Calculating Account Balances

Overview

Use this job aid to extract information from the general ledger files which is used to build a work file for use in producing the financial reports and statements. The work file combines information for use on financial reports from the journal entry file, the prior year journal entry file, and the budget information file. Once the information is extracted, it remains unchanged in the work file for producing various financial statements until the work file is deleted or a new work file is created. If the balances in the general ledger change as a result of additional journal entries being posted or reversed in the current or prior journal periods, or if the budget information is changed, then the work file is no longer accurate and this job aid must be completed again.

To calculate account balances:

1. From the Toolbar, click LDG for General Ledger.

2. From the General Ledger menu, select Financial Reporting, and then select Calculate Account Balances.

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3. In the Option box, choose #1 for Calculate Period Comparatives. The financial statements that print from the work file this option creates show the activity totals from both a current period and a prior period. Since the work file may contain journal entries from a fiscal year that has not yet been closed and from the current fiscal year, the work file may actually include information from two different fiscal periods. The current period and prior period can be limited to a single journal period or to a range of consecutively numbered journal periods. Choose #2 for Prior Year Comparatives. The financial statements that print from the work file this option creates show the activity totals from both a period in  this fiscal year and the prior fiscal year. Since the work file may contain journal entries from a fiscal year that has not yet been closed and from the current fiscal year, financial statements that contain information from two overlapping fiscal years may be misleading. The current period and prior period can be limited to a single journal period or to a range of consecutively numbered journal periods.
Confirm that the dates displayed for the selected periods are the desired date ranges. For example, if the journal period frequency was defined in the previous fiscal year as weekly and re-defined in the current fiscal year as monthly, the selected date ranges may be inappropriate for comparison. Or choose #3 for Current Information This option extracts information for a single period. The period may be limited to a single journal period or to a range of consecutively numbered journal periods.

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4. In the Beginning and Ending boxes, type the journal period numbers to create the work file for.

5. Click OK.

6. For the Prior Year Comparatives, Click OK.

Learn more about Financial Reporting feature: