Chart of Accounts Window

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Use this window to enter, edit and display general ledger account numbers, types of accounts, account descriptions and budget figures.

Opening balances are entered using this window. Do not enter opening balances using the PAYABLES JOURNAL, RECEIVABLES JOURNAL or ADJUSTMENTS JOURNAL windows.

When you are first setting up your system and have run the CLEAR ALL DATA PROCESS, a chart of accounts for Company 001 is available to use as a basis for the charts of accounts for your companies. To copy the chart of accounts for Company 001, you can use either the G/L INFO push-button located in the COMPANY WINDOW or the COA DUPLICATION PROCESS.

Company ID F2

Enter the ID of the Company you are creating a chart of accounts for. Press F2 or the right mouse button to search for a Company in the database. From the SEARCH METHOD pop-up, you can select either the PICK LIST or the FIND WINDOW. When an ID has been entered, the name of the company appears to the right of the ID field so you can verify your entry.

Calendar Year

Enter the last two digits of the calendar year for which you are setting up the chart of accounts.

Account ID F2

Enter the ID of the general ledger account in the format best suited for your bookkeeping system, using either 3-digit or 4-digit numbers. Once you decide on your format, you cannot change the pattern.

You can press F2 or the right mouse button to open and select from a pop-up that displays the entire chart of accounts for the specified company and calendar year, if one has already been set up. If your entry in the COMPANY ID field is for a new company that has not yet been set up in the COMPANY WINDOW, the system prevents you from entering OPENING BALANCES for any general ledger accounts. Before you can enter OPENING BALANCES, you must specify a FISCAL YEAR STARTING MONTH, using the G/L INFO push-button in the COMPANY WINDOW.

The organization of each Company's CHART OF ACCOUNTS must follow these guidelines:

ASSETS range from (100 to 199) or (1000 to 1999)

LIABILITIES range from (200 to 299) or (2000 to 2999)

EQUITIES range from (300 to 399) or (3000 to 3999)

INCOME range from (400 to 499) or (4000 to 4999)

OR (500 to 599) or (5000 to 5999)

OR (400 to 599) or (4000 to 4999)

EXPENSES range from (500 to 999) or (5000 to 9999)

OR (600 to 999) or (6000 to 9999)

Make sure the account numbers you specify for INCOME accounts and EXPENSE accounts do not overlap. For example, if you decide that INCOME accounts are going to go as high as 599, EXPENSE accounts must range from 600 to 999, not 500 to 999.

In addition, your entries in the General Ledger Information section of the Management Company Setup Window for Starting and Ending Income Level must not conflict with your choices for INCOME accounts as specified here in the Chart of Accounts Window.

Account Name

Enter the name or description of the account in the unlabeled field to the right of the ACCOUNT ID field. This description appears in data entry windows and on reports such as the PROFIT & LOSS STATEMENT. An entry up to 25 characters long is required.

Opening Bal

Use this field to enter the opening balance amount for the account. Your entry can be up to 11 digits long, including two decimal places. If you are setting up a new year, only ASSET, LIABILITY and EQUITY accounts require an opening balance. If you are starting mid-year, all accounts may require opening balances if you want year-to-date figures to be correct.

You should not alter the amount in this field once any transactions affecting the account have been created (an accounts payable or receivable transaction, for example). If you change the amount of an opening balance after a transaction has occurred, the system will not be able to provide an accurate audit trail for the account.

As soon as you enter an amount in this field and press ENTER, the system carries the amount forward through each fiscal period in the OPEN BAL and CLOSE BAL columns in the bottom half of this window.

G/L Type: Cwhelp00090000.gif Debit Cwhelp00090001.gif Credit

Choose a ledger type using these two radio buttons:

A default is provided for this field based on your entry in the ACCOUNT ID field. If the ACCOUNT ID you enter is in the 100/1000 level or the 500/5000 level and above, the default G/L TYPE is DEBIT. If the ACCOUNT ID is in the 200/2000 level, 300/3000 level or 400/4000 level, the default G/L TYPE is CREDIT. The defaults can be over-ridden if necessary.

Fiscal Year Starting Month (Protected)

This field displays the beginning month of the current fiscal year, as specified in the G/L INFO window in the COMPANY WINDOW.

Line Items

Each of the 12 lines in the bottom half of the CHART OF ACCOUNTS WINDOW represent one month in the calendar year or fiscal year. Under the column heading MO, each month is designated by a three character abbreviation.

Fscl Pd This column is protected. The fiscal period for each month in the calendar year is displayed in the fields in this column. The format of the data in these fields is PD-YY, where the two digits before the hyphen are the period number (01 through 12) and the two digits after the hyphen are the last two digits of the fiscal year. 08-96, for example, is the eighth fiscal period in fiscal year 1996. Entries in the fields in this column are automatically supplied by the system based on your entry in the FISCAL YEAR/ STARTING MONTH field and the STANDARD check box in the G/L INFORMATION WINDOW.

Budget Use the fields in this column to set up budget figures for each fiscal period. Once you have made an entry in the first field, the system provides defaults for the remaining fields — the default is a duplicate of your entry in the previous field. Your entries should be monthly budget figures for INCOME and EXPENSE accounts. The actual versus budgeted amounts are reported on the PROFIT AND LOSS STATEMENT.

For ASSET, LIABILITY and EQUITY accounts, your entries should be the expected year-to-date balance for each fiscal period. The actual versus budgeted amounts are reported on the BALANCE SHEET.

Open Bal This column is protected. It displays the OPENING BALANCE for the General Ledger account for each fiscal period.

Debits This protected column displays a cumulative balance of all debit activity for each fiscal period.

Credits This protected column displays a cumulative balance of all credit activity for each fiscal period.

Close Bal This protected column displays the closing balance for the general ledger account for each fiscal period.

After you use the DELETE command to remove chart of accounts data, the system displays the following message: ACCOUNTS FROM THE CHART OF ACCOUNTS HAVE BEEN DELETED. PLEASE REINDEX AND OPTIMIZE BEFORE RUNNING FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. If you don't reindex and optimize before the next time you print a FINANCIAL STATEMENT, the data on the statements may be inaccurate or incomplete.