Flexgen General Ledger for Beginners

Class Purpose Intended for the person who has little experience using LGC’s Flexgen Accounting software To demonstrate how to get important financial reports from the Accounting software Review method of creating and posting manual transactions Indentify errors to look for on financial reports

Highlights What is the General Ledger? How other FlexGen processes affect the GL GL Reports that shouldn’t be ignored Manual Transactions Check Reconciliation Month End

What is my General Ledger? A general ledger is a set of accounts used to track all financial transactions. The main purpose of the general ledger is to hold financial information from posted transactions to generate financial reports. How does the General Ledger affect YOU?

General Ledger Entries will be made to the ledger during payroll and will be paid out during the purchasing process. All work done in these two systems have a bearing on your general ledger. This department is responsible for balancing the monies withheld to what the vendor is requesting payment for. If there are differences then one or both of the other departments may need to be involved. Payroll Purchasing General Ledger Entries will be made to the ledger during payroll. Any general ledger account number changes that are made or pickup of new deductions may need to involve one or both of the other departments.

Highlights What is my General Ledger? How other FlexGen processes affect the General Ledger GL Reports you shouldn’t ignore Manual Transactions Check Reconciliation Month End

General Ledger - Reports From the list of Standard Reports use “Page Up” button or “Page Down” button to highlight desired report. Then Select [F4] to execute the report.

Balance Sheet - Assets Asset Accounts Include  Bank Accounts  Receivables  Investment Accounts  Due from other funds  Prepaid Expenses Asset Accounts  Carry a Positive or Debit balance  A Debit increases ending balance  A Credit decreases ending balance  Asset Account function numbers begin with a 1

 Liability Account function numbers begin with a 2 Liability Accounts Include -  Unpaid Payroll deductions  Due To Other Funds  Payables  Short Term Debt Liability Accounts  Carry a Negative or Credit balance  A Credit increase ending balance  A Debit decreases ending balance Balance Sheet - Liabilities

 Equity Account function numbers begin with a 3 Equity Accounts Include  Reserves  Fund Balance Accounts Equity Accounts  Carry a negative or Credit balance  A credit increases ending balance  A debit decreases ending balance Balance Sheet - Equities EXCEPTION: City Equity Accounts are included with Liabilities

General Ledger – Balance Sheet Account is a Consolidated Account for YTD Expenditures Account is a Consolidated Account for YTD Revenues

General Ledger – Balance Sheet Total outstanding Current Year PO’s – Total outstanding Prior Year PO’s – Total Budget (BG) entries made to Undesignated Fund Balance At Year End Total Revenues are reversed thru UFB (Debited) Total Expenditures are reversed thru UFB (Credited) The Difference remains in Undesignated Fund Balance In short, Revenue and Expenditure accounts are Temporary accounts that are eventually rolled into the Fund Balance at Year-End.

A Problem Balance Sheet Assets DO NOT normally have a credit balance Liabilities DO NOT normally have a debit balance

How do I fix my problem balance sheet?

Account Analysis The Account Analysis report will show ALL entries that have affected an account based on report criteria entered. By reviewing all transactions, potential errors can be revealed. Account Analysis reports can be generated by specific order. This example is by Date order.

Account Analysis

 Revenue Account function numbers for counties begin with a 4 Revenue Accounts Include  Tax Levies  Sales of Assets  Charges for Services  Fund Transfers In Revenue Accounts  Carry a negative or credit balance  A credit increases ending balance  A debit decreases ending balance Statement of Revenue  Revenue Account function numbers for cities begin with a 3

Original Estimate and Amended budgeted amounts Total Estimated Budget Year-to-Date Realized Percent Realized Unrealized Current Revenue Statement of Revenue Reading the Report

 Expenditure Account function numbers begin with 5-9 in counties.  Expenditure Account function numbers begin with 4-9 in cities. Expenditure Accounts Include  Purchases made  Wages Paid  Capital Outlays  Fund Transfers Out Expenditure Accounts  Carry a Positive or Debit balance  A Debit increase ending balance  A Credit decreases ending balance Statement of Expenditure & Encumbrances  Helpful in controlling the expenses incurred on a daily, monthly, and annual basis  Three types of reports: Standard – Summarized – by object  Very useful when budgeting

State of Expenditures & Encumbrances Reading the Report Original Appropriations and Amendments Total Appropriations YTD Expenditures and YTD Encumbrances Unencumbered Balance and Percent Used Current Month Expenditures and Encumbrances

Over Expenditure? State of Expenditures & Encumbrances

Highlights What is my General Ledger? How other FlexGen processes affect the General Ledger GL Reports you shouldn’t ignore Manual Transactions Bank Reconciliation Month End

Manual Transactions From the main menu, choose Accounting Within the Accounting Menu, choose “Manual Transaction” A Manual Transaction is a transaction that is not generated by another process within the software. The user manually enters GL account numbers and debits and credits.

Transaction Types Within the Transaction Maintenance Menu Choose Transaction Type. Note: to choose the desired transaction type, you can use the arrow keys on your keyboard or type the corresponding letter associated with the transaction type.

Creating a Manual Transaction Transaction Type: This will default based on what is chosen on previous screen.

Creating a Manual Transaction Fund: Type fund number or Look Up F2 and choose fund number. Note: You can only post transaction for the fund selected.

Transaction Number: Enter the transaction number or enter through to allow the system to assign the transaction number Creating a Manual Transaction

Transaction Date: Enter the date that you want the transaction to be posted the GL.

Creating a Manual Transaction Description: Enter a meaningful description Funct: F2 LookUp or Enter the account number for the transaction. Enter Debit and Credit amounts on corresponding lines.

Posting Manual Transactions To view posting options, select “2” Note: to choose the desired posting option, you can use the arrow keys on your keyboard or type the corresponding letter associated with the posting option.

Posting Manual Transactions Posting Option “A” Pre-Post Transaction Report will generate a report showing the transactions that are going to be posted. Review this report for potential errors.

Choosing Posting Option “D” Post Individual Transaction, will allow you to select and post [F4] single transactions Choosing Posting Option “C” Post Transactions by Type, will allow you to select and Post [F4] Posting Manual Transactions

Highlights What is my General Ledger? How other FlexGen processes affect the General Ledger GL Reports you shouldn’t ignore Manual Transactions Check Reconciliation Month End

Reconciling Bank Statements

The instructions for reconciliation are displayed at the top of the window 1=Reconcile Enter=Skip Space Bar=Unreconcile Scroll Check Reconciliation Enter the Fund Number Enter Check No to start the scroll

Batch Check Reconciliation Automatically Reconciles all checks in the range entered Select Check Type Enter Ranges Exercise Caution when using as No option to mass unreconcile

Reconciling Bank Statements Reconciling Checks by Diskette If a county office, information available from your county trustee Information provided on flash drive or disk Automatically reconciles checks/warrants

Reconciling Bank Statements Full Check Maintenance Use Full Check Maintenance for making corrections to the Check Reconciliation file To correct a reconciled check, locate the check using the Lookup options, then change the Check Status

Reconciling Bank Statements Reports Use these reports to identify checks by status Located in the Check Reconciliation menu Each of the three reports provides you with a Selection box similar to the one pictured

Reconciling Bank Statements Unreconciled Report Unreconciled Checks Report Provides total of unreconciled checks by account (Fund and Function) Lists Check No., Date, Paid to the Order Of, Check Type (Pay or Ven) Reconciled status, and Amount

Reconciling Bank Statements Reconciled Report Reconciled Checks Report Provides total of reconciled checks by account (Fund and Function) Lists Check No., Date, Paid to the Order Of, Check Type (Pay or Ven) Reconciled status, and Amount

Reconciling Bank Statements Reconciled & Unreconciled Reports Reconciled and Unreconciled (Both) Reports provides all the information presented in the two previous examples Provides separate totals for Reconciled and Unreconciled checks

Reconciling Bank Statements Account Analysis – Cash Account Most useful report in assisting with the reconciliation of bank statements To run, select Account Analysis from the Report panel, then select Account from the Select order Enter the Beginning and Ending Month and your Cash in Bank account number in the fields as shown in the Account Analysis Account Order Window.

Reconciling Bank Statements Account Analysis – Cash Account

Reconciling Bank Statements Once all adjustments and entries have been identified and made to the Cash in Bank account – Possible Adjustments Include bank service charges authorized automated debits or credits bank errors A Balance Sheet will provide you with a close to real-time cash in bank balance Balancing

Reconciling Bank Statements Balancing Balance Per Bank Statement $$$$$.$$ LESS Outstanding Checks From Unreconciled Checks Report - $$$$$.$$ PLUS Deposits in Transit From Cash in Bank Account Analysis + $$$$$.$$ Should Equal Balance Per Balance Sheet From Balance = $$$$$.$$

Highlights What is my General Ledger? How other FlexGen processes affect the General Ledger GL Reports you shouldn’t ignore Manual Transactions Check Reconciliation Month End

The following steps should provide you with a guideline for closing your Accounting month Reconcile your checking account. Ensure all entries for the month you are closing have been made to the General Ledger. All checks, receipts, and journal entries. Verify balances on your Balance Sheet – Assets should have Debit balances – Liabilities should have Credit balances – Determine if you have paid all appropriate Liabilities, such as Insurance, Retirement, or Taxes. – You will also want to ensure your Fund is in Balance Month-End Closing Before you begin…

Month-End Closing The Steps Step 1 scans for unposted manual transactions Step 2 builds G/L Control Account Records Step 3 prints the Month-End accounting reports Could be a lengthy process Step 4 clears the Accounting Flags Step 4 is the Point of No Return

Any Questions?

This concludes our Flexgen General Ledger for Beginners ses sion. Visit our website for full documentation and useful information for other applications on our website…