This viewer is used to create and maintain GL Report Row Layouts.
The rows on the report are defined by the contents of the lower section of this viewer. Each has a Row Type field that tells the GL Report Generator how to process the contents of the line. The meanings of the other fields on the line depend on the Row Type.
The production of Cash Flow reports requires that certain report rows have column formulas that are different from the column definitions specified in the GL Column Layout. It turns out that this can be accomplished by changing the meaning of certain operand tokens used in the column formulas by means of the Misc. field.
Report Row Id:
Uniquely defines this row layout. Required.
GL Report Col Name:
Describes this layout. This field is optional but highly recommended.
Row Type:
Double-click to select from a list of valid row types. This field controls how the information in the remaining fields is processed.
Accnt
The ‘Accnt’ Row Type is used to print information for an account, or a set of accounts.
AccntAccum
This Row Type is used to include accounts within a total level but not actually want to print the account information. The ‘AccntAccum’ Row Type acts just like the ‘Accnt’ row type except that it does not generate any output.
AccntExpId
The row type ‘AccntExpld’ requires that the Account Category field be filled in. When the AccntExpld Row Type is processed, it will print a list of all accounts for the indicated category. The list will be sorted and subtotaled by account type. The Text, Count, and Underline fields are also used if they have been set.
Text
The 'Text' Row Type enables you to print a line of text. To print it more than once, enter a value in the Cnt (count) field.
DefineTot
The Id of the defined account is now taken from the ‘Total-Id’ field that has been added for this purpose. Previously, it was taken from the Misc field.
Tip: Generating a Total Account
This row type can be used to generate totals if you don't need to nest totals. You can use the ‘DefineTot’ Row Type to generate a ‘Total Account’. Fill in the row definition just like you would fill in an ‘Accnt’ Row Type but fill in a name in the TotalId field. You can then refer to this account by the indicated name just as if it were an actual GL Account. For example, you can include its name in the list of accounts entered on an ‘Accnt’ row. Of course, you must define the total account via a ‘DefineTot’ row before you use it in another row.
AccntSum
The ‘AccntSum’ Row Type is used to combine information from several accounts together and print only a single summary line.
SkipLines
Use the ‘SkipLines’ Row type to skip one or more lines. Enter the number of lines to skip in the Count field.
NextPage
Use the ‘NextPage’ Row Type to skip to the top of the next page.
BeginTot
EndTot
Use these Row Types in pairs to print totals and subtotals. ‘BeginTot’ begins the accumulation of a total level. All accounts printed following the ‘BeginTot’ are added to total accumulators. These accumulators are dumped when the matching ‘EndTot’ is encountered. ’BeginTot’/’EndTot’ pairs may be nested as deep as necessary. See the Questions and Answers section below for details.
BeginEntty
EndEntty
Tip: These can only be used when running the report with the Consolidate box UNCHECKED.
Use these Row Types in pairs to restrict subsequent rows functionality within the identified Entities.
Example:
BeginEntty Entty1, Entty3, Entty8
AccntSum 88888, 99999 (Total something account)
EndEntty (EndEntty is set to blank)
This will Sum the balances of account 88888 and 99999 restricted to Entty1, Entty3, and Entty8
Account List:
This field is used to limit the gl accounts to be included in the report: all applicable accounts will be included if this field remains blank.
Text:
This field can be used in conjunction with a Row Type of Text. Enter the text that you wish to appear on the report. Leading blanks may be included to give the report designer the ability to simulate indentation of text lines.
This field can also be used with a row type of accnt. If you enter anything in the Text field, a line containing that text will be printed before any of the accounts are printed. So you can enter ‘ASSETS’ in the Text field to flag the beginning of an assets section of the report.
GL Account Type:
Category:
You can further filter accounts listed so that only accounts of a given Account Type or a given Account Category are printed. To do this, fill in the Account Type or Category field on the layout line. So to print lines for all Asset accounts, leave the Accounts List field blank and enter ‘Asset’ in the Category field.
Force YTD:
If this field is checked all BEG and END balances will be relative to the current year only. For Example, if the Force YTD field is checked, the value of the token ‘END’ will have the value ‘END = BEG.P1’. The main purpose of this field is so that YTD balances of Income and Expense Accounts can be combined to form a YTD Net Income figure that can be included on a balance sheet.
Y
Y will shift the period to the prior year. Thus the beginning balance for the prior fiscal year can be represented as ‘BEG.1.y’
sgn
The 'sgn' field is used to indicate whether the value being printed should be considered as 'normally debit' or 'normally credit'. This in turn determines whether it should appear as a positive or negative value. Thus a 'normally debit' value with a net credit amount will appear as a negative value, as will a 'normally credit' value with a net debit amount.
This field may be set to 'Dr' (for a normally debit field) or 'Cr' (for a normally credit field). You can double click the field to see this list. In most cases, however, this field can be left blank in which case the report writer will automatically determine the correct value. However, if the value being printed is a sum of fields which are not all 'normally debit' or all 'normally credit', this field should be filled in so the value will be properly signed. If not, the value of 'Dr' will be assumed.
Cnt (Count)
This field defines the number of times a line is printed, skipped, etc.
- (Underline Character
You may request that underlines be printed below the amount fields before the totals are dumped. To do this, enter the character to be used for the underlining (usually "-" or "="). If you want more than one underline line to be printed, you may enter the required number of lines in the Count field.
Underlines may also be printed below totals using the same underline options on the EndTot lines as defined for the BeginTot lines.
Total Id:
This field is used in conjunction with the DefineTot Row type to generate totals if you don't need to nest totals. You can use the ‘DefineTot’ Row Type to generate a ‘Total Account’. Fill in the row definition just like you would fill in an ‘Accnt’ Row Type but fill in a name in the TotalId field. You can then refer to this account by the indicated name just as if it were an actual GL Account. For example, you can include its name in the list of accounts entered on an ‘Accnt’ row. Of course, you must define the total account via a ‘DefineTot’ row before you use it in another row.
Misc:
The production of Cash Flow reports requires that certain report rows have column formulas that are different from the column definitions specified in the GL Column Layout. It turns out that this can be accomplished by changing the meaning of certain operand tokens used in the column formulas.
The Misc field is used to accomplish the required token mapping. To place a token mapping in the Misc field, enter a string of the form ‘~<MappedToken><MappedToToken>’ where ‘<MappedToken>’ and ‘<MappedToToken>’ are two character abbreviations of formula tokens. The available abbreviations are:
BP, EP, NP for BEG, END, and NET
BQ, EQ, NQ for BEGQ, ENDQ, and NETQ
BY, EY, NY for BEGY, ENDY, and NETY.
Multiple mappings may be stringed together in the Misc field.
Example:
For example to map the NET token to the BEG token and the NETY token to the BEGY token, place the following in the Misc field:
~NPBP~NYBY
How do I print account information on a GL Report?
The ‘Accnt’ Row Type is used to print information for an account, or a set of accounts.
The Accounts List field is used to select which account or accounts are to be printed. Fill out this line in the same way you fill out a Filter line. So to print lines for account ‘1001’ followed by all accounts between ‘2001’ and ‘2999’, enter:
1001, 2001_2999
If you leave the Accounts List blank, all accounts will be printed.
You can further filter accounts listed so that only accounts of a given Account Type or a given Account Category are printed. To do this, fill in the Account Type or Category field on the layout line. So to print lines for all Asset accounts, leave the Accounts List field blank and enter ‘Asset’ in the Category field.
If you enter anything in the Text field, a line containing that text will be printed before any of the accounts are printed. Therefore, you can enter ‘ASSETS’ in the Text field to flag the beginning of an assets section of the report.
How can I combine information from several accounts together and print only a single summary line?
For example, I want to show a single line that is the total of all my Income accounts.
The ‘AccntSum’ Row Type is used for this purpose.
Fill out the Accounts List, Account Type, and Category fields just like in the ‘Accnt’ Row type.
Enter the title for the computed total in the Text field. In this instance, the title might be ‘***** Total Income *****’. The title will be printed in the @NAME column of the report.
How can I print a line containing arbitrary text?
The ‘Text’ Row Type is used for this purpose. Fill in the Account List and/or Text fields with the text you want to print. If you want to print the text more than once, enter the number of times you want to print it in the Count field.
How do I skip a line or lines?
Use the ‘SkipLines’ Row type. Enter the number of lines to skip in the Count field.
How do I skip to the top of the next page?
Use the ‘NextPage’ Row Type.
How do I print totals and subtotals?
The ‘BeginTot’ and ‘EndTot’ Row types are used for this purpose. ‘BeginTot’ begins the accumulation of a total level. All accounts printed following the ‘BeginTot’ are added to total accumulators. These accumulators are dumped when the matching ‘EndTot’ is encountered. ’BeginTot’/’EndTot’ pairs may be nested as deep as necessary.
Fill in the ‘BeginTot’ row as follows:
Enter the title for the total in the Accounts List field. When the total is dumped, this title will be printed in the @NAME column of the report.
If you enter anything in the Text field, a line containing that text will be printed. Otherwise the ‘BeginTot’ row itself will not generate any output.
You may request that underlines be printed below the amount fields before the totals are dumped. To do this, enter the character to be used for the underlining (usually "-" or "=") in the ‘-‘ field. If you want more than one underline line to be printed, you may enter the required number of lines in the Count field.
Underlines may also be printed below totals using the same underline options on the EndTot lines as defined for the BeginTot lines. To do this, enter the character to be used for the underlining (usually "-" or "=") in the - (Underline) field for the EndTot line.
What if I want to include accounts within a total level but do not actually want to print the account information?
The ‘AccntAccum’ Row Type is used for this purpose. The ‘AccntAccum’ Row Type acts just like the ‘Accnt’ row type except that it does not generate any output.
Is there a simpler method of printing totals?
Yes, if you don’t need to nest totals. You can use the ‘DefineTot’ Row Type to generate a ‘Total Account’. Fill in the row definition just like you would fill in an ‘Accnt’ Row Type but fill in a name in the Misc field. You can then refer to this account by the indicated name just as if it were an actual GL Account. For example, you can include its name in the list of accounts entered on an ‘Accnt’ row. Of course, you must define the total account via a ‘DefineTot’ row before you use it in another row.
What determines which amounts are printed as positive and which amounts are printed as negative?
All amounts are first computed as net debits. When printing a line for a specified account, signs for amounts are adjusted as per the table below.
Account Type Print As Positive Printed As Negative
Asset Net Debit Net Credit
Liability Net Credit Net Debit
Equity Net Credit Net Debit
Income Net Credit Net Debit
Expense Net Debit Net Credit
Things are more complex for rows printing aggregated totals (i.e. ‘AccntSum’ and ‘EndTot’ lines). If all the aggregated accounts have the same ‘normal balance’, the system will automatically adjust the sign of the balance accordingly. Otherwise you must fill in the ‘sgn’ (Sign) field on the ‘AccntSum’ or ‘BegTot’ line initiating the aggregation.
Please click GL Report Overview for an overview of GL Reporting.