The Ledger : accounts

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.

Detailing Distributions

Karen Badham — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:20:00 GMT

Have you ever needed to distribute to multiple projects? This is something you can easily do in FE for projects, classes, transaction codes, or transaction attributes. I'm going to call these transaction characteristics. Here's how.

On the GL Distribution tab of any record, highlight the applicable distribution line. You'll notice Distribution in white text on the lower gray bar. When you click it there are options of DR Distribution and CR Distribution.

If you select one of the distribution options you can distribute out your transaction characteristics. Please keep in mind you must change this on the DR Distribution and the CR Distribution, or you will be out of balance by the transaction characteristic that you change.

This can be done in virtually any area of the system where GL distributions are entered. Just look for the button called "Distribution".

The Ledger Lowdown: Define a Default Fiscal Year

Jennifer Maroney — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:30:00 GMT

When you view the Activity tab of an account, grant or project record, do you have to select the fiscal year each time? Save yourself a step by defining a default fiscal year. Here's how:

Select Tools, Options from the menu bar.
Select the Records tab.
Highlight Account Activity, Grant Activity, or Project Activity.
In the Setting column, select Last fiscal year, This fiscal year, or Next fiscal year from the Default Fiscal Year drop-down list.
Select any other appropriate options.
Click OK.

Talk to you soon!

The Ledger Lowdown: Cut Down on Account Budget Entry Time

Jennifer Maroney — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:00:00 GMT

A common question you've been asking the past month is how to import budgets, so I thought it would be a good topic to cover here. In order to import a budget, you must have the optional module Budget Management.

As you know, the first thing I always say before performing a global process, importing in this case, is to make sure you have a valid backup of your database. This is strongly recommended because the only way to reverse a global process is to either manually correct each record or restore to a backup.

Ok, let's get started:

Create a new budget scenario.
Create a data file or use an existing file.
Here are the fields you should include in your import file; the fields in bold italics are required. You can also add any additional fields if needed. View a sample data file (acctbudgetimport.csv).
Budget Scenario Import ID, Account Number Amount, Period 1 Amount, Period 2 Amount, Period 3 Amount, Period 4 Amount, Period 5 Amount, Period 6 Amount, Period 7 Amount, Period 8 Amount, Period 9 Amount, Period 10 Amount, Period 11 Amount, Period 12 Amount
In Administration, Import, highlight Budget Scenario Account Budget from the Budgets category, and click New. For a list of the exact parameters to select, check out Knowledgebase solution BB67664.

Here are a few import suggestions:

When you create your import file, make sure the fields in the file are in the same order as they are listed on the Fields tab.
On the General tab of the import, I recommend marking the Validate data only checkbox to ensure all data will import before importing the data. This can save you time since FE will import correct rows and ignore incorrect ones. If this happens, you will need to adjust the import file to remove lines that imported successfully and adjust the incorrect lines before you can import again. If you mark the Validate data only checkbox, remember you must unmark the checkbox to be able to actually import the data.
On the Summary tab of the import, select the options to create a control report and exception file. The control report documents the procedure for your records and the exception file enables you to handle problem records separately once the initial import completes.
If you're new to importing, take a look at Knowledgebase solution BB73785, How to import in The Financial Edge — The Basics of Importing.
For more importing tricks, take a look at The User's Edge blog post Grace's bag of import tricks. This post is for RE, but importing is similar between RE and FE.

Happy importing. Talk to you soon!

The Ledger Lowdown: Keep your VCO Up-to-Date

Jennifer Maroney — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:46:00 GMT

Everyone hates out of balance reports . One of the common causes is missing accounts. When you create a new account in General Ledger, you need to update your Visual Chart Organizer (VCO) to ensure the account will be included on reports. OK, so you're probably thinking, "shouldn't FE do this for me?" Well the answer is yes and no . Let me explain...

When you set up your VCO, you have the option to use advanced filters or define an account code range. The default option is to define an account code range. As long as the new account code is included in the range defined in the VCO, the new account will automatically appear on reports. If you use advanced filters, the appearance of the account will depend on the actual filters selected. For example, if you only select to include accounts in fund 01 and the new account number is 01-1234-01, the new account will automatically be included. On the other hand, if you filtered for specific account codes, the new account code will not be included in the VCO and thus missing from reports.

Your best bet to avoid leaving out an account on a report, regardless of the VCO filter options, is to verify the new account is included each time one is created. Yes it's an extra step, but one that may save you or a coworker a headache in the future .

The fist thing to do is run a chart validation for each saved template. This report displays any missing or duplicate accounts. It is a good idea to review the duplicate accounts too, but for this post I will just reference the missing accounts. Here's how to run the validation:

In Visual Chart Organizer, select the chart template and click Open.
Select Template, Validate chart template from the menu bar.
Select an existing parameter file or click Add New to create one.
On the General tab, select the VCO template to validate.
Click Preview.

If no accounts are listed as missing, you're done! If there are accounts missing, add each account to the appropriate section of the template. Here's how:

In Visual Chart Organizer, open the saved VCO template.
Select View, Design View from the menu bar. The window's title bar should read: Visual Chart Organizer - Design View.
Highlight the Account detail listed under the appropriate header.
Select the Account Detail Definition tab and adjust the range or filters to include the new account.
Save and close the VCO.

Talk to you soon!

The Ledger Lowdown: Avoid Errors When Adding New Accounts

Jennifer Maroney — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:45:00 GMT

Error: All segments must have valid values! I'm sure this is an error all of you have see at least once in your General Ledger lifetime. Instead of throwing up your hands when you get this error, follow these steps to fix it and prevent another error in the process.

Verify the account code has been created. If not, you can add it in Configuration or on the fly.
Verify the account code is active:
1. In Configuration, click Tables.
2. Highlight the segment table and open the table entry.
3. Unmark the Inactive checkbox and click OK.
Verify the account code combination is valid:
1. In Configuration, click Account Setup.
2. Highlight Invalid segment combinations.
3. Remove the invalid segment combination.
4. If the segment combination should be invalid, select a different combination when creating the account.

Enjoy adding accounts without errors. Talk to you soon!