OpenPro Application Guide - General Ledger (GL)

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=====Application Guide - General Ledger=====

====Chapter 1: Understanding General Ledger====

===Introduction===
This chapter lists and defines key words used in this guide.

**Accounting**\\
<Accounting> is the methodical collection, categorization, and organized presentation of financial records.

**General Ledger**\\
<General Ledger> is the area of accounting where all accounting records are brought together to be classified and summarized. Financial statements are printed based on this data.

As used here, <general> means “pertaining to many areas.” General Ledger is often abbreviated <G/L> or <GL>.\\
<Ledger> means a book where accounting records are kept. (This term evolved from pre-computer times when accounting records were kept exclusively by hand in large books called <ledgers>).

**General Ledger Account**\\
A <General Ledger Account> summarizes and classifies financial activity of a certain kind. For example, you might have a General Ledger account called “telephone expenses” under which you categorized your telephone bills. The General Ledger account is often abbreviated <GL account>.

Typically, an independent business has a hundred or more GL accounts. In OpenPro.com accounting packages, each time any financial activity occurs in any area of accounting, the dollar amount is recorded under the appropriate GL account numbers.

Refer to the Account Number Format chapter in the Installation and System Guide (ISG) for complete information on General Ledger Account Numbers.

**General Ledger Account Numbers**\\
General Ledger account numbers are often formatted as cost centers, main accounts and sub accounts, with each part or segment classifying transactions in different ways. OpenPro.com allows General Ledger account numbers to be configured in a variety of formats to suit the varying needs of different enterprises. Most examples used in the guides are Dept-Main-Sub format. A more complete explanation of how to enter your desired setup is in the Company File Maintenance chapter; the most complete discussion of possible arrangements is in the ISG.

Cost centers are generally used to gather transactions by lines of authority and responsibility (such as division or department). Main accounts are used for primary designations (such as separating wage expense, rent expense, and tax expense). Sub accounts are used to track separate items in the same General Ledger main account (such as notes due to different banks).

The minimum format in OpenPro.com is a single segment account number consisting of a four-digit main account number. When four segments are used, they are sequenced as two cost centers (such as Division and Department), main account and sub account. The full account number may not exceed seventeen characters including the characters in all the segments and required separators between segments. Except for the main account, the segments may be omitted or designated in length from 1 to 8 characters. The main account must be from 4 to 8 characters. Use of letters can be allowed or disallowed on a segment-bysegment basis.

The layout of examples in the guides is normally Dept-Main-Sub. The setup is xxx–xxxxx–xxx (Dept of 3 digits, a dash, main of 5 letters and sub account of 3 letters). The guide clearly states when other account number layouts are used to illustrate a feature.

**Chart of Accounts**\\
Here <Chart> means <a list>. Your <Chart of Accounts> is the list of all of your G/L accounts.

**Cost center**\\
A <Cost Center> is a part of your company (for instance, a department or a regional office) for which sales and/or expenses (and sometimes costs) can be calculated separately from the total sales and expenses of the whole company.

Cost centers also apply to sales. Tracking sales by cost center is a typical use for a company that has several sales offices. By making each sales office a cost center, you can separately track the sales performance of each office.

Refer to the Account Number Format chapter in the Installation and System Guide for complete information on Cost Centers.

**Transactions**\\
As used in accounting, <Transaction> means a business event involving money and goods or services. For example, a transaction occurs each time you gas up your car: you pay money in exchange for gasoline (goods).

Because computer software deals primarily with business events that have already taken place, <transaction> means the record of a completed business event involving money and goods or services.

The records of sales made and payments received are examples of transactions from the area of accounting called <Accounts Receivable>. The records of your purchases and the payments you make for such purchases are transactions from the accounting area called <Accounts Payable>. The records of quantities of goods received or sold are transactions from the area of accounting called <inventory control>.

In OpenPro.com software, when a transaction is entered into the system (into a file), it is often referred to as an <entry>.

**Source (of a Transaction)**\\
The <source> of a transaction (entry) is simply the accounting area where the entry originated (where it was first entered into the computer). For example, a salary expense typically starts in the area of accounting called <payroll>.

When hundreds (or even thousands) of entries are generated in other areas of accounting and then gathered together in G/L, it is helpful to know the source of each one. OpenPro.com G/L has, as part of each entry, an abbreviation representing the source of that entry.

**Debit and Credits**\\
In addition to handling a particular area of accounting, as described above (such as Accounts Receivable or Accounts Payable), each OpenPro.com package also keeps track of the effect of those entries on G/L. For example, when you make sales to or receive payment from your customers, this activity affects not only A/R, but also G/L.

These entries must be recorded both in the proper A/R customer accounts and in G/L under the proper G/L account numbers.

The terms <debit> and <credit> refer to the types of entries that must be recorded in G/L accounts to accurately reflect the activity occurring in all accounting areas. (Refer to the Glossary in the Installation and System Guide for exact definitions of these terms.)

In A/R, a debit memo issued by you to a customer increases what that customer owes you, and a credit memo decreases what is owed. Unfortunately, debit does not always mean “an increase in an account” and credit does not always mean “a decrease in an account.” In some accounting areas, a debit increases a G/L account and a credit decreases a G/L account. In other areas, a debit decreases, and a credit increases, a G/L account.

This occurs because of the system called <double entry accounting> (also called <double entry bookkeeping>) which is the standard method of accounting used today.

**Double Entry Accounting**\\
The concept behind double entry accounting is that every entry (transaction) results in balancing debit and credit entries into the General Ledger.

Now look at the debits and credits involved when a typical independent business pays for goods or services bought earlier on credit:

  * Debit: The disbursement (payment you make) results in a debit entry that decreases your <money owed others> account (usually called the <Accounts Payable> account). This is a <debit to Accounts Payable>.
  * Credit: The payment also causes a credit entry that decreases one of your <cash on hand> accounts. This is a <credit to cash>.

So two entries are made into G/L that balance each other. These balancing entries form the basis of double entry accounting. If you or your accountant ever find your G/L accounts “out of balance,” it means that the proper balancing entries were not made.

No attempt is going to be made in this guide to teach you all about accounting, especially about what types of entries cause what accounts to be debited or credited. Unless you are an accountant or fully responsible for maintaining your company’s General Ledger, do not worry if you do not remember whether a debit increases or decreases a particular type of G/L account.

When using OpenPro.com accounting software, you will occasionally be asked to enter the G/L account to be debited or credited. Just refer to the appropriate chapter in this User Guide, where you will find exact instructions about what to enter.

Within OpenPro.com General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Payroll, Order Entry, Job Cost, Inventory Control, Purchase Order, Check Reconciliation, and Sales Management Solutions, the software automatically takes care of all double entry accounting as you enter the required information on the screen.

**Function**\\
As used here, <Function> means one or more programs that accomplish a specific task.

Each selection on the main menu for a OpenPro.com package is a function.

When you select a function from a menu, one or more programs automatically execute, thereby allowing you to accomplish the task you selected.

**Journals**\\
A <Journal> is actually a report or book where the activity in some specific area of accounting is recorded on a regular basis (usually daily).

For example, in Accounts Receivable, there is a function that enables you to enter your cash receipts (the payments you receive). As part of that function, a report called the <Cash Receipts Journal> is printed, showing all the payments you received for that period of time (usually a day).

There are several different journal functions in the OpenPro.com G/L package.

**General Journal**\\
The <General Journal> is the G/L selection for entering miscellaneous entries into the system. It includes the entry program, as well as the program which prints the journal showing what entries you made.

Using the general journal function, you can make balanced entries consisting of debit or credit entries for any G/L accounts.

The general journal is used primarily to record entries that are prepared guidely.

**Distributions Journal**\\
The <Distributions Journal> is the G/L selection used to collect entries from the journals in other OpenPro.com accounting packages.

For example, entries from the Sales Journal and Cash Receipts Journal in Accounts Receivable can be automatically entered into the distributions journal, so they do not need to be re-entered in G/L.

Using the distributions journal function, you can make a debit or credit entry for any G/L account. This is used primarily to enter adjustments and other miscellaneous entries.

The term <distributions journal> includes the entry program, as well as the program that interfaces to the other programs and the program that prints the journal showing what entries were made.

When the G/L package is used by itself (that is, not in conjunction with other OpenPro.com accounting packages), either the general journal function or the distributions journal function can be used to enter entries into the system.

**Standard Journal**\\
The <Standard Journal> is the G/L selection used to enter those entries that normally occur once in every accounting period.

Your rent is an example of a typical standard journal entry. It is an expense that occurs every month at a fixed rate.

In G/L, a standard journal entry that occurs every month can also have a variable amount. An example of this would be your electric bill.

All entries that are not automatically entered into G/L from other OpenPro.com packages enter the system through either the general journal selection, the distributions selection, or the standard journal selection. Entries in the standard journal remain on file until you delete them.

<note>A Recurring journal selection is also provided to handle groups of entries that may recur at intervals other than each accounting period. Refer to the Recurring Journal chapter.</note>

**Journal Number**\\
In G/L and other OpenPro.com packages, references are made to the <Journal Number> of a journal printout, or to the <Report Number> of a printed report.

Every report that is printed has its own report number. You will see this number on the very first printed line of the report.

This numbering system helps you identify your reports. Some reports, such as financial statements, allow you to suppress printing report numbers on the report.

**Journal Codes**\\
Every journal that is printed has a journal number. The journal number begins with a two-letter designation, or <Journal Code>. The journal code for the Distributions Journal is <GJ>. The journal code for the A/P Check Register in the Accounts Payable package is <AK>.

The journal codes are listed in the Source Cross Reference chapter.

The journal number is the two-letter journal code, followed by a four-digit report number. For example, if an entry has a journal number of GJ0126, this means that the entry can be found on the Distributions Register that has report number 0126.

The journal number is kept (stored) along with the entry and tells you the exact journal on which the entry was printed.

**Date Sensitivity**\\
In OpenPro.com G/L, you tell the computer what the starting and ending dates are for your current accounting period (the period you are processing), as well as the current reporting period. Thereafter, many of the selections in the package will automatically ignore any entries that fall outside your current accounting period.

You can enter General Journal and Distributions Journal entries dated outside your current period for the purpose of adjustment.

<note>You do not want to do adjustments to a closed year, except to change beginning balances.</note>

**Trial Balance**\\
A <Trial Balance> is a trial run (a test run) made before printing the actual financial statements.

The G/L Trial Balance Report shows all the entries for one or more accounts within one or more accounting periods. (You choose which accounts and accounting periods to print.)

The Trial Balance Report (and its cousins, the Working Trial Balance and the Spreadsheet Extract) are often used by an accountant to figure out what adjusting entries need to be made before the final copy of your financial statements can be printed.

**Financial Statements**\\
These are the summarized reports, produced by the G/L package, which state how your company performed financially over a specified period of time.

Many businesses pay their accountants to prepare financial statements every quarter (three months). Virtually all businesses prepare some kind of financial statements at least once a year.

The <Operating Statement> (also called <Income Statement>, <Profit and Loss Statement>, or <P & L>) is one of the most important financial statements. It typically shows your gross revenues, the direct costs of the goods or services you sold to get such revenues, your other operating expenses, your costs, and your net income.

The <Balance Sheet> is another important financial statement. Simply stated, your balance sheet shows your assets and liabilities at a particular point in time, and therefore shows your net worth at that time.

With a little help from your accountant, you can tell a lot about the financial condition of your company from your current financial statements.

**Integrated**\\
When a set of accounting packages is <Integrated>, any information generated in one area that is needed in another area is automatically supplied to that other area.

You do not have to enter the information twice.

OpenPro.com accounting software is fully integrated (with the exception of Check Reconciliation, or C/R). When G/L is used with other OpenPro.com packages, any information recorded in those other packages that G/L should know about can be automatically transferred to G/L.

**Data Organization**\\
The information you enter into your computer is stored on your disk. In order for computer programs to be able to locate specific pieces of data (within large masses of data), and to be able to process data logically, data must be organized in some predictable way. OpenPro.com accounting software organizes your datafor you automatically as it stores it on your disk.

There are five terms you should understand about the way the data is organized:

  * **Character:** A <character> is any letter, number, or other symbol you can type on your computer keyboard.
  * **Field:** A <field> is one or more characters representing a single piece of data. For example, an account number, a date, and a dollar amount are all fields.
  * **Record:** A <record> is a group of one or more related fields. For example, the fields representing the account number, the amount, and the distribution date might be grouped together into a record called the <entry record>.
  * **Entry:** A record in a data file is often referred to as an <entry>.
  * **Data file:** A <data file> is a group of one or more related records. A data file is often referred to simply as a <file>.

The General Journal File in General Ledger is an example of a data file. Such a file is made up of several records, each of which contains the account number, amount, etc. for one entry.

Each file is kept separate from other files on the disk.

There are other types of files in addition to data files. For example, programs are stored on the disk as <program files>. However, references to <file> in this User Guide mean <data file> unless specifically stated otherwise.

**Post**\\
To <Post> means to take entries from a temporary file and move them to a permanent file (where other entries probably already exist). For example, in G/L, entries are initially entered into the temporary General Journal File. After entries have been entered and verified as correct, they are posted to the more permanent General Ledger File.

Often, during entry posting, information in other data files is also updated. For example, when sales from Accounts Receivable are posted, the account balance and historical sales figures in the Customer File are also updated.

**Alphanumeric**\\
When the guide refers to <alphanumeric>, it means letters of the alphabet, numerals (numbers), special symbols (*, &, $, etc.), or any combination of all three kinds. In contrast, <numeric> (or <digits>), means only numbers.

**Multi-Company**\\
<Multi-Company> refers to the capability to do accounting functions for multiple companies with the same set of software. A user wanting to do accounting functions for more than one company on OpenPro.com packages can use the Define Multiple Companies selection.

**Company Consolidation**\\
<Company Consolidation> is the action of summarizing the accounting activity of several companies into a whole, as though they were one company. For example, the entries from companies A, B, and C could be summarized into company X, and an overall set of financial statements produced for <company X> (the consolidation company).

**Help**\\
<Help> refers to descriptions of functions that appear on your screen by pressing a designated key. The <Help> text gives you a quick reference to the highlights of functions while you are running them. Not all functions have on-line help available. In these cases, you will need to refer to the user guide.

**Spool**\\
SPOOL is a computer word meaning <Save Printer Output Off-Line>. Spooling is a technique that allows a report to be printed at a later time. Instead of reports going directly to a printer, they are saved as a disk file (which is usually a lot faster). When a printer is available, all or some saved reports can be printed in one long run (for example, overnight).

**Accounting Periods**\\
Using the <Accounting Periods> selection, you can define a fiscal year containing from one to thirteen accounting periods. You can also define a separate period for use in reporting purposes.

**G/L Account Number Format**\\
Companies with multiple sales departments or branches often require separate Operating Statements for each <cost center>. Refer to the Installation and System Guide for detailed information.

**Chart of Accounts**\\
In addition to the G/L account number and account description, the chart of accounts record contains various codes that govern the handling of the account throughout the system. You can print the Chart of Accounts List at any time.

**Budgets**\\
For each account entered in the Chart of Accounts you may create multiple budget entries for multiple years. There is no limit to the numbers of budget types. You may print the budget entries at any time.

**Comparatives**\\
Comparatives refer to financial data from prior years. You may have an unlimited number of years of historical data stored. You may print the comparative entries at any time.

**General Journal Entries**\\
In the general journal you can make new entries (enter transactions), change or delete existing entries, and post entries to the General Ledger Transaction File. General journal entries can be made in such a way that they will be automatically reversed next period (for accrual purposes).

As an aid in the entry process, each entry is handled so that its balance is known as you insert, edit and delete lines in the locations you desire. You can print the General Journal Entry Edit List before posting. When general journal entries are posted to the General Ledger Transaction File, the General Journal Entry Register is automatically printed.

**Distributions Journal Entries**\\
In the distributions journal, you can make new entries (enter transactions), change or delete existing entries, and post entries to the General Ledger Transaction File. Distributions journal entries can be made in such a way that they will be
automatically reversed next period (for accrual purposes).

As an aid in the editing process, you can print the Distributions Edit List before posting. It can be printed in order by account number or in the order the entries were made. When distributions journal entries are posted to the General Ledger Transaction File the Distributions Register is automatically printed.

**Recurring Journal Entries**\\
This selection is similar to standard journal entries, but more flexible, since it allows you to set up journal entries that recur weekly, quarterly, etc., instead of just once per accounting period.

It also saves you time because if you want to do an allocation to a set of accounts, you can distribute by percentage. (In the standard journal, you must distribute one transaction at a time.)

You can set a time limit on a recurring entry. You can also limit recurring entries in terms of the number of times used.

**View Accounts**\\
The <View Accounts> selection allows all entries for a selected account and within a specified date range to be displayed on the computer monitor.

**Source Cross Reference**\\
The Source Cross Reference Report shows all entries for any time period, for one or more sources, and/or one or more journal numbers. This report prints detail (individual) entries in order by source or by journal number, whichever you select.

You can always associate a journal number with a printed, physical document, and (provided you have not compressed the General Ledger) you can reconstruct a lost journal printout by using this selection. To reconstruct, specify all sources and dates for a particular journal number.

Because you select the ranges of starting and ending source codes, starting and ending journal numbers, and starting and ending dates, this report is a very powerful tool for identifying unusual transactions and their origins.

As in nearly all OpenPro.com reports, you can display this report on your screen. This allows you to rapidly review large numbers of entries within a selected range to isolate any problems.

**Financial Statement Formats**\\
With OpenPro.com General Ledger, you can design your own financial statements.

Layout functions allow you to format financial statements by entering the relative position of titles, headings, accounts, text lines, sub-totals, totals, etc. The userdefined formats are saved on a disk and can be easily added to, changed, or deleted whenever necessary.

<Wild-carding> and account ranges are allowed in financial statement layouts. A Financial Statement Specifications List and sample financial statements (showing statements as they will print, but without real dollar amounts) may be printed.

**Financial Statement Printing**\\
OpenPro.com General Ledger prints the user-formatted financial statements on request. These include the Operating Statement, Balance Sheet, Supporting Schedules, Expanded Cash Flow Statement (FASB 95 Cash Flow Statement), and the Source and Application of Funds (SAF) Reports: Statement of Cash Flow, Components of Working Capital, and Changes in Financial Position.

Financial statements may be printed at any time, for any accounting period that you define, and for a set of cost centers that you define.

Budget and/or comparative figures may be shown on selected financial statements along with budget or comparative <variances>. A <variance> is the difference between the current amount and the budgeted amount (budget variance), or the difference between the current amount and last year’s amount (comparative variance).

User-defined notes, disclaimers, etc., may also be printed on any of the financial statements.

**Accounting Ratios**\\
User-defined accounting ratios can be set up and calculated. These can be standard ratios or customized to meet specific business needs.

**Year-To-Date Entries**\\
If your system has sufficient disk storage capacity, all detail entries (transactions) for the year may be retained. When detail is stored for the entire year, the Trial Balance Report may be printed showing all such detail.

However, if disk space is not available, detail may be compressed (summarized) on request. The Summarize selection totals and compresses entries, either by date or by accounting period, at the user’s option.

Date sensitivity is always maintained during a compression, allowing reports (without detail) and financial statements to be re-run for prior periods, even after compression.

**Year End Procedure**\\
The Close a Year selection automatically clears all operating statement account activity and consolidates balance sheet entries into one beginning balance entry for the new year. This procedure also rolls the year-ending account totals over into the last-year comparative figures.

**Interface to Other OpenPro.com Systems**\\
OpenPro.com’s Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Payroll, Check Reconciliation, Inventory Control, and/or Job Cost systems may be interfaced to the General Ledger, provided each package interfaced is the same version number, running on the same machine (computer).

**Password Protection**\\
You have the option to specify that passwords are required. A password is a unique code you assign to each individual using your OpenPro.com software. When passwords are required, each potential user must first enter a valid password before he or she will be enabled to use a protected selection.

**Data Integrity Checks**\\
A data integrity check compares the actual numbers in the system to the calculated or projected numbers. If these numbers do not match, you are warned that information might have been lost due to a machine or power failure. By running this function at the start or end of the day, you can detect several possible types of data file corruption (sometimes due to hardware or operating system errors).

**File Recovery Procedure**\\
This selection provides the capacity to recover corrupted data files. You can also use it to convert important data files to a format that can be easily interfaced to common database and word processing packages.

**Printers**\\
You can easily configure your OpenPro.com software to work with any of the most popular printers. Additionally, instructions are given to allow you to configure the software to use virtually any other printer.

**Loan Payment Calculation**\\
This general-purpose program is useful to accountants and is included for your convenience, although it is not an integral part of General Ledger. The program is described in the Calculate Loan Payments chapter.

You do not need any Chart of Accounts information or Financial Statement Layouts to calculate loans, but you are required to have entered the Company File information.

===Upgrading from Earlier Versions===
The necessary functions and instructions to enable you to upgrade from an earlier version of this same OpenPro.com package are described in the Installation and System Guide.

===Features of OpenPro.com General Ledger===
The General Ledger package provides the following features:

  * User-defined accounting ratios can be set up and calculated on financial statements. These can be standard accounting ratios or customized to meet specific business needs.
  * More flexible copying of Chart of Accounts between companies is provided.
  * The Valid G/L Accounts File can be automatically re-initialized prior to copying the Chart of Accounts File to the Valid G/L Account File (and vice versa).
  * Unlimited date and time stamped notes can be attached to Chart of Account records.
  * A new screen for Correcting Entries has been added.
  * For general journal and standard journal entry, echoing of the source, reference and document number of the previous entry can be controlled; i.e., the user can specify for each field whether it is to be redisplayed.
  * Up to ten lines of notes can be entered for a general journal entry. These notes will be printed on the register.
  * Recurring General Ledger transactions are now included. These allow for allocations to accounts on a dollar or percentage basis.
  * Layouts can be copied from other companies.
  * The date, time and/or report number may optionally be printed on financial statements.
  * Multiple separate ratios can be printed on financial statements.
  * Financial statements can be printed for a set of sub-accounts.
  * For rounded financial statements, the user may <bury> the rounding error at any specified point in the statement.
  * Account ranges are allowed in financial statement layouts.
  * Literals and text for financial statements can be automatically centered.
  * Financial statement layout verification is provided to ensure that the accounts on a layout are correct for the type of layout. It also ensures that all accounts in the chart of accounts that should appear on the balance sheet or cost and loss layouts do actually appear on these layouts. This ensures that when you select to print a financial report, all accounts related to your selection, e.g., cost and loss and/or balance sheet, will be printed.
  * Handles up to thirteen accounting periods.
  * Supports multiple cost centers.
  * Supports multiple companies.
  * Produces an overall set of financial statements from a consolidation of multiple companies.
  * Allows reports to be stored on disk to save computer time, then printed later at your convenience.
  * Allows use of multiple printers.
  * Provides maintenance and a listing of the Chart of Accounts File.
  * Allows general journal entering, editing, and posting, with edit list and journal.
  * Allows standard journal entering, editing, and posting, with edit list and journal.
  * Recurring general journal entries allow for automatic distribution by percentage or allocation.
  * Prints the Working Trial Balance and Trial Balance Reports.
  * Allows on-line G/L account detail inquiry.
  * Prints the Source Cross Reference (for audit trails).
  * Prints the financial statements in flexible formats that you design.
  * Financial statements can be printed for a set of cost centers.
  * <Wild-carding> and account ranges are allowed in financial statement layouts.
  * Key accounting ratios can be calculated (such as <Current Ratio>). User-defined accounting ratios can also be set up.
  * Allows you to keep entry detail for the year, if disk space is available, and has a flexible year-end closing procedure.
  * Contains a loan amortization program that gives you information about fixed rate loans.
  * Includes password protection and data-integrity checks.
  * May be used either independently or interfaced to the OpenPro.com Accounts
  * Receivable, Accounts Payable, Payroll, Inventory Control, and/or Job Cost systems.
  * Has <Help> (highlights of functions) built into the software.

Can be used with the menu from which you can quickly access other functions or packages from within a function.

===Basic Process Flow===
This section shows you the overall OpenPro system data flow and integration between systems.

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====Chapter 2: Getting Started====

===Introduction===
Before getting started, ensure that the General Ledger software is installed on your computer. Refer to the OpenPro.com Installation and System Guide to install the G/L package before proceeding.

Also, you may want to familiarize yourself with the main features of this package by reading the Understanding OpenPro.com General Ledger chapter in this guide.

===Your Accountant===
You should consult with your accountant before using OpenPro.com software. Your accountant should be familiar with your accounting software and can advise you on converting from your existing G/L system.

===The General Ledger data files===
Before you use the General Ledger package, you enter data file information about your General Ledger system and how you want your transactions handled. There are several different <data files> that you enter before you can begin using the package on a regular basis. Here is a brief explanation of those files:

**Company File**\\
This file contains basic information about your company. If you are using multiple companies, there is a Company File for each company. In this file, you specify information such as your company’s name and address and whether you use cost centers (sub-accounts).

**G/L Control File**\\
This file contains a number of parameters that define your General Ledger structure. Each parameter defines specific values to be used in other selections.

**Accounting Period File**\\
With this file, you define the starting and ending dates of your accounting periods. Although most independent businesses use the 12 calendar months as their 12 accounting periods, you can define as few as one or as many as 13 accounting periods here. You also specify a <reporting period> which is used in printing various reports and statements. It can be the same or different from your <current period>.

**Chart of Accounts File**\\
This file contains a list of all your G/L accounts. In addition to account numbers and descriptions, you may enter budgets and last year comparative figures into this file (The use of budgets and comparatives is optional). You also use this file to define any sub-accounts you are using.

**General Journal Transaction File**\\
Although this file is regularly used on a day-to-day basis after the initial setup procedure, it is also used during these initial steps to make a beginning balance entry for each of your accounts.

**Standard Journal Transaction File**\\
This file contains any entries that recur each accounting period. (By storing recurring entries on the disk, you avoid having to enter them anew each accounting period.)

**Sub-Account Group File**\\
This file contains sub-account groups. Each sub-account group is a set of subaccounts that you group together for reporting purposes. Use of sub-account groups is optional.

**Layout File**\\
In this file you custom-design and store the layouts (formats) of your financial statements.

**Text File**\\
You enter into this file any pieces of text (such as instructions, explanations, footnotes, etc.), which are to be printed on your financial statements.

**Statement Specification File**\\
Use this file to enter additional instructions for printing your financial statements. For example, instructions are stored in this file to direct whether to show budgets or comparative figures on any, or all, financial statements.

===Setting up General Ledger===
Perform these steps to start using OpenPro.com General Ledger:

  - Study the General Rules chapter in the Installation and System Guide.
  - Start G/L according to the instructions in the Using OpenPro.com General Ledger chapter.
  - The Company File is set up for you as part of the installation procedure. Use Company information to modify the Company File to be appropriate for your company (refer to the Company Information chapter).
  - Define your accounting periods using Accounting periods. Refer to the Accounting Periods chapter.
  - Enter G/L control information using Control information. The information in the G/L Control File controls how G/L is used by your company.
  - Set up your Chart of Accounts. If you are adding the G/L package after other OpenPro.com packages are in use, you may load accounts from the Valid G/L Accounts file into the Chart of Accounts as described in the Setup Procedures chapter. If other OpenPro.com packages are not already in use (or you do not wish to load the Chart of Accounts from the Valid G/L Account File), then enter your Chart of Accounts using Chart of Accounts (described in the Chart of Accounts chapter). In setting up your Chart of Accounts, you may choose to enter budgets (for the current fiscal year) and comparative account information for the previous fiscal year. If you do not enter this information, then you will not be able to print financial statements which show budgets and comparatives during the initial fiscal year in which you are using the software. When you close the fiscal year, the software will store account balances from the year being closed as the comparatives for the new year. Additionally, you can set budgets based on these comparatives. Thus, even if you do not enter budgets and comparatives now, you will be able to print financial statements in the next fiscal year which show budgets and comparatives, since the software will generate this information for you when the current fiscal year is closed.
  - Set up beginning balances for your balance sheet accounts using Set Beginning Balances (described in the chapter titled Setup Procedures). In order to use this procedure you must first enter comparatives for each balance sheet account. If you have chosen not to enter comparatives, then this function will not work correctly. If you do not use Set Beginning Balances to set up beginning balances, use General Journal to enter the beginning balances. Enter a debit or credit for each balance sheet account (with a reference of <BBF> for <Balance Brought Forward>). These entries should be dated on the last day of the previous fiscal year. These entries correspond to your final balance sheet for the previous fiscal year.
  - If you are setting up OpenPro.com G/L as of the beginning of your fiscal year, then no other journal entries need to be made. However, if you are setting up G/L during the fiscal year, then you must make journal entries to bring OpenPro.com G/L up-to-date with your guide ledger. In this case, you would enter a debit or credit for each account for each period that you have already completed in the current fiscal year. The debit or credit entered would be the net change for that account for that period. For example, if your cash account increased by $1,000.00 as of the end of the first period, you would debit cash for $1,000.00 with an entry dated on the last date of the first period. For the current period, you would enter a debit or credit for each account that summarizes the net change to that account for the current period. A quicker way to bring OpenPro.com G/L up-to-date is to make a single entry that summarizes the net change to each account from the beginning of the fiscal year up to the current date in the current accounting period. However, if you do this, then the software will not be able to generate budgets and comparatives for all accounting periods when you close this fiscal year. This is because you will not have entered enough information for the computer to determine the ending balance for each account for each period that has already been completed in the current fiscal year.
  - Set up the standard journal, using Standard journal. This journal is for debits and credits that are made each accounting period and is described in the Standard Journal chapter.
  - Set up the recurring journal, using Recurring Journal. This journal is for debits and credits that occur periodically (but not necessarily just once each accounting period). This journal can also be used to set up allocations to accounts on a percentage basis (refer to the Recurring Journal chapter).
  - Enter text that will be used on financial statement layouts using Texts (described in the Texts chapter).
  - Enter Financial Statement Layouts for your Profit and Loss Statement, Balance Sheet Statement, and supporting schedules for each, as needed. Financial Statement Layout entry is described in the Financial Statement Layouts chapter.
  - If you want to print financial statements for sets of sub-accounts, then enter each set as a sub-account group using Sub-Account Groups (described in the Sub-Account Groups chapter).
  - Enter Statement Specifications using Financial Statement Specifications. These specifications are used to control the sequence in which financial statements are printed and to specify whether budgets, comparatives, or ratios are to be printed on the financial statements. Additionally, you may specify whether the financial statement is to be printed for all sub-accounts, a single subaccount, or for a set of sub-accounts as defined by a sub-account group.
  - If you are using multiple companies and need to print consolidated financial statements, then set-up your consolidation company (described in the Company Consolidation chapter).

<note>NOTE: Expanded G/L demo data is provided with this package. To use this data, refer to the appendix titled G/L Demo Data for further instructions. You may also use the predefined data described in the Installation and System Guide.</note>

===Regular use===
When you have finished building your data files as above, you will be ready to use G/L on a regular basis. The remaining chapters in this guide show you how to:

  * View G/L account activity
  * Print the G/L Trial Balance and worksheet reports
  * Print the financial statements
  * Summarize the G/L File (to make the file smaller)
  * Perform the year end procedures
  * Get distributions from other OpenPro.com packages
  * Consolidate multiple companies for summarized reports
  * Calculate loan payments
  * Perform a data integrity check
  * Print reports from disk

===OpenPro.com support===
You are ready to continue now. Build the data files per the above instructions, and then begin using OpenPro.com G/L to process your work.

If you have problems with this software package, contact your dealer or authorized consultant.

For the name and location of a OpenPro.com dealer or an authorized consultant near you, contact an OpenPro.com receptionist at 1-714-378-4600.

If you wish to receive support directly from OpenPro.com, please call our End User Support Department at 1-714-378-4600.

When you call this number, you will be billed for support on a per-minute basis.

Before the billing starts, you will be informed of the current rates, and you will be given the opportunity to disconnect before you incur any charges.

The charges for this support will be automatically included in your phone bill.

===Training===
You may go to your own dealer for training; however, if your dealer does not offer training, Authorized Training Centers are available.

Call OpenPro.com at 1-714-378-4600 for the name of the Authorized Training Center in your area.

====Chapter 3: Using General Ledger====

===About this guide===
This guide provides the information you need to know about OpenPro.com General Ledger.

===Organization===
The next chapter is a guide to daily operations. It explains how you use OpenPro.com General Ledger to perform various daily, weekly, and periodic tasks.

After the guide, the next few chapters give instructions on entering basic information to set up your package according to your needs and to prepare you for daily operation.

Next are the chapters that you will use most frequently. They describe how to use OpenPro.com General Ledger on a daily basis.

The last few chapters describe selections that are used periodically, including such selections as compressing cleared entries.

Additional information such as defining multiple companies, passwords, advanced features, and file recovery utilities, can be obtained from the Installation and System Guide (ISG).

===How to use this guide===
Each chapter of this guide provides instructions on how to use a particular selection of your software.

The instructions include examples. In fact, you can go through the guide and enter the examples shown in each chapter. This will demonstrate the capabilities of your new software. Each chapter has sample printouts of the information entered during the examples for you to compare.

If you enter the examples, you will want to <initialize> the data files before you begin entering your actual business information. When you <initialize> a file, you mean to <clear out all information you have entered> for that file. The initialization procedure is given in one of the appendixes. After initialization, you would restart with this chapter and enter your actual business information. Initialization is described in an appendix at the end of this guide.

===Help===
You can press the HELP key at any time for on-line help about a task or selection you are currently using.

===The menus===
A <Menu> is a list of items from which you can select. Selecting items from a menu on a computer is the way you tell your computer what you want to do.

===Starting General Ledger===

**Multiple Companies**\\
If you have set up your software to process information for more than one company (refer to the Define Multiple Companies chapter in the Installation and System Guide), you are asked to enter an identifying code for the company you want to use.

**Your Login**\\
You are always asked to enter your login information (Username and company ID).

**Password**\\
You may be asked to enter your password. If so, enter your password. The characters you type will be invisible on your computer screen. Remember to press <Enter> after typing your password.

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-002.png}}

====Chapter 4: Guide to Daily Operations====
The following checklists are provided as examples for using General Ledger to perform various daily and periodic tasks.

The tasks are presented in a logical order. You should adjust the checklist as necessary to meet your own needs. Consult with your accountant for advice on organizing your own checklists to ensure the efficiency and security of your business operations.

===Daily Operations Checklist===

**EACH DAY**\\
Enter guide debits and credits using General Journal. Print an edit list to verify your entries and then post these entries to the General Ledger Transaction File.

Mark entries in the General Ledger Transaction File as <correcting entries> using Accounts (Correcting Entries).

**EACH DAY, AS NEEDED**\\
Enter new G/L accounts using Chart of Accounts. (If you are using other OpenPro.com packages, these accounts should also be entered into the Valid G/L Account File.)

Inquire into accounts, using Accounts (View).

Enter new recurring journal transactions using Recurring journal (Enter).

Select recurring journal transactions for use, using Select for use.

Copy selected recurring journal transactions to the General Journal Transaction File using Use selected.
 
Post the recurring journal transactions using Distributions (Post).

===Periodic/Monthly Operations Checklist===

**EACH PERIOD**\\
If you are using OpenPro.com A/R, A/P, I/C, P/R, CR, or J/C, then follow the procedure described in the Get Distributions chapter to pull debits and credits from these packages into General Ledger.

Print a Trial Balance Report using Trial Balance.

Print a Working Trial Balance. Use this worksheet to make adjustments for the period.

If you have set up the Standard Journal, edit the transactions in the Standard Journal as needed. The Standard Journal would normally contain debits and credits for the adjustments to be made for the accounting period. Print an edit list to verify your entries and then post the Standard Journal to the General Ledger Transaction File.

(If you have not set up the Standard Journal, use General journal to enter and post your adjustments.) Print another Trial Balance as a permanent record of the debits and credits for the current period.

Print financial statements using Print Financial Statements.

If you are using multiple companies and need to consolidate entries, then do so using Consolidate Entries. This function is run in the Consolidation Company. Then, print consolidated financial statements using Print Financial Statements in the consolidation company.

**EACH PERIOD, AS NEEDED**\\
Print the Source Cross Reference Report (as needed) to print a list of entries in the General Ledger Transaction File by either their source code or journal number.

Use Summarize General Ledger (if needed) to reduce the size of the General Ledger Transaction File. Be sure to read the chapter titled Summarize General Ledger before running this function, as this function compresses information in the General Ledger Transaction File. (You may also want to consult with your accountant before using this function.)

===End of Fiscal Year Checklist===

**EACH FISCAL YEAR**\\
Perform all the periodic/monthly actions described above for your final accounting period of the fiscal year. If you must start your new fiscal year prior to entering your final adjustments for the fiscal year that has just ended, then see the Close a Year chapter, which describes how to start the new fiscal year without closing the previous fiscal year.

Once you have entered and posted your final adjustments for the fiscal year, print your final financial statements for the fiscal year.

Print a detailed trial balance for the entire fiscal year, which will serve as a permanent record of the fiscal year.

Follow procedures described in Close a Year chapter to close the fiscal year.

**EACH YEAR, AS NEEDED**\\
n/a

====Chapter 5: Accounting Periods====

===Introduction===
The Accounting Periods selection is used to enter the accounting periods for two fiscal years: the current fiscal year and the following fiscal year. You may define up to thirteen accounting periods for each year. Most companies use twelve periods, but more or fewer periods sometimes occur, especially in the transition year following a change to the fiscal year-end. As a result OpenPro lists thirteen periods.

===To Begin== 
To get to the accounting periods from the main menu, click on **General Ledger** and then click on **Fiscal Periods**. A screen similar to the following appears:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-003.png}}

From this screen you can work with both new and existing entries.

===To Add===
To add a new period or fiscal year, go to the **Fiscal Periods** screen from the main **General Ledger** menu.
The following screen appears:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-004.png}}

From this screen click on the blue **Add a New Fiscal Period** button located at the top left hand side of the screen.

When you click on this button, the following window will appear:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-005.png}}

When you are at this screen you are ready to enter in all of the information for the new year or period. Fill out the fiscal year, the current period, reporting period, and all of the starting and ending dates for your periods. Once you have done this click on the blue “Add” button located at the bottom of this screen.

===Search===
Instead of just bringing up a list of every fiscal year you can display the information for one specific fiscal year. To do this, select **Fiscal Periods** in the “General Ledger” section. Once you are at this screen, enter in the fiscal year you would like to view in the selected **Search by fiscal year** field. By clicking the **Search** button the system will bring up a list of all items that match your fiscal year.

===To Edit===
If your company has decided to make changes to your fiscal period you can easily change or edit those periods in OpenPro. If you need to make changes to a certain year, all you need to do is access the main “Fiscal Periods” section of OpenPro’s “General Ledger”. Once you are at the Fiscal Periods screen, locate the account you would like to make changes to. Once you have found that account, to edit, click on the green Edit button located to the very left hand side of the selected account. Once you have done this, the screen in which you entered all of the original information will appear with the information still on the screen. From here you are able to make any necessary changes to the year or periods. When you are finished making the changes click on the green **Save** button located at the bottom of the window, and all of your changes will be saved.

===To Delete a Period===
If, for some reason, you would need to delete an entire fiscal entry, OpenPro allows you to do so. In order to do this, go to the **Fiscal Periods** screen from the **General Ledger** menu. Once you have done this, locate the year that you would like to delete and press the red Delete button located to the very right hand side of the year you have selected. Once you have pressed the button you will be asked “Are you sure you wish to remove?” Clicking **OK** will delete the record, and clicking “Cancel” will take you back to the previous screen.

====Chapter 6: Control Information/Business Rules====

===Introduction===
The information entered here will control various operations in this package.

The Business Rules are located in **Rules Setup>Business Rules**. This General Ledger Control Information selection contains basic information about the accounting setup of your General Ledger Package. The information contained in the Business Rules has various functions in the General Ledger package and supplies default values for other functions. This has information like the default retained earnings, default account formatting, etc.

===To Begin===
To set up all of the defaults, from the main menu you need to click on **Rules Setup.** From the drop down menu, click on **Business Rules** and you will be able to enter all of you default information.

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-006.png}}

===Default information for General Ledger===
To fill out all of the default information for General Ledger you need to go to **Maintenance.** In order to get here, select **General Ledger** in the main menu, then click on **Maintenance.**

Another drop down menu will appear with all of the default options.

There are four default options located in the maintenance section; ''default cash accounts'', ''Fiscal Periods'', ''General Ledger templates'', and the ''duplicate remover''.

From here you are able to default the options by clicking on whatever option you would like to default and enter in the desired default information. Note: the Fiscal Periods selection has the same functions as the **Fiscal Periods** selection in the main G/L menu.

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-007.png}}

===Retained Earnings Account===
Enter the account number for the retained earnings account.

You may enter an account even if it has not yet been defined in the Chart of Accounts (described in the next chapter), but if you do so, you will be warned to define this account as soon as possible.

====Chapter 7: Chart of Accounts====

===Introduction===
The Chart of Accounts selection enables you to enter accounts in the Chart of Accounts file. In addition to entering accounts, you can:

  * Print a list of the accounts.
  * Enter an unlimited number of notes about each account.
  * Display a summary of account activity, by period, for each account in the Chart of Accounts.
  * Recalculate account summaries.
  * Enter budget figures.
  * Enter comparative figures to generate reports (both actual and budget).

===Chart of Accounts Organization===
OpenPro.com recommends that you organize your accounts by main account number. Here’s an example of one possible method of numbering accounts:

<note>Keep in mind that the Trial Balance prints in account number order for different groups of accounts (including subtotals).</note>

For the subtotaling feature to be of value, group the accounts so that subtotals are meaningful. For example, you could group Current Assets and Fixed Assets separately. Then, within Current Assets, you could show Cash, Prepaid Expenses, and Inventory, each with its own subtotals.

===To Begin===
To get to the Chart of Accounts from the main menu, click on the **General Ledger** section, and then again on **Chart of accounts** from the separate drop down menu.

The following screen appears:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-008.png}}

From this screen, you can work with both new and existing accounts. If you try to add an account that has already been entered for the number you specify, that account will appear and become available for changes or deletion.

===To Add===
In order to add an account, go to the main **Chart of Accounts** screen. From here you click on the blue Add a New GL Chart of Accounts Record button located at the top of the screen.

This will take you to the following page:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-009.png}}

From here, enter in all of the required information (in blue), and all other information pertaining to the chart of accounts. Once you have entered all of your information, click on the blue **Ad** button and all of your information will be saved to the OpenPro system.

===To Edit===
If you need to make changes to an account, you can easily change or edit those accounts using the OpenPro General Ledger. If you need to make changes or modifications, first access the main “Chart of Accounts” selection of OpenPro’s **General Ledger**. Once you are at the **Chart of Accounts** screen, locate the account you would like to make changes to. Once you have found that account, to edit, click on the green **Edit** button located to the very left hand side of the selected account. Once you have done this the screen in which you entered all of the original information will appear with the information still on the screen.

From here you are able to make any necessary changes to the account type and description. When you are finished making the changes, click on the green **Save** button located at the bottom of the window and all of your changes will be recorded.

===To Delete an Account===
If, for any reason, you would need to delete an entire entry, OpenPro allows you to do so. In order to do this, go to the “Chart of Accounts” screen from the **General Ledger** menu. Once you have done this locate the Chart of Accounts that you would like to delete and press the red Delete button located to the very right hand side of the entry you have selected. Once you have pressed the button you will be asked “Are you sure you wish to remove?” Clicking **OK** will delete the record and clicking **Cancel** will take you back to the previous screen.

===Recalculate Accounts (GL Summary - reset)===
If you make a change to one or more accounting periods in Fiscal Periods, then the account summaries for each account in the Chart of Accounts must be recalculated.

You may either recalculate the account summaries at the time the periods are changed, or you may use the Recalculate Accounts function instead.

If recalculation is required, you will not be able to use certain functions within G/L until this selection is run. For example, the financial statements, as well as the Trial Balance Report and Working Trial Balance, may not be printed. Additionally, you may not be able to display account summaries.

<note>In order to recover from hardware failures, it may become necessary to use the G/L file utilities to repair the Chart of Accounts file or the G/L Transaction file. In such cases, or if the file utilities are used in a similar fashion for otherreasons, this selection should be run to recalculate the account summaries prior to resuming normal usage of G/L.</note>

===To Recalculate Accounts===
Select GL Reports from the General Ledger menu and select GL Summary reset. The following screen will appear:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-010.png}}

You can choose to recalculate specific GL details, or all of them at once. If problems are detected, such as missing accounts, a report will be generated by this program.

====Chapter 8: Budgets====

===Introduction===
This chapter only deals with the types of budgets—the budgets themselves are described in a later chapter.

If you budget more than one year in advance, you can use the same budget types in more than one year (in which case each budget is distinct). This is probably the typical case, but there is nothing to prevent you from assigning a unique name to each budget of each year.

For the menu bar:\\
To start, select **GL Summary - admin** from the **GL Reports** menu. This will take you to the following screen:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-011.png}}

===Entering Budget Types===
Click on **Add New Summary Record** and the following screen appears:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-012.png}}

From this screen you can work with both new and existing budget types (if you click on the **Edit** link next to existing entries). Simply input the budget amount, in dollars, for each period of the chosen year.

To select a budget type look for Record Type, and then select either actual or budget type. Once you are finished, click **Add** to add an entry or **Save** to save your changes to the budget type.

===Import a Budget===
OpenPro allows you to import a budget created before the installation of the OpenPro software, or budgets created using a different program.

In order to import a budget, first go to the **Assist Import** menu and click on **GL Import Budget** (budgets can also be exported with GL Export Budget). This will take you to the following screen:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-013.png}}

Make sure that the budget you are importing is in the csv format, which can be created using programs like Microsoft Excel. Use **Browse** to find the desired budget and click on **Update** to complete the process.

===Budgets===
The Budgets selection enables you to create budgets. In addition, you can:

  * Print budgets, and
  * Generate budgets

In OpenPro.com’s General Ledger system, a <budget> is defined as the targeted financial plan for an upcoming period.
Budgets may be stored for an unlimited number of years, accounts, and budget types. The only limit is that of disk space.

A budget type is a code that is used to group logically similar budget entries. For example, you might have budget types established for best case sales conditions, worst case sales conditions, budgets approved by the board of directors, or other situations.

For example, if sales of a specific product line are targeted for $10,000 for each period of the fiscal year, the correct budget information for the account for this product’s sales is a $10,000 credit (with a minus sign) for each period’s budget.

Similarly, the projected telephone expense for a particular phone line might be set at $5,000 per period. The correct budget information to record this expense is a $5,000 debit (no minus sign) for each period for the account.

Budgets can also be used for balance sheet items. If Accounts Receivable is targeted for a $5,000 decrease (credit) during each period of the fiscal year, then budget that amount.

**//A note on the file structure//**\\
All budget information for one company resides on a single Budgets file. There is not a separate file for each fiscal year or each budget type.

===To Begin===
Alternately, you can access an account’s budget directly from the Chart of
Accounts (Enter) selection, as described in that chapter.

===Entering budgets===
The following screen appears:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-014.png}}

From this screen you can work with both new and existing budgets. Enter the following information:

**1. Fiscal year**\\
Enter the fiscal year for the budget you are creating.

**2. Account number**\\
Enter the account number for the budget. This may be any valid account in the Chart of Accounts.

<note>The account number can be changed only when you selected EnterBudgets from the main menu. If you choose Enter Budgets from Chart of Accounts (More options), you may only enter budgets for that one account.</note>

**3. Budget type**\\
  - Enter the budget type. This must already have been defined in Budget types.
  - The description of the budget will display next to the budget type upon selection.
  - Enter budget generation method
  - This window only appears if this is a new entry (for an existing entry, the cursor is positioned at "Field number to change?").

**4 to 16. Period–1 through to 13**\\
These fields constitute a table showing both the budget amounts and the comparative amounts for that year, in parallel columns. The comparatives are for your information only and cannot be changed (by this selection). Credit amounts must have a minus sign.

Thirteen periods are shown, but the cursor does not move to any period not defined for the current fiscal year (typically, this would be the thirteenth period). If the fiscal year you are entering uses more or fewer periods than your current structure, you will have to temporarily alter your Accounting Periods in order to maintain that year’s budgets.

Enter the amount for each period. If this is a new entry, then enter the amount for each period after you finish entering the first period.

====Chapter 9: Actual and Budget Reports====

===Introduction===
GL Summary enables you to view actual/budget reports, or Comparatives. The term <comparatives> simply means the historical data from some previous year that you wish to compare to the current year. You may retain these on file as long as you wish.

===When to use this selection===
At the end of the fiscal year, when Close Fiscal Year is run (General Ledger GL Reports' To close a year), the account balances (for each period) are automatically transferred to corresponding comparative information records.

Comparatives are historical information. Consequently:

  * You would not normally wish to alter their value (except perhaps when initially installing the G/L package). The Enter selection is more often used to examine comparatives than to change them. In fact, comparatives are protected from change. Refer to the Installation and System Guide for information on overriding change protection.
  * Although Comparatives allows you to work with both new and existing entries, there almost always are existing entries.
  * Perhaps the only case where you would want to add new entries would be when retroactively adding historical information (from the period before you installed OpenPro.com General Ledger).
  * Instead of typing in this information guidely, you (or your dealer) may be able to accomplish the same thing by reformatting your old files into the format of OpenPro’s comparative file. You can then import this information using Assist Import, described in the Installation and System Guide.

**//A note on the accounting period structure//**\\
All thirteen periods appear on this screen even if your accounting structure uses twelve (or fewer) periods. Comparison between successive years is based on the period’s number, even when the definition of a period has changed. Thus, you may be comparing a four-week period in one year to a five-week period in another year. Extreme cases exist where even the number of periods varies from one year to the next. For instance:

  * You may have changed from a thirteen-period structure to a twelve-period structure or vice versa.
  * You may experience a six-month or nine-month transitional fiscal year. This would happen if you convert from a fiscal year beginning in June to one beginning in some other month.

If your current accounting structure uses fewer than thirteen periods, the cursor will not move to the unused periods during normal data entry (even though those periods had been used during previous years and contain non-zero amounts).

**//A note on the file structure//**\\
All comparative information for one company resides on a single comparative file. There is not a separate file for each fiscal year.

===Examples of Comparatives===
Suppose sales for a particular product were $5,000 during each period of the previous fiscal year. Further, since operating statement accounts are closed out at the end of each fiscal year, suppose the beginning balance was zero.

Balance sheet account comparatives are entered in much the same way, although the prior year beginning balance would not necessarily be zero.

For instance, suppose a cash account that had a beginning balance of $15,000 last year increases by $1,000 during each period of the year.

===To Begin===
For menu bar:
Select General Ledger and go to G/L Reports and G/L Summary.

===Entering comparatives===
The following screen appears:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-015.png}}

You may choose to narrow the display results by selecting a Year (left pull down menu) and a location. This feature is used to compare account activity between periods and years. The letter “A” under the “Type” column denotes an actual balance, whereas a “B” would denote a budget. Quantities and balances cannot be edited, only viewed, using this selection.

Other budget reports can be produced like shown below:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-016.png}}

In G/L forms, you can also do actual : budget comparison with amount differences and % difference.

====Chapter 10: G/L Entry====

===Introduction===
The G/L Entry selection enables you to enter, review, and post general journal entries in a multi-line format.

===To Begin===
Select G/L Entry from the General Ledger main menu. The following screen appears:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-017.png}}

You can use this screen for both new and existing entries. The entry date displays at the upper right.

A single journal entry may consist of any number of accounts, so the screen is divided into two parts. Everything above the horizontal line applies to the entry as a whole. Everything below the second horizontal line is a scrollable area in which you can enter as many accounts as required (use the “5 more lines” button to add more account fields).

===Reference===
Enter a reference and a description for the entry. Some kind of reference is required, but the description field is optional, and is basically a comment field for the user. The description entered here will be assigned to all transactions in this entry. 

<note>If you set a template, by selecting an option from the **Set Template** drop down menu, a reference will automatically be supplied.</note>

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-018.png}}

===Posting General Journal Entries===
Select G/L Entry from the General Ledger menu. The following screen appears:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-019.png}}

In order to post an entry successfully, you must enter a reference, an account, a location, and balancing debits and credits. Then, simply click on the **Post** button. The **post** button is located in two different locations, at the top right hand corner and the bottom left hand corner of the screen.

====Chapter 11: Recurring Entries/Templates====

===Introduction===
The purpose of the recurring journal is different from the standard journal. Here is how each works:

**Standard Journal**\\
  * The standard journal contains debits and credits that are to be posted to the G/L Transaction file (the permanent G/L file).
  * The entries are posted once per accounting period.
  * All of the debits and credits in the standard journal are posted. You cannot individually select entries to post.
  * Standard journal entries are left on file in the Standard Journal Transaction file for use in the next accounting period.

**Recurring journal**\\
  * The recurring journal contains entries that work in a fashion similar to Recurring Payables (A/P). If you are just using G/L, you may use this selection for recurring receivables or payables, then copy them (on a recurring basis) to the Distributions Journal.
  * Recurring journal entries are entered and selected for use, and then the selected entries are copied to the Distributions Journal Transaction file. From there, they are posted to the G/L Transaction file.
  * Recurring journal entries may recur at any interval you want. These intervals do not have to align to your accounting periods. This is useful for such items as payroll.
  * Recurring journal entries may be either individually selected or selected in batches.
  * You may automatically distribute recurring journal entries by percentage. In other words, you may debit an account and then balance the entry by allocating a percentage of the entry to a set of accounts. For example, one account is debited and then ten other accounts are credited, each for 10% of the overall debit.

===Before===
Before you can post a recurring journal entry, you have to have a template for one. In order to make the template, select **Maintenance** from the main General Ledger menu. Then, select **G/L Templates.** The following screen will appear:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-020.png}}

In order to make a new template click on the blue **Make a new Template** button located at the top left hand side of the screen.

In doing so the following window will appear:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-021.png}}

From this screen enter in all of the information in the designated fields including: ''template name'', ''account number'', ''account description'', ''location'' etc. When you are filling out all of the information, make sure to mark the template as “Recurring” in the designated checkbox. If you do not do this then it will not come up as an option for a recurring template.

Once you have entered in all of your information and specified a payment interval, click on the blue **Add** button located at the bottom of the window.

When you do this, your template will be added to the OpenPro system and can be used as a recurring template.

===Making recurring journal entries===

**To Begin**\\
Select “G/L Entry” from the main General Ledger menu. The following screen appears:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-022.png}}

Select from the list of templates (Set Template) and click the button with the paint on the right hand side of the screen; it will repost the same entry that you had originally entered.

====Chapter 12: G/L Posting of Distributions====

===Introduction===

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-023.png}}

This can be set up to have automatic posting via the batch process or guide posting. It is recommended to do guide posting until you are in the system for a few month.

To post everything you can, set all post flags, then **POST**.

====Chapter 13: Trial and Working Trial Balance====

===Introduction===
OpenPro has a few different Trial Balance runs.

//Annual and monthly://

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-024.png}}

You can select a range of the account number, summary or detail entries and a date range. The beginning period must be the period’s beginning date.

Here is an example of the Trial Balance Report:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-025.png}}

The monthly trial balance looks like the above.

//Annual Trial Balance report://

You can select the YEAR and also the location. If you have more than one division, you can consolidate the trial balance.

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-026.png}}

With the annualize trial balance option there are drill down capabilities for each period.\\
You have to click on the period date range and it will drill down.

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-027.png}}

The detail drill down will show each account and the balance information.

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-028.png}}

====Chapter 14: View Accounts====

===Introduction===
The G/L Details selection lets you view all activity for a specific G/L account within a specified range of dates.

===To Begin===
In order to view accounts, select “G/L Details” from the main “General Ledger” menu. The following screen appears:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-029.png}}

There is no limit to the number of pages that may be viewed when paging forward.

While here you are able to view all of the details pertaining to a specific account.

To view details on an account click on the Entries button located to the left of the account number. Select a location, a start date, and an end date, then click the **Go** button; or, simply click the **Go** button to view all entries. This will take you to a page resembling the following:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-030.png}}

From this screen you will be able to view all details on posting dates, transactions, locations etc. If you click on the purple link located to the very right of an account, it allows you to view the information that was entered into that specific entry, whether the entry is a sales order, A/R entry, G/L Journal, etc.

The following is a sample Sales Order detail:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-031.png}}

While at this screen you are able to view prices, part numbers, item names, etc. Clicking on the blue **Detail** button at the top of the screen provides more details about the order.

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-032.png}}

===Edit===
Using GL Details, you can edit your accounts by clicking on the green **Edit** link located at the very left hand side of the account. The following screen will appear:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-033.png}}

From here, you can change the description, activity status, and other properties.

The numbers below the description field correspond to the Finance Type, Balance Type and Summary Details parameters that are definable when editing accounts in the G/L Chart of Accounts. A “1” in the Function Type field is the same as entering “Balance Sheet” as the Finance Type, while a “2” defines it as “Profit or Loss”. A “1” in the Default field means that your Balance Type is labeled as “Debit”, while a “2” means that it is “Credit”. A “1” in the Summary field corresponds to a “Summary” label, while a “2” corresponds to “Details”. A “0” in the Inactivity field means that the account is active while a “1” means that it is inactive.

When you are finished making changes to the account click on the **Save** button located at the bottom of the screen and all of your changes will be saved to the OpenPro system.

====Chapter 15: Correcting Entries====
Once a journal entry is posted into the system it cannot be removed or voided.\\
You are not able to make modifications or changes to an entry after it has gone into the system.\\
To correct a bad entry enter in a reversing entry to back it out.

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-034.png}}

====Chapter 16: GL Forms====

===Introduction===
This chapter and the next two describe how to produce financial statements.

Financial statements include such basic accounting tools as Operating Statements, Balance Sheets and statements of cash flows.

Financial statements work in three phases: layout, specification, and process.

  * In the **layout phase**, you specify, line-by-line, which accounts are to be printed on a financial statement. You can intersperse various commands to control headings, totals and other formatting functions. A layout, once built, is saved and may be used by more than one specification. The G/L Forms selection is described in the chapter you are now reading. A subsequent chapter, “Building Financial Statement Layouts”, provides a checklist showing how to go about crafting these layouts.
  * In the **specification phase**, you define what cost centers will appear on the report, what layout it will use, and what actual, budgets, or comparatives will appear in the different columns. Specifications, like layouts, are saved for future use. This phase is described in the “Financial Statements” chapter.
  * In the **processing phase**, the financial statement is created and printed. This phase is also described in the “Financial Statements” chapter.

Standard layouts and specifications are provided with the package and may be adapted as needed.

In addition, the Make Proforma layouts and Make SAF layouts selections allow you to produce layouts and specifications automatically. This is described in the “Proforma Layouts and SAF Layouts” chapter.

===Financial Statement Layouts===
Financial statement layouts are sets of parameters you enter to specify the part of the format in which statements print. For each layout you enter two kinds of parameters:

  * Account numbers, to specify which accounts should be printed on that line of the statement.
  * Functions that enter a blank line or print a line total, to control all aspects of the statement’s appearance.

The Financial Statement Layouts selection is for users who understand Operating statements and balance sheets well. As needed, you should consult someone who is very familiar with such financial statements.

===Financial statements===
You can produce the following types of financial statements:

  * Operating Statement
  * Balance Sheet
  * Operating Statement Supporting Schedule
  * Balance Sheet Supporting Schedule
  * Cash Flow Statement
  * Expanded Cash Flow Statement
  * Analysis of Changes in Working Capital
  * Statement of Changes in Financial Position

===To Begin===
Select GL Forms from the General Ledger menu.

===Entering Layouts===
The following screen will appear:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-035.png}}

**EDIT** to change the existing layout.

===Copying a Layout===
The Copy selection enables you to copy an existing layout (including all subaccounts). Copying a layout is a good idea if you want to have two or more layouts that have only slight variations. Click on the blue Copy link to the left of the layout you wish to copy.

The following screen appears:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-036.png}}

Enter the form name and click on the **Duplicate** button. The new form will now be available with the other forms for editing. To edit a form, click on the green Edit link. To delete, click on the red **Delete** link. To check a layout for errors or inconsistencies, click on the green **Check** link. If you do so, the following screen will show. The example screen below denotes that the layout has no errors.

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-037.png}}

===Add a new G/L Form===

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-038.png}}

The top section has a description of the G/L financial statement. This shows up on the top of the printout.
The Column section of the form lets the system know what periods you want to print in each column. For example, 1-3 is the first quarter of the year and “1” stands for period one. The year is variable and during the running of the reports you can change the year.

===Prefix for Column fields===

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-039.png}}

Some prefix codes you can use in front of the numbers can be used to review PRIOR YEARS, BUDGETS, COMPARE YEARS, DIFFERENCES,
PERCENTAGES and UNITS.

  * 1-12 : assume current year
  * CY1-12: also current year 1-12
  * PY1-12 : prior year information
  * PPY1-12: 2 years ago
  * PPPY1-12: 3 years prior
  * DIFC1-C2 : shows the difference between the two columns 1 and 2
  * %C1/C2: shows the calculated percentage of column 1 and column 2
  * %R-C1-P1: shows the calculated percentage of revenues
  * B1-12: the budgets (same file as the actual GL_SUMMARY but with code B for budgets)
  * PYB1-12: prior year budgets, etc.
  * U1-12: would show units (instead of dollars it would show the quantity)

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-040.png}}

Then the lower part is the account number information.

The Row Code is LIT, short for literal or text words you want to print on the financials statement top.
<ACCT> is one account number.

<ACCTR> is a Range of Accounts number, the beginning and ending account number. This will print the details of each account number within that range and use the description of the account number.

<ACCTS> is a summary Range of Accounts number, the beginning and ending account number and print out a total on one line.

<PAT> is the accumulated totals for the column.

====Chapter 17: Financial Statements====

===Introduction===
The G/L Financials selection uses the layouts that you create in G/L Forms to make a printable statement of your fiscal activity for a given year.

===To Begin===
Start by selecting G/L Financials from the General Ledger menu. The following screen appears. Select the report you want, the REPORT YEAR and the location.

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-041.png}}

===Preparing Reports===
From this screen, you will be able to create a report that displays the financial data from your General Ledger in the format specified by the layouts from G/L Forms. Start by selecting a year from the “Report for Year” drop down menu.

The current year will show as the default. Next, choose a layout by checking the box to the left of the form. Note: You can choose more than one form at a time.

This will create a report that displays your financials in successive forms on one printout for the year that you selected.

===Printing Financial Reports===
After you have chosen the year and form(s) for your report, click on the **Prepare Report(s)** button at the top of the screen. This will create a printout like the following:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-042.png}}

The appearance of your report will vary depending on the way you created your layouts in G/L Forms. You can scroll down and side-to-side to view your entire report. Note: Nothing on the report can be edited from this screen.

If you are satisfied with the data and the appearance, you can send the report to the printer by clicking on the printer icon in the top left-hand corner of the report.

The report can be exported to a spreadsheet via cut and paste. Select the report, then right click, copy and then paste the report into your spreadsheet.

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-043.png}}

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-044.png}}

===Exporting Financial Reports===
You may wish to create printable reports that are more customized to your company’s needs. For instance, you may want to have reports with your company logo or customized fonts and format. If so, OpenPro gives you the option of exporting your financial report data in a raw format that can be used and configured by other programs. The process for exporting a financial report begins the same way as printing an OpenPro report: first, choose a year and select a layout or layouts. The layout will not necessarily affect the overall appearance of a report assembled by another program, but it determines the accounts that will be displayed and their order. Then, click the Export link next to the layout you have chosen (reports must be exported one layout at a time). This will take you to a screen like the following:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-045.png}}

From here, you may choose to print the report as-is by clicking the **Print this Document!** button. Otherwise, you need to copy the data and paste it into another program. You can copy the entire report by highlighting all of the data and either click on the selection with the right mouse button and choose **Copy** from the menu”, or press **<ctrl>+<C>** simultaneously on the keyboard with the data highlighted.

====Chapter 18: Trial Balance====
The Trial Balance selection enables you to view the financial balances of your accounts for any given period of time. You may also choose to view the G/L entries for that same amount of time.

The summary report shows a list of accounts and their beginning balances, debits, credits, total changes, and ending balances.

===Summary===
Select **Trial Balance** from the **General Ledger** menu.

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-046.png}}

From here, choose the range of accounts that you wish to be displayed, the beginning and end dates (any dates can be specified), and the location. To view a printable trial balance, check the circle next to **Summary** and click on the **submit** button. This will take you to the following screen:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-047.png}}

===Details===
If you wish to view the G/L entries for your accounts during the time period that you chose, from the main Trial Balance screen, check the **Details** circle and click on **submit**. This will take you to a page similar to the following:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-048.png}}

This function shows the account with its balance information and its entry data below it. For instance, in the above screenshot, the posted entries are all for account No. 10000-000. Individual entry details can be opened and viewed from this screen. You can also add notes to most entries.

====Chapter 19: Calculate or Summarize General Ledger====

===Introduction===
The Summarize General Ledger selection enables you to summarize the entries in the General Ledger Transaction file either by date or by period (depending on which method you specified in the Chart of Accounts).

This function should be run before running your year-end processing, but if you are just starting out and loaded data, you may need to run this to summarize the detail entries loaded into the summary tables. These tables are used for reporting. This procedure can run as many times are you want.

===To Begin===
Select under reports **GL Summary RESET** from the G/L main menu. The following screen appears:

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-049.png}}

This will recalculate all the summary balances from the G/L detail transactions and should be run before running year-end processing and after year-end closes.\\
This procedure can run many times and it will not hurt anything in the system.\\
When it is completed the number of records will display.

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-050.png}}

You should only select the year and not run it for a specific period or location.

When completed, the number of records updated will display. After running this you may also need to run the **recalculate beginning balance for this year**. To do this just re-run the year-end close process; it will warn you that the year-end process has already been completed and it will only recalculate the beginning balances for the new year.

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-051.png}}

====Chapter 20: To Close a Year===
Actions performed by Post closing entries. The following is a list of the actions performed by Post closing entries:

  - The periods shown on the right hand side of the screen in Accounting Periods are moved to the left hand side of the screen. Accounting periods are generated for the new <following> fiscal year and are shown on the right hand side of the screen. The fiscal year is set to be the one shown on the left hand side of the screen. The entry period and reporting period both are set to be the first period.
  - It sets the <comparative amounts> for each G/L account. After Post closing entries is run, the comparatives for an account will contain the balances for that account for each period of the fiscal year just closed. When comparative financial statements are run in the new year, you will then be able to compare new year balances against comparatives from the fiscal year just closed. The <comparative amounts> stored by Post closing entries are called the <new comparatives> throughout this chapter. They are the new comparatives that are set up for use in the new fiscal year, although their amounts correspond to the account balances from the prior year.
  - It creates balance forward entries for all balance sheet accounts. The date for these entries is the first day of the new fiscal year. It also creates balance forward entries for all the Profit and Loss Accounts with beginning balance entries.
  - It automatically posts the net profit/loss to the retained earnings account entered in Rules Setup, Business Rules Account.
  - It prints the Year End Closing Register. As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, you may print the Year End Closing Report prior to running Post closing entries in order to see the information that will be printed on the Year End Closing Register when Post closing entries is actually run.

===Close a Year, Year End Processing Details===
Before you begin, OpenPro.com recommends that **BACKUP YOUR SYSTEM BEFORE RUNNING YEAR END.**

  - Process the recalculation process for the summary transactions. (see Chapter 3)
  - Print all closing financial statements: Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss, including a detailed year-end Trial Balance. Verify that the balances are what you expected.
  - Create the new fiscal period record for the new year. Verify the year you want to close has all the periods checked off and closed.
  - Make backup copies of all G/L data files. You will then have a permanent record of the activity for the fiscal year.

===To Begin:===
Select GL Reports from G/L menu, then select To close a year.

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-052.png}}

From this screen, choose the fiscal year that you wish to close. You may also wish to select a location, but this is optional. This will give you a readout of your fiscal activity that you can print before closing the year completely.

{{products:financial:gl-app-guide:image-0530.png}}

===Print Closing Report===
This selection prints the Year End Closing Report, which shows what net profit/loss entries Post closing entries will make. Print closing report does not perform any other function except showing what will occur when Post closing entries is run. Close a year can be run many times after the initial process, the difference is the second time you can only recalculate the beginning balances for the new year.

You will not be able to continue if:

  * Any entries exist in the G/L Integrated File (which means they have not yet been posted to the General Ledger G/L Postings), the new year has not been created, or all the monthly buckets are not closed for the year you are closing.

The report is printed in two sections. The first section is titled <Closing Entries> and will show all Operating Statement accounts with the amount totals to be posted.

**Processing results**\\
The following are the results of running Post closing entries:

  - The Accounting Period File has been updated for the new year. (You may need to update the current period and reporting period at this point by using Accounting periods if there were delays in closing your fiscal year.)
  - The comparative amounts for each account in the Chart of Accounts are updated to be the ending balances for the periods of the fiscal year just closed.
  - All entries from the fiscal year just closed have been cleared from the General Ledger Transaction File. (Entries made for the new year are left unchanged.)
  - Balance forward entries for all balance sheet accounts have been created. The date for these entries is the last day of the fiscal year just closed.
  - A net profit (loss) entry has been made to the retained earnings account entered in Control information. If <varies by cost center> was entered for the retained earnings account, then individual entries have been made for each of the cost centers of the retained earnings account.

The Working Trial Balance selection enables you to print the Working Trial Balance,
which is used in closing procedures for an accounting period.

[Last Review Date January 2015]

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~~socialite~~