and then Go To from the menu bar. Under the Go To listing select one of the 4 options: Transaction, Source Record, Account, or Project. Each of these options will help explore specific areas associated with the Journal entry.

Transaction shows a summary of the journal entry line including account number, reference, transaction type, amount, post date, and journal used when the item was posted.
Source Record shows the item the transaction originated from. This can be an invoice, check, credit memo, deposit, payment, and pretty much any item that posts activity.
Account shows the account record used in the transaction.
Project shows the project record used in the transaction. This option will only be available if the transaction includes a project distribution.

So from now on when you ask yourself where a transaction came from, simply check out the Go To menu and all your questions will be answered.

Have a great day!

Five Step Method for Creating the Perfect Query

Kellie Wingfield — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:01:00 GMT

Ever wonder, "How am I going to get a list of this information?" Oftentimes, you need to pull data from our system, but how can you? These are the times to look to a query. What is a query? Queries retrieve raw data and present it in a list format. It is a grouping tool, not a reporting tool. A query can also be used in dashboards, exports, searches, global changes; basically in every module of The Financial Edge. I have a five step method for creating the perfect query. These questions help resolve most issues surrounding queries. So what are these magical steps? I am glad you asked!

What kind of records do I need to group together?
This will determine the query TYPE. For example, you can choose Vendor, Invoice, Transaction, or Employee.
Do I want the list to be updated?
This is the format selection between STATIC and DYNAMIC. More information can be found in the Static vs. Dynamic post.
What do my desired records have in common?
This selection is made on the Criteria Tab. Are they Vendors that are all marked 1099? Are they transactions entered on the same date?
What do I want to know about the results?
The answers can be used to determine the fields on the Output Tab. Do I need to see the Vendor name or ID? Do I need to only see the post date or the transaction date?
What order do I need to see the result (or what order do the columns need to be in?)
The answers can be used to determine the fields on the Sort Tab. Do I need Employee Name before Hire date?

Use these five steps as a guide to make the perfect query every time!

The Ledger Lowdown: Commingling Revenues and Expenses

Jennifer Maroney — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:12:00 GMT

Do you need to show offsetting sales with sales returns on your Income Statement? Whatever the reason to net revenues and expenses, you can do this by adjusting your Visual Chart Organizer (VCO). Just to give you a heads up, the process to adjust the VCO is the easy part; the hard part is what to select. Let's start with the easy and work up from there.

The way to control Income Statement section totals depends on the category selected for the specific header/total section. To change the category, open the VCO and highlight the header/total section to change. Then select the Header tab towards the bottom of the VCO. On the Header tab, you have the option to select several category types including Income Statement, revenue, expense, and transfer.

What do you select? This is where the complexity comes in. If your VCO template has homogeneous sections, e.g., revenue only or expense only, use the category type revenue, expense, gift, transfer, gain, or loss. These automatically result in the correct natural balance. If your report has commingled account types within each section, select the Income Statement category. Once you select this category, you'll notice a new option appears called Show debit balance as. From the drop-down select Negative if you expect a net credit balance or Positive if you expect a net debit balance. After you make your selection, run the Income Statement to make sure the correct sign displays. If not, simply go back into the VCO and change the Show balance as from Negative to Positive or vice versa.

Talk to you soon!

You’re Never Too Cool for School

Libby Weiskittel — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:27:00 GMT

Has a new process recently been added to your plate? Are you frustrated because it's easy to get stuck and you're not quite sure of the best way to accomplish this unfamiliar task? Instead, why not acquaint yourself with the new process by signing up for a distance learning class...

(Dreamy clouds forming)

Visualize yourself in your favorite locale, just logging in to meet a friendly informed instructor ready to guide you through a class tailored to meet your specific needs.

(Dreamy clouds softening)

~ 1 revealing class later ~

Voila! No more frustration. The process is now familiar.

Many of our distance learning classes focus on a single topic that isn't addressed in Blackbaud University or regional classes. For example, if you're used to working exclusively in General Ledger, but now you're trying to embrace Accounts Payable too, you can learn all about it in "Accounts Payable Essentials Online".

...Not to mention:

Save money! Taking advantage of this option saves you and your organization time and money - no travel is required!
Exceptional Instructors! Blackbaud's distance learning instructors specialize in online delivery.
Meet other people in your shoes! You will have the chance to interact with your instructor and other participants with Centra's live chat features.

Furthermore, you can purchase the Blackbaud Distance Learning Pass for The Financial Edge which provides your organization with unlimited attendance to distance learning classes as well as the eLearning Library.

To purchase your training pass and start learning today - from anywhere -contact your account manager at 800.443.9941 or at solutions@blackbaud.com.

Laters!