You can customize your financial statements to display any client's data in any format, and to create different types of statements for different recipients. Customizing client financials lets you meet the reporting needs of any recipient:
§ Combine multiple balances on a single line, print balances individually, or any combination.
§ Print a subtotal on your main report and the details on a supporting schedule.
§ Control the sequence in which accounts print on your statements.
§ Customize the headings for all grouped accounts on your statements.
§ Tailor your financials for the needs of a specific business or for the needs of different recipients (such as the client, partners or shareholders, a bank, or your own records).
§ Copy customized settings from one client to another.
To customize your balance sheet and income statement, you can use formats, groups, and styles:
§ Formats: A format is a complete set of class, group, and style definitions for your balance sheet and income statement. Multiple formats can be created for any client (such as for your client, the bank, and yourself), and you can specify the formats your clients can view.
§ Types and Classes: A class (such as Current Assets or Operating Expenses, for example) is the primary level of subdivision for any account within a type (Asset, Revenue, etc.). Types and classes are assigned when you create accounts, and cannot be changed here.
§ Groups: Groups are sets of related accounts (or a single account) to which you apply a style. The available pre-defined groups meet most user's needs, but you can create custom groups if necessary. Accounts that have not been assigned to a group still print on your financials, but you must include the account in a group to use style settings.
§ Styles: Styles are settings applied to classes or groups, for example to combine items to print on a single line, to print subtotals, or to print details on a supporting schedule. For groups, you can also assign the order in which the groups print within a class. Combine and List are the basic styles for any class or group, and control the level of detail that prints on your report. Combine prints the entire class or group on a single line, while List prints each account, group, or ungrouped account on a separate line.
Whether you copy formatting to a client from another client with a similar chart of accounts, or you use one of the available standardized charts, much of the formatting is pre-defined, allowing you to simply make adjustments as needed for the active client.
To customize your financials:
1. Select Custom Formatting from the Financials menu to open the Customize screen.
The first time you access the Customize screen, you are prompted to select a source for your formatting.
2. Select one of the following options in the Select Source field:
§ Copy Defaults: Copies pre-defined group codes to your client.
§ Copy from Other Clients: Copies custom formatting from a selected client. If you select Copy from Other Clients, the Select the Client drop-down list is enabled, allowing you to select the client whose formatting you want to copy.
3. Click Copy to apply the pre-defined groups you selected to your client.
The screen changes to allow you to create or edit custom formats.
Note: After you select a source and copy groups to your client, the screen to create and maintain your formats, styles, and groups appears when you select Custom Formatting from the Financials drop-down menu.
4. Click Add to create a format, or select a format to edit from the Select Format drop-down list.
Note: You can optionally open a format from the Select Format drop-down list and click Delete to delete the format you created, and return to the Initial Setup screen.
5. Enter a recognizable name for your format in the Name field and select Allow Client Access to allow your client to print financials using this format.
6. Specify either Balance Sheet or Income Statement in the Select Type field to indicate the type of format you are creating.
Balance Sheets and Income Statements are formatted separately, but can be saved under the same format name for printing your financials.
The Details panel appears, listing detailed information about the accounts.
Columns identify the Account, Type, Class, and Class Style, let you Assign or Change the Group, and indicate the Group and Group Style, and the Print Order.
You can sort the table by any of the column headings.
7. Click the drop-down list in the Class Style column to indicate the style to apply to the listed class.
You can select one of the following styles:
§ Combine into one line: Prints the entire class on a single line.
§ Combine and print schedule: Prints the entire class on a single line and prints a supporting schedule, displaying each group (and ungrouped accounts) on a single line, following the report.
§ List: Prints each group (and all ungrouped accounts with balances) on a single line.
§ List with Subtotal, List with Heading, or List with both: Prints each group (and all ungrouped accounts with balances) on a single line and prints the class description as a heading or a subtotal for the class or both (the default setting for classes is List with Subtotal and Heading).
8. Use the drop-down list in the Group column to select a group (both pre-defined and custom groups are listed) from the active class to assign a group to an account or change the group assignment
9. Use the drop-down list in the Group Style column to define the style setting for the group and enter a number in the Print Order column to assign the order in which groups print within the class.
You can select one of the following options from the list in the Group Style column:
§ Combine into one line: Prints the entire group on a single line.
§ Combine and print supporting schedule: Prints the entire group on a single line and prints a supporting schedule, displaying each account on a single line, following the report.
§ List: Prints all accounts on separate lines (the default setting for groups.)
§ List with Subtotal, List with Heading, or List with both: Prints accounts on separate lines and prints group descriptions as a heading, a subtotal, or both for the group.
10. (Optional) Click the Group Codes button to open the Create or Edit Group dialog in which you can add a new group or edit an existing group.
You can use this dialog to create custom groups if the available pre-defined groups do not serve your needs (for example, if you are using one of the Miscellaneous classes in the Expenses section of the Income Statement).
11. Select the Account Type and Class for the new group from the drop-down lists in the Account Type and Class fields, enter a unique identifier for the group in the Group Code field and a description to appear on reports in the Group Name field, and click Create/Save.
To edit an existing group, select the group from the Select Group drop-down list, and edit the Group Code and Group Name for that group.
12. Click Save to save the format you created.
Once you save the format, you can easily create a companion format using your settings.
For example, if you created and saved a Balance Sheet format, you can click Income Statement in the Select Type field and select the format you just saved from the Select Format drop-down list to open the format to customize it for income statements.
Alternatively, you can click Add to create another format, using a different name. The new format inherits its properties from the previous format you created, making it easy to create multiple formats based on an original model. You can edit the new format as necessary and click Save.