Use this article to diagnose common problems that cause Sales or Customer balances to disagree with their respective Control Account balances.
Check whether the snapshot agrees
If using the ribbon menu, click System.
If using the module menu, click System Control.
Click Company.
In the Record section, click Snapshot.
Click the Validate (scales) icon. A dialog appears.
Click Yes.
đ Note: This process adds up the balances of all customer and supplier records and compares them to the future-most balance on the Sales and Purchase control accounts. It also validates the Trial Balance by totalling all Nominal Account balances.
The Snapshot Validation appears. Read the information and click OK.
If Customer and Supplier Balances agree with their respective Control Account balances, no further action is needed.
If a difference remains between the Aged Report and the Nominal Ledger, or the Trial Balance is out, contact support. See Get support in Dimensions.
If the snapshot does not agree
If the Snapshot does not agree, follow these steps to help diagnose the cause.
Open the Dimensions Help files by clicking Info > Help, or click the red Access icon and select Help.
Use the Search function and search for 'troubleshooting'.
The Troubleshooting section provides guidance on resolving Snapshot differences.
Alternatively, Access Support provides a diagnostic Crystal Report that addresses some of the most common issues.
Load the diagnostic Crystal Report
To load and run the diagnostic Crystal Report:
Download the zip file attached to this article and save it to your computer.
Unzip the file. Contact your IT team or system administrator if you need help.
Copy the Crystal Report file to a folder that your version of Dimensions can access. The default location is: C:\Program Files (x86)\Access Applications\Dimensions\Accounts\[version]\Access Reports\SQL\. Sub-folders represent the various Dimensions modules. Contact your IT team if you need assistance.
Log in to Dimensions and navigate to the section where you copied the report.
Ribbon menu: click the ACR icon.
Module menu: click the relevant section, then Reports > Access Crystal Reports.
A list of available Crystal Reports appears (alphabetically, with favourites at the top). Double-click Control Account Differences (External). A Parameter Selection window opens.
Select Sales Ledger or Purchase Ledger as required.
Click OK. The report shows a diagnosis of the Snapshot.
đ Note: The report runs on one ledger at a time. If both ledgers show a difference, run it separately for each.
Analyse the report
The report has five sections, each with full commentary:
The Company Snapshot â Ledger and Control balances for the selected ledger, with an explanation.
Journals Posted to the Control Account(s) â A summary by year and period, with an explanation.
List of Control Accounts â All nominal accounts Dimensions recognises as control accounts, with their balances. Useful when there is more than one control account per currency.
Incorrect Analysis Codes â Lists any sales or purchase analysis codes that are incorrectly configured.
Mis-posts Section: This provides a list, together with drill-down, of any transactions that have been posted using incorrectly set up analysis codes. There is an explanation of whatâs shown, together with a detailed description of how to go about fixing them.
đ Note: This report addresses the most common snapshot issues but does not cover every scenario. In some cases, support assistance will be required. See Get support in Dimensions.