Advanced Fund
Management Solutions

August 2006
Hi Everyone,

We haven't mentioned the Financial Report Writer for a while, so we are dedicating most of the issue to explaining the new convert feature and how to setup weekly reporting. Both features are controlled by the columns, too, no need to modify any other portion of a report to test them! As always, if you have any questions regarding an Accufund® issue, please contact me at (318) 253-8556, or email me at jgarv@afmss.com

Thanks,
Judy Garver

Using Convert Columns

Version 3.04 allows us to define a Financial Report column as a "Convert" column. This means that under certain conditions, the column can report actuals (or budgets, encumbrance, etc.), and in other situations it can report budget (or actuals, encumbrance, etc.). One place where this can be useful is in forecasting total amounts for accounts even though you are not all the way through your year. The example we will explore this month shows actuals for the months we have them, and then budget amounts for the remainder of the year. The columns adapt to report either, based on the "convert" date we choose when we run the report. This is hard to understand without first looking at a sample Financial Report Writer report.

The report below shows one account, and twelve months of numeric columns. There is also a total column that sums the twelve months. The report was run with a report date of 06/30/2005 (the organization's year end date). The report was, however, run at the end of February, 2005. At that time actuals had accumulated only through February. When the report was run, it was given a "convert" date in addition to the 06/30/2005 report date. What we have then, is a report that shows the twelve months leading up to 06/30/2005. Where there are actuals (up through February), we see actuals. For March through June we see the Budget amounts for the account. The Forecast column adds the combination of actuals and budget amounts and displays an "estimate" of what the account's net activity will be for the year.

To understand how this report works (it's a modified copy of the z4c-Monthly Revenue Expense report provided by AccuFund in the SampleAF database) we'll look at one of the monthly columns, below:

There is nothing unusual about the column until you get to the new check box called "Converting Column". This turns the feature on, and allows the switch from one posting type to another to occur. The "Post Type" field specifies what will occur in the column when the "To Post Type" does not have any entries (in our report, this means that if the column does not have actuals, budget amounts will appear).

Note: you may use any combination of Posting Types you wish—they are available on the drop down lists.

The Balance field has Period Total in it. This means the column will show a month's net activity. It is also extracting activity from the month prior to the reporting date, in the current year. There are eleven other columns in the report that are defined the same way, except that their "Extract From" entries are unique and pull from 1 through 11 months prior to the report date. So, by looking at this column, we can see that it is capable of reporting either actuals or budgets. What triggers this feature is the convert date we use when we run the report.

Below is shown the "Produce Financial Report" form. There is a new "Convert On" date field (because our report has a column using the convert feature). Since it is set to 2/28/2005, the columns before and including the February column will all report Actuals (since it's in the "To Post Type" field). After that column (here meaning March through the end of the fiscal year) Budget amounts will appear (since it's in the "Post Type" field). The "Report Date" field is set to 6/30/2005 because that is the organization's year end and all of the columns key off of that date (i.e. 1 through 11 months prior to it).

This new feature can assist you in forecasting your year end numbers for your budgeted accounts. Of course, the more accurate the budget, the better the forecast!

Weekly Reporting

Even though you are doing accounting on a monthly basis (twelve accounting periods per year), you may have a need to track events or other activity that occurs on a weekly basis. And, we assume, it must be reported on a weekly basis.

This article explains how to setup columns in the Financial Report Writer to report weekly activity several different ways. There is not room to explain how to create financial reports-we'll be limited to discussing the nature of the columns that make it happen. However, you are encouraged to copy an existing financial report with monthly columns in it and modify it to report weekly. The fact that columns control the whole process makes it very easy to do.

The first thing you must understand is that unlike a month, which has a well defined ending date (August 31st, for example), weekly reporting periods could end on Friday, Sunday, or another day. This week ending day is defined in Setup/General Ledger/Account Structure. Here is the Account Structure form from the AccuFund SamplesAF database:

Note that Sunday (as indicated by the Cursor arrow) is considered the last day of the week for reporting purposes.

Next, let's look at the options available to us if we wish to enter a weekly column into one of our financial reports. The form below is a typical column form with the "Balance" choices opened up.

The balance choices are the familiar Period Total, Year to Date, Quarterly Total, etc. Mixed in with these choices are three that have to do with weekly reporting.

First, we'll examine the "Weekly Total" option. It will be helpful to look at a calendar, as shown below:

This is the same calendar used when selecting the report date when you run a financial report. The calendar is for the month of May. Let's assume that you want to report transactions recorded between May 23rd (a Monday) and May 29th (a Sunday). When you run the report, select a reporting date of May 29th (this is a week ending date). AccuFund will then look at the column instruction (Weekly Total, namely) and report the total of transactions between May 23-29. If you have another column in the report that says to report Weekly Total for 1 week ago, that column will report May 16-22. (If you, by mistake, use a reporting date of May 28th, which is the day before a week ending date, the column will report totals for the week May 16-22.)

The Weekly Inception To Date and Weekly Year To Date options work in a similar fashion. If you wish to report all weekly activity from the first transaction ever made to an account, and up through a week specified by the reporting date, choose the "Weekly Inception To Date" option. Using a reporting date of May 29th would then go back any number of years and report the first transaction up through the reporting date. If you wish to report "Weekly Year To Date", use the same reporting date of May 29th (in our example). The system will report back to the first day of the year, and end on the week ending date you use for the reporting date. If the first week started in the last several days of the previous fiscal year, and those several days had transactions in them, they would not be reported by the "Weekly Year To Date" option.

Weekly reporting may be the answer for the financial reporting of some of your accounts. It's easy, once you understand the relationship between your week ending day and the reporting date. The column takes it from there!

Did You Know...?

General Ledger. You may select a closed period by going to General Ledger and clicking on the icon with the padlock. When you select a date, all transactions before that date are prevented. Each month you could increase the closed period by one month. You may also restrict transactions to (for example) two months after the closed period. In this way, you can prevent entries from being made several months out, or into next year (unless it is within the "Maximum Months" you have defined.

Accounts Payable. Checks and check registers may be reprinted at any time. Go to Accounts Payable/Browse Paid Bills and highlight the check run of interest. Then select either the "Checks" button or the "Register" button to reprint checks or the register, respectively.

Cash Management. It's easy to browse any reconciliations you have performed. If you wish to see deposits, checks and adjustments, go to Cash Management/Browse Reconciliations. Once there highlight the reconciliation of interest and click on the "View" button. The adjustments may include interest earned and service fees. Of course, there's a Print button available so you can print the information. This makes check "research" much easier!