Advanced Nominal Ledger - Set up procedure
This system enables you to create your own chart of accounts using segmented or cost centre coding.
Before you start, it is important to plan your chart of accounts structure.
Once you have switched on ANL, you cannot return to non-ANL accounts. Do not switch on ANL until you are satisfied with your new structure.
The first step is to enable the ANL designer, and define your hierarchies in the System Control settings,
Next, create the Category records you will require,
You then need to create your Detail records,
Once this is done, you can Build your Chart of Accounts, and select which accounts to create and determine your analysis records.
Finally, when you are completely happy with your new structure, you need to switch on the ANL accounts and merge in your existing accounts.
Contents |
System Control Settings |
Category Records |
Detail segment |
Begin transaction entry |
System Control Settings
The first step is to enable ANL in the System Control settings in Nominal Ledger Options:
On the Records tab, you will enable use of ANL and determine the Setup options,
On the Categories tab, you will determine the Data Setup Hierarchy (e.g. the length of each segment, and which segment contains the Detail), and Data Entry Hierarchy.
Step-by-step
When you have completed the plan for your Nominal Ledger structure and your initial chart of accounts, you are ready to start.
Navigate to Nominal Ledger Options.
On the Records tab, tick the Advanced Nominal Ledger checkbox, which enables the Setup panel.
Enter the Number of Categories that you have determined you require for your segmented account codes.
Select a Concatenation Separator, if you have decided to use one.
Select a Concatenation Method. The concatenation method selected determines the order in which categories are used to create the new nominal accounts. ANL allows you to define a company (category) structure which adds increased definition for reporting and greater efficiency for data entry. e.g. the Data Setup will reflect the structure of the company, e.g. Area, Branch, Department, Detail, whereas Data Entry may be Detail, Department, Branch, Area. On the Categories tab (below) you will set the category hierarchies for data setup/ reporting purposes, and for data entry purposes.
You will not be able to change this selection once you have started to build your chart of accounts.
On the Categories tab on the same window, you will define the separate segments of the Nominal Ledger codes. The categories have default names (i.e. Group Heading, Division Heading, etc), but the default names can be changed to ones that better describe your codes segments by using the Language: Load Current Window option.
In our example we decided that the natural hierarchy is BRANCH, DEPARTMENT, PRODUCT, COST.
In the Data Setup Hierarchy panel you set the reporting hierarchy of the categories. This will also be the setup order for the Nominal Ledger Codes, if Data Setup Order has been selected on the Records tab. Use the drop down menus to select the categories you wish to use, placing them in order from top to bottom. Enter the maximum length of code that can be used for each segment, e.g. 4, 4, 4, 5, which gives a maximum code size of 17 + 3 separators + 3 currency code = 23. Select the segment that identifies the income or cost Detail to be recorded in the nominal ledger account, by clicking the Detail radio button option along side it in the hierarchy.
In the Data Entry Hierarchy panel you can define a different order for the entering data. In our example we have decided that the COST will be the primary piece of information following by PRODUCT, BRANCH and DEPARTMENT.
Now you have selected a hierarchy for reporting, and another for data entry, you may want to revisit the Records tab and make sure the correct one is selected for building the nominal code. You will not be able to change this selection once you have started to build your chart of accounts.
This is the order that the fields are placed when entering data. So, when we determined the data entry hierarchy, we decided that - from a data entry perspective - because the Branch and Department values will be static for most of the transactions entered into the system, it makes sense to have the part of the code that will always have to be selected on data entry as the first field.
This topic only describes the specific settings for the Nominal Ledger that will enable you to start building your Chart of Accounts. Other Nominal Ledger settings, such as enabling accounting for carbon emissions, can be reviewed now. All the system settings should be reviewed before starting to use the accounts.
Click OK to save the options and close the window.
Category Records
The next step is to create the Category records that will form the segments of your Nominal codes:
The Nominal Ledger Category records are the segments of your Nominal codes, the values for each segment being the values contained in the category.
One of the segments will be designated to be the Detail segment, this identifies the income or cost that is recorded in the Nominal Ledger account.
Step-by-step
When you have completed the System Control settings for your Nominal Ledger, enter the category values you will use.
Navigate to Records and select Set Up.
Please note that we have changed the label associated with each category using the Language feature. The category names mentioned are aligned with our example. If you have not changed, the labels will be the default labels (i.e. Group Category, Category 5, etc).
Select the first category, e.g. BRANCH, to open the category record window. The Category record window is a list of values that can be selected to represent the category.
Edit the category values for this category. Each record value consists of three pieces of information which can be used for reporting purposes:
Code - the unique identifier, the maximum characters for the Code was defined in the System Control settings for your Nominal Ledger.
Name - the description of the value,
Short Name - a shorter description, more compact for reports.
To help you decide what to enter, when the Nominal Ledger accounts are built, the account codes will be made up from the Category Codes (with the separator if selected in the System Control settings), the account name will be made up from the Short Names,
Save the records, and close the category record window.
Repeat the process for all the categories that will make up your Nominal Ledger code.
The Detail segment
One of the segments will be designated to be the detail segment. The Detail identifies the income or cost that is recorded in the nominal ledger account. The decision about how much detail to enter is the same as for other categories, see above.
In addition to the entry of the Code, Short Name, and Name, you can:
Select the Major Heading in the Profit & Loss account or Balance Sheet to which the income or cost belongs.
Indicate which accounts are Bank and Cash control accounts. When used as a lookup, the list contains separate columns indicating the Cash account and Bank account allowing you to quickly identify these accounts.
Indicate if costing entries are compulsory for Nominal transactions that use the account.
Flag the accounts for which Carbon Accounting is applicable.
Add a Sort Key to each value that can be used as a filter when building the chart of accounts.
After you have built the accounts, you can return here to view analysis and turnover details, and view financial summary information. You are also able to filter this information.
Step-by-step
Before building the Chart of Accounts, decide if the chart of accounts is to be built in Data Set-up Order or Data Entry Order. This cannot be changed once you start building the chart.
Navigate to Financials > Records and select Nominal: the detail Overview window opens. In our example this is 'COST Overview'.
From the ribbon, click Insert; alternatively, select an account from the list window and click Edit.
Select the Major Heading from the lookup.
The Code, Short Name, and Name values are entered directly into the list. See above for how these fields are used.
Adding a Sort Key is optional but may be helpful when building the chart of accounts as it can be used as a filter to help you to find the value you require. As with other Sort Keys throughout the system, you can enter the value directly into the field, or you can build up a list of values that can then be selected thus maintaining some consistency.
If the account is a Bank or Cash account, tick the appropriate checkbox.
If the account requires costing information to be entered, choose the Compulsory Costing option.
If Carbon Accounting is applicable to the account, select the Carbon option and enter the Emission Group code.
The Inactive flag for the account can also be set on this window.
When you have completed the entry, click OK to save the record.
Repeat to create other required Detail records.
Close the Overview window.
Complete any other System Control setup procedures you require. These might include:
Switching on Update Stock to Nominal on the Stock Options -Transactions tab. Complete any other work that needs to be done with the Nominal Ledger accounts you have created.
Flagging the accounts as Account for Carbon if this was not done in the Category Detail window.
Profiling the accounts - this can be done via the Chart of Accounts Build window or the Nominal Account record window.
Begin transaction entry with ANL and Merge Accounts
Finally, when you are completely happy with your new structure, you need to switch on the ANL accounts and merge in your existing accounts.
Do not switch on ANL until you are satisfied with your new structure. Once you have switched on ANL, it cannot be reversed.
You need to ensure that all users are out of the system before you begin transaction entry using ANL. This will ensure that no transactions are lost during the transfer and that the entire history of your previous accounts is retained.
The following should only be carried out by qualified personnel. If in doubt, we urge you to contact your Access support representative for advice.
Step-by-step
You now need to output all of your accounts, including the existing account and the new ANL accounts, to Excel. You will use this spreadsheet later to merge your non-ANL accounts and history to your new ANL accounts.
Navigate to Financials > Records Reports and select Account List.
On the toolbar, select output to 'File' and 'Simple Search'; on the subsequent dialog, ensure 'Include Inactive' is ticked. This ensures that the report shows both the existing accounts and the new ANL accounts. Complete any further search criteria as required. When ready, click Print.
On the Output dialog, enter the filename and output format, e.g. Delimited (tabs), for the report; click OK.
Open this file in Excel. You will need two columns, one for the non-ANL account codes and one for the ANL account codes. You need to map the non-ANL account code to the ANL account code which is to gain the history, e.g. 1000 (Sales) to WOOD-SHOP-SALE-1000 (WOOD-SHOP-SALE-STCK). This may be a one-to-one, or a many-to-one map, e.g. 1000 and 1001 might both map to WOOD-SHOP-SALE-1000. The easiest way to do this is by cut-and-paste. You should not have any column headings. Save the spreadsheet as a TXT file.
Navigate to Nominal Ledger Options. On the Records tab, tick the 'Begin transaction entry using Advanced Nominal Ledger' checkbox. You should only set this option when you have configured your new Chart of Accounts and are ready to begin transaction entry using the new setup.
Navigate to Chart of Accounts, and select the first Detail entry.
On the Chart ribbon, select 'Correct'; on the resulting dialog, select Bulk Update.
On the resulting dialog, select to 'Import'; locate and Open the file saved in Step 1.
Observe any Comments and/or invalid Actions
Tick the checkboxes for the codes you wish to merge: click OK.
When complete, close the Corrections windows.
Navigate to Nominal. From the list pane, select one of the accounts, e.g. Sales.
In the Overview window, observe the Financial Info panel, the Period Analysis tab, and Turnover tab which now include the history from your previous account, e.g. 1000 (Sales).