Online Help for Accounting Package

Main Menu

This is the online help section for the main menu. It really needs to be worked on.


Program Configuration

This is the online help section for the Program configuration screen.


Tax Configuration

I really don't know what is going to go in here yet.


Accounts

Create an Account

  1. From the Main Menu Choose Account Configuration.

  2. Choose Create new Account

  3. Choose the Account Type.

  4. Enter the Account Name and Account Number. Note: the number must start with 1-5 depending on the Account Type.

  5. If the account is a revenue or expense (4 or 5) then you may unselect the taxable flag if this account is not taxable.

  6. Click Create Account


Edit an Account

  1. From the Main Menu Choose Configuration.

  2. Account Configuration.

  3. Choose Edit Account

  4. Choose the Account.

  5. Change the atrributes desired.

Name

Active

Taxable

  1. Click Update


Delete an Account

Accounts cannot be deleted in the system once created. The account should not be deleted if it is being used anywhere in the system. Deleting a used account will cause errors in the system. A better idea is to change the name of the account and reuse it for something else. The accounts can be deleted by an experienced user of PostGreSQL if he/she accesses the database through the PSQL interface. This is not reccommended. We will take no responsibility for any errors caused through users affecting the system this way!


Mark an Account Inactive

Accounts set to inactive will not show in lists of accounts such as assignment to ledgers and data entry lists.

  1. From the main menu choose Configuration

  2. Account Configuration

  3. Edit Account

  4. Choose the account

  5. Uncheck the Active box

  6. Click Update.


Assign/Unassign an Account to a Ledger

  1. From the Main Menu Choose Configuration.

  2. Account Configuration

  3. Choose Assign Accounts to Ledgers

  4. Select an account or a Ledger

Select Account will show a list of the available ledgers followed by Yes and No.

  1. Turn assignments on and off by choosing Yes and No.

Select Ledger will show two lists of the available accounts. The list on the left are the Un-Assigned accounts.

  1. Move to the desired accounts from one list to another by choosing them and clicking the single ">" buttons.

  2. Click the double ">>" buttons to move the entire list to the other side.


Set an Account to be Taxable or Not Taxable (Deductible or not Deductible)

Edit an Account to set taxable status.


Ledger

Edit Ledger Options

  1. From the Main Menu Choose the Ledger to modify

  2. Click Edit.

OR

  1. Open the Ledger

  2. Choose Options from the first menu.

Ledger Name

Color

Cash/Accrual

Business Type

Ledger Create

  1. Goto the Main Menu

  2. Enter a Name for the ledger in the box to the left of the Add New button.

  3. Click this button and fill in the options.

Ledger Code

Color

Cash or Accrual Basis

Business Type

Fiscal Year

First Year to Open Books - is the first year for which data will be entered into the system.

Ledger Delete

  1. From the Main Menu Choose the Ledger to delete

  2. Click Delete

  3. Click Yes for Are you Sure?



Sub Accounts

Create a Sub Account

  1. From the Main Menu Choose Configuration.

  2. Choose Sub Accounts

  3. A list of the current sub accounts will be displayed by Sub Account Type.

  4. Click New Sub Account

  5. Enter the Sub Account Name and Sub Account Number and Sub Account Type.

  6. Click Create Sub Account


Edit a Sub Account

  1. From the Main Menu Choose Configuration.

  2. Choose Sub Accounts

  3. A list of the current sub accounts will be displayed by Sub Account Type.

  4. Click on the radio button to the left of the sub account name

  5. Click Edit if the page does not autosubmit.

  6. Change the Sub Account Name.

  7. Click Update


Delete a Sub Account

  1. From the Main Menu Choose Configuration.

  2. Choose Sub Accounts

  3. A list of the current sub accounts will be displayed by Sub Account Type.

  4. Click on the Delete check box to the right of the sub account to delete.

  5. Click Delete if the page does not autosubmit.



Sub Entities

Create a Sub Entity

  1. Open the Ledger that will contain the sub entity from the Main Menu.

  2. Choose Sub Entities from the Ledger Menu at the top of the screen.

  3. Type in the Sub Entity Name and Sub Entity Code

  4. Click Create


Edit a Sub Entity

  1. Open the Ledger that contains the sub entity from the Main Menu.

  2. Choose Sub Entities from the Ledger Menu at the top of the screen.

  3. Choose the Sub Entity to be edited.

  4. Change the Sub Entity Name

  5. Click Update


Delete a Sub Entity

  1. Open the Ledger that will contain the sub entity from the Main Menu.

  2. Choose Sub Entities from the Ledger Menu at the top of the screen.

  3. Choose the Sub Entity to be deleted.

  4. Click Delete


Transactions

Enter a transaction

  1. From the Main Menu Open a ledger

  2. Click the New Transaction link on the Ledger Summary Screen

The first page of a transaction holds the Journal, Date, Payee-Payer, Memo, and Remembered fields.

  1. Choose the Journal for this entry.

  2. Enter the Date of the transaction.

  3. Choose from the list or Enter the Payee or Payor to whom this transaction refers to.

  4. Enter other pertinent information into the Memo Field.

  5. Click Continue

The second half of a transaction contains the rows of data that affect your accounts in the system. For example, when you write a check, the Bank account is credited. There are some example entries below.

  1. If you need to make changes to the memo field you can do so here

  2. Data will automatically be entered into the rows for you if the system recognized the Payee-Payer. This is the same data that was entered last time you made a payment to this Payee-Payer. Any check and deposit numbers that were used last time are automatically updated to the next available numbers.

  1. To enter a new row, choose or enter the Sub Entity, Account, Sub Account, and Debit/Credit in the top half of the screen and click Enter.

  2. To delete a row click the "D" next to it.

  3. To edit a row click the "E" next to it then change the fields desired and click Enter.

  4. If there are only two rows of data, you can change both the debit and credit to a different number by entering it in the Debit field with all other fields blank and Clicking Enter.

  5. The Recalculate button will calculate the difference between debit and credit totals and place it in the proper field for you.

  6. When finished with the transaction click the Submit button.


Examples: * denotes optional fields that do not have to be filled in

Journal

Date

Payee-Payer*

Remembered*

Memo*

Cash Purchases

1/1/00

Electric Co.


Dec Electric

Sub Entity*

Account

Sub Account*

Debit

Credit

Business

Utilities~

Electric

20


Business

Bank Account

1032


20


Journal

Date

Payee-Payer*

Remembered*

Memo*

General

1/5/00

Electric Co.


Personal electric

Sub Entity*

Account

Sub Account*

Debit

Credit

Personal

Electric


50


Personal

Savings Account

452


50


Journal

Date

Payee-Payer*

Remembered*

Memo*

Cash Reciepts

1/5/00

Deposits


Paycheck and Dividend

Sub Entity*

Account

Sub Account*

Debit

Credit


Bank Account

200

905



Salary Income



900


Dividend Revenue

Corp.


5


Registers

Reconcile an Account

  1. Go to Registers

  2. Choose the account to reconcile and enter the dates from your statement. This will reconcile your books to your statement.

  3. Make sure the Reconcile checkbox is checked.

  4. Click Display Register

The top section is the outstanding transactions. These are transactions that you knew about but your statement did not at the last reconciliation. The second half should look similar to your statement.

  1. For every transaction that cleared on your statement click the button next to that entry on the screen until it shows an "X" to m mark it as cleared.

  1. After you clear entries click the button Clear Entries

  2. If any transactions are missing from your screen you will need to enter them and Re-Edit the register.

  3. The top portion of the screen should give the beginning and ending balances that are on your statement. If they do not match, Re-Edit the register, find, and fix the problems until they do match.

  4. When all is correct, the bottom portion of the screen should show you the process to reconcile the statement to your books.

  5. Click Finish Reconciliation when everything matches. This will change all the "X"s to "r"s.


Reports

Reports are accessed by choosing from the list of reports in the reporting section. The categories of reports are Standard, Memorized, Detailed, Payroll, and Other. Custom reports can be created by you. There are some standard features to reports. Most have date select boxes on the first screen that fill in the date more quickly for you. After running a report you can customize it by changing settings in the top frame and re-displaying the report. Further customization can be done by clicking the customization link. This will allow you to change font sizes, number styles, and account/sub account formats.


Tax Estimates

I make my 4th qtr tax estimate in the next year. How do I have it show up on my reports for this year?

One method is to enter a transaction on the last day of the year for the 4th qtr estimate as a debit to the Tax Estimate account with an opposing credit to a Tax Payable account. When you actually pay the estimate in the next year, credit your bank account and debit the Tax Payable account. This will zero out the payable account and show the tax estimate in the correct year.



Copyright (c) 2001 XIWA Project
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1; A copy of the license is available at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/licenses.html#FDL.

Updated: $Id: help.html,v 1.1 2001/09/06 10:21:19 moreejt Exp $