In the Financial Edge, A is for Account Codes! Why can’t I get this new General Ledger account setup??
Do I have proper permission?
Setting up new General Ledger Accounts can be confusing if you’re new to the Financial Edge because many users don’t realize that each segment of the desired account number must exist and be setup in Configuration prior to setting up the full General Ledger account, kind of like the pieces of a puzzle. We can’t see the whole picture without first having all the pieces.
Where do you go to do this?
First, define your accounts structure in General Ledger. In General Ledger/Configuration/Account Setup/Account Structure. You define:
- the name of the segment (Fund, Department, Account code, etc up to 10 maximum.)
- the length of each segment (up to 30 characters maximum total)
- separator (such as a hyphen)
Do you want to be able to sort by Fund? Department? Something else??? What do my reports need to look like?
Decide if the structure you chose will work for you BEFORE proceeding. Do you have enough digits to get the reports back out of the system that you need? Will you be able to sort appropriately?
Next, define the range piece. Go to Configuration/Account setup/Category Definitions and give it the range of account codes for each Category of accounts.
- Asset
- Liability
- Fund Balance
- Revenues
- Expenses
Why won’t it let me put Expenses FIRST?
Note: The Account Codes must be in this order.
An example of account code ranges would be:
- Assets 1000-1999
- Liabilities 2000 – 2999
- Fund balances 3000-3999
And so on…
An example of a full General Ledger account number structure:
- First 2 digits are the Fund
- next 2 digits are the Department
- next 4 digits are the account codes
So, put it all together, and it would look like 01-10-1000.
Each segment must exist prior to creating the actual General Ledger account.
- 01 is the Fund (setup first in General Ledger/Configuration/Funds)
- 10 is the Department (setup in General Ledger/Configuration/Tables/Department)
- 1000 is the Account Code (setup in General Ledger/Configuration/Account Codes)
After each segment is configured, go to General Ledger/Records/Accounts/Add a New Account and put it all together to setup the FULL General Ledger Account.
It’s not such a tough puzzle to solve when you have all the pieces, is it?
