I noticed I have a balance being carried forward from the Prior Fiscal Year in my Retained Earnings account. This is making the figures on my Balance Sheet not match the YTD Net Profit/Loss on my Income statement. How do I correct this?
The most common reason for this to occur is that the Retained Earnings account was not closed out at the end of the year. Many firms choose to enter a manual journal entry for the last day of their fiscal year to bring the Retained Earnings balance to zero; however, this is not required.
For more information, refer to Knowledge Base Article R11590, “All About Retained Earnings.”
Is there a way to generate a list of unreconciled checks that originated in AP?
Yes, you can run a Journal Report with filters to display unreconciled checks from Accounts Payable.
To run a Journal Report for outstanding AP checks
- In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Journal Report.”
- Click the Account tab and select the desired account(s).
- Click the Dates tab. In the Date Range section, in the Date field, select All.
- From the Options tab:
- Set the Record Source to Specific. In the Multiple Record Source Lookup window, select Accounts Payable and click OK.
- Set the Record Status to Specific. In the Multiple Record Status Lookup window, select Outstanding and click OK.
- Click OK to generate the report.
We have accounts we no longer use that still show on the Balance Sheet or Income Statement. Is there a way to prevent these accounts from being shown on these reports?
Accounts can be configured to not show on the Balance Sheet or Income Statement via the Chart of Accounts.
To specify an account not be shown on the Balance Sheet and/or Income Statement
- From the Quick Launch, search for and select “Chart of Accounts.”
- Double-click the account. (Note: If the account is not shown in the list, select the Show Inactive check box in the upper-right corner of the window.)
- Click the Report Options tab.
- Clear the Display on Balance Sheet or Display on Income Statement check box in the Detail Report section.
- Clear the Display on Balance Sheet or Display on Income Statement check box in the Summary Report section.
- Click the Save button.
- Repeat steps 2-6 for any other accounts you want to hide. When you are finished, close the Chart of Accounts window.
When I run my Balance Sheet Report, I see that some of the accounts are printing the right amount, but show as negative instead of positive. Is there a way to change this?
There is an option to Invert Balance Type. When this check box is selected, it will invert how an account’s balance is displayed on reports from positive to negative or vice versa.
To invert an account’s balance type
- In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Chart of Accounts.”
- Double click the account that is printing as a negative.
- On the Report Options tab, in the Advanced section, select or clear the Invert Balance Type check box.
- Click Save.
- Repeat steps 2-4 for any other accounts that are showing as negative and should be positive or vice versa.
Now when you print the Balance Sheet Report, the accounts will show the same amount but will no longer be negative.
I want to see all journal entries that were entered on a certain date, regardless of their transaction date. Is there a report that will show this?
The Journal Report is a flexible and option-rich report that can be run by transaction date or by entry date.
To run the Journal Report by Entry Date
- In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Journal Report.”
- On the Accounts tab, select the All Accounts option.
- On the Dates tab:
- In the Date Range section, select the desired Date criteria.
- In the Date Selection section, select the Date Entered option.
- Enter any other criteria as desired.
- Click OK.
Our monthly reconciliation can take some time to perform. Our bank offers a digital file with all of the cleared transactions; is there a way to import this file and match them up to my General Ledger entries?
General Ledger’s Import Bank Transactions feature uses financial files in multiple formats (.OFX, .QBO, or .QFX) to help clear your bank transactions. This allows you to match up journal entries that are already in the system against the ones in the file.
To import bank transactions
- In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Import Bank Transactions.” Alternatively, you can click the Import Bank Transactions button on the Dashboard.
- Select the financial file downloaded from your bank. Once the import is complete, you will have the option to delete the import file. The Dashboard will be displayed, with the Last Import updated.
To match imported transactions to journal entries
- On the Dashboard, click the red number next to Last Import to see a list of imported transactions.
…or…
In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Bank Account Manager,” and then click the Confirm Transactions button. - On the Matched tab, transactions from the bank that already exist in GL are shown. The match is based off of several criteria; check number, date, and amount are all taken into consideration. Transactions can be edited and unmatched from this window if necessary.
- On the Unmatched tab, new GL journal entries can be made by using the Create button.
- After transactions are matched, click Confirm.
When you start your reconciliation, all cleared entries will be selected, cutting down the amount of time that the reconciliation takes.
I’ve completed reviewing the books for the previous fiscal year and am ready to close them. Is there a way to prevent users from posting or editing journal records for the previous year?
Once you are certain that no additional changes will be needed, you can update the Date through which books are closed setting. Once this value is updated, no additional changes can be made prior to the specified date.
To change the Date through which books are closed
- From the Quick Launch, search for and select “Edit GLS Client.”
- In the Journal Entry Date Restrictions section, specify the new value for the Date through which books are closed.
- Press Ctrl+S.
- Close the Edit GLS Client window.
Note: No user, regardless of assigned access profile or manager status, can make changes prior to the specified Date through which books are closed.
I need to be able to subtotal my GL accounts in a different order to report on income for the firm. However, the current order is what the firm usually needs. I would only need this alternate order for reporting purposes. What can I do?
GL has the ability to set an additional account order in your Chart of Accounts, specifically for this purpose. This can be particularly useful when you need to subtotal accounts in more than one way.
To print reports using an alternate account order, you must enable the use of an alternate account order, and then specify the order in the Chart of Accounts.
To enable the use of an alternate account order
- From the Quick Launch, search for and select “Edit GLS Client.”
- Select the desired Client Number.
- In the Options section, select the Allow an alternate account order to be defined in the Chart of Accounts check box.
- Press Ctrl+S.
To set up an alternate account order
- From the Quick Launch, search for and select “Chart of Accounts.”
- Right-click and select View Alternate Account Order.
- Drag and drop accounts to their desired position.
Once defined, reports can be run using the alternate account order by selecting the Use Alternate Account Order check box on the Account tab of many GL reports.
We are changing our firm’s fiscal year from the standard calendar year to one that ends in October. How do we update General Ledger to reflect this change?
General Ledger allows you to specify the starting month of your fiscal year. This option is reflected in reports and Account Information windows, and can be changed at any time.
To specify a new Beginning Fiscal Month
- From the Quick Launch, search for and select “Edit GLS Client.”
- Change the Beginning Fiscal Month to the new beginning month of your firm’s fiscal year.
- Press Ctrl+S.
Our firm has been making adjustments to our spending and investing. Is there a way to see how this has affected our income since the beginning of the year?
General Ledger has a Statement of Cash Flows Report that allows you to see how changes in Balance Sheet and Income Statement accounts affect the firm’s cash flow.
To run the Statement of Cash Flows report
- In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Statement of Cash Flows.”
- Select a Date period of “Current Year,” and select Include columns for each month.
- Specify any additional options, and then click OK to generate the report.
Tip: If you preview the report, you can click on any of the displayed accounts to access the Account Information window, where you can access additional information.
If any account is printing in the incorrect section, you may need to designate it as Operating, Investing, or Financing.
To designate an account as Operating, Investing, or Financing
- In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Chart of Accounts.”
- Double click the account, then select the Report Options tab.
- In the Statement of Cash Flows Classification section, select Operating, Investing, or Financing. This will change the section where the account displays in the Statement of Cash Flows.
- Click Save.
While I was running a report, I noticed that an account was given the wrong account number. Is there a way to change the account number without losing any journal entries?
This can be accomplished by running the Renumber GLS Account utility. All associated journal entries, deposit slips, and recurring entries are also renumbered.
To renumber an account
- In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Renumber Account.”
- In the Old Account Number field, select the account you want to renumber.
- In the New Account Number field, enter the new account number you want for the account.
- Click OK.
Note: Renumbering an account in GL will automatically update the references to that account in Tabs3 Billing, AP, and Trust integration settings. However, GL report definitions and GL Report Writer reports that use the Old Account Number will not be updated to use the New Account number.
