Down To Earth - FAQ

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 Financial Statement Formats

Financial Statement formats are usually designed initially then forgotten.  As time goes by accounts are added, new or different formats are needed, or maybe comparison data requested for analysis. 

Changing an existing or creating a new format isn't difficult.  You may just need a review of options available. 

You'll need to know where you want the new account to print and within which of your financial statements.  Then print the "Financial statement formats" list for that format name. 

Find the Line where the Command instruction includes the group of accounts to print on the financial statements -- usually either CONSOLIDATE ACCNTS or ACCOUNTS for the description.

• Verify that the CONsolidate or ACcount range of accounts includes the new number.  If not, you'll need to Edit that Format line account range.
  
• Verify the Account Type value matches the new account, including letter case  . 

To change the Format command, select "Financial statement formats" from the Maintenance menu >> Enter the format name >> Select Entries >> Locate the Line and Command >> Edit the command as necessary.

 Can I round dollars on my financials to print as thousands of dollars?

Yes -- you can choose cents, whole dollars, hundreds, or thousands.   The choice is controlled by the Amount scale field within the Financial format definition (via Maintenance menu column of General Ledger application).

Generally, it is suggested to allow for spacing and possible negative values between columns as:

• cents - allow 18 spaces
• whole dollars - allow 15 spaces
• hundred dollars - allow 13 spaces
• thousand dollars - allow 11 spaces

All dollar amounts will round up or down. The format cross balancing for rounded values is defined in the “Company” selection of the Maintenance menu column with the FINSCALETYPE  variable.  A value of P:PRINT  produces a balanced report with possible column total differences.  A value of T:TOTALS  assures the columns total correctly but may produce a rounding difference in the report total.

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What are some other Formatting commands that I might not know about ?

Although not used often the GET, NAme, including the Account number, and selecting all Account types are very helpful.

• The GET accounts command allows you to select accounts that are not in sequential order and group them together as one total on your report.
   
• The NAme command sets up a Name heading based on the Division, Department, and Company being printed.  Within the Text field, enter %COMP%, %DIV%, or %DEPT%, respectively.
   
• To include not only the description but the account number itself, use the COLumn command, Account# field for the placement, then choose Yes for the field prompt, Print account no, when printing that format name.
  
• To include all account types within a range of accounts, enter an asterisk ( * ) as the Account type for any of the ACcount, CONsolidate, or GET account commands.

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How can I change the text  indentation and placement of my financial statement amounts?

The COLumn command controls what data prints on the financials and where.   If there is a column value (1-252) defined, that's where the amount prints for any format.  In the example below, the Description starts in column 3, this year's current amount in column 27 and year to date amount in 82.  Inbetween the current and year to date amounts, the Current period budget and variance % prints in column 48 and 69 respectively.

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How can I start a new format based on an existing one -- like a template ?

There is a special routine for just this process.  Select "Maintain financial statement format" from the Miscellaneous menu column to Copy, Delete, or Renumber a format. To copy a format, chose a format to base the new format on, choose Copy, then assign the new format name and description.

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